1979 Cleveland Indians season

March 2026 November 2013 Cleveland Indians 1979 American League East Cleveland Municipal Stadium Cleveland, Ohio Steve O'Neill Phil Seghi Jeff Torborg, Dave Garcia WJKW WWWE The 1979 Cleveland Indians season was the 79th season for the franchise, the 65th as the Indians and the 48th season at Cleveland Stadium. They improved upon their 69–90 campaign from the previous season, but missed the playoffs for the 25th consecutive season, finishing the season at 81–80. Offseason October 3, 1978: Larvell Blanks and Jim Kern were traded by the Indians to the Texas Rangers for Len Barker and Bobby Bonds.Larvell Blanks page at Baseball-Reference December 5, 1978: Carmen Castillo was drafted by the Indians from the Philadelphia Phillies in the 1978 minor league draft.Carmen Castillo page at Baseball-Reference December 6, 1978: Cardell Camper was traded by the Indians to the Philadelphia Phillies for Joe Charboneau.Joe Charboneau page at Baseball-Reference Regular season Season standings Record vs. opponents CLE Notable transactions June 5, 1979: Von Hayes was drafted by the Indians in the 7th round of the 1979 Major League Baseball draft. Player signed August 24, 1979.Von Hayes page at Baseball Reference July 18, 1979: Mike Stanton was signed as a free agent by the Indians.Mike Stanton page at Baseball Reference Opening Day Lineup +Opening Day Starters # Name Position11 Toby Harrah 3B27 Jim Norris DH25 Bobby Bonds RF29 Andre Thornton 1B35 Gary Alexander C22 Ted Cox LF18 Duane Kuiper 2B21 Tom Veryzer SS 20 Horace Speed CF40 Rick Wise P 1979 Opening Day Lineup at Baseball-Reference Roster 1979 Cleveland Indians Roster Pitchers 42 Larry Andersen 39 Len Barker 32 David Clyde 23 Víctor Cruz 17 Wayne Garland 44 Don Hood 43 Sid Monge 48 Mike Paxton 41 Paul Reuschel 37 Dan Spillner 36 Rick Waits 56 Sandy Wihtol 33 Eric Wilkins 40 Rick Wise Catchers 35 Gary Alexander 16 Bo Díaz  9 Ron Hassey 44 Cliff Johnson Infielders 31 Wayne Cage 22 Ted Cox 11 Toby Harrah 18 Duane Kuiper 12 Dave Rosello 29 Andre Thornton 21,15 Tom Veryzer Outfielders 30 Dell Alston 25 Bobby Bonds 00 Paul Dade 21 Mike Hargrove 28 Rick Manning 27 Jim Norris 13 Ron Pruitt 20 Horace Speed Manager 10 Jeff Torborg (April 5 - July 22)  1 Dave Garcia (July 23 - Sept. 30) Coaches  4 Dave Duncan (Bullpen)  1 Dave Garcia (Third Base)  2 Chuck Hartenstein (Pitching) 24 Joe Nossek (First Base) Player stats Batting Note: G = Games played; AB = At bats; R = Runs scored; H = Hits; 2B = Doubles; 3B = Triples; HR = Home runs; RBI = Runs batted in; AVG = Batting average; SB = Stolen bases Player G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI AVG SB Gary Alexander Gary Alexander (baseball) 110 358 54 82 9 2 15 54 .229 4 Dell Alston 54 62 10 18 0 2 1 12 .290 4 Bobby Bonds 146 538 93 148 24 1 25 85 .275 34 Wayne Cage 29 56 6 13 2 0 1 6 .232 0 Ted Cox Ted Cox (baseball) 78 189 17 40 6 0 4 22 .212 3 Paul Dade 44 170 22 48 4 1 3 18 .282 12 Bo Diaz 15 32 0 5 2 0 0 1 .156 0 Mike Hargrove 100 338 60 110 21 4 10 56 .325 2 Toby Harrah 149 527 99 147 25 1 20 77 .279 20 Ron Hassey 75 223 20 64 14 0 4 32 .287 1 Cliff Johnson Cliff Johnson (baseball) 72 240 37 65 10 0 18 61 .271 2 Duane Kuiper 140 479 46 122 9 5 0 39 .255 4 Rick Manning 144 560 67 145 12 2 3 51 .259 30 Jim Norris 124 353 50 87 15 6 3 30 .246 15 Ron Pruitt 64 166 23 47 7 0 2 21 .283 2 Dave Rosello 59 107 20 26 6 1 3 14 .243 1 Horace Speed Horace Speed (baseball) 26 14 6 2 0 0 0 1 .143 2 Andre Thornton 143 515 89 120 31 1 26 93 .233 5 Tom Veryzer 149 449 41 99 9 3 0 34 .220 2 Team totals 161 5376 760 1388 206 29 138 707 .258 143 Pitching Note: W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; G = Games pitched; GS = Games started; SV = Saves; IP = Innings pitched; H = Hits allowed; R = Runs allowed; ER = Earned runs allowed; BB = Walks allowed; K = Strikeouts Player W L ERA G GS SV IP H R ER BB K Larry Andersen 0 0 7.56 8 0 0 16.2 25 14 14 4 7 Len Barker 6 6 4.92 29 19 0 137.1 146 79 75 70 93 David Clyde 3 4 5.91 9 8 0 45.2 50 33 30 13 17 Victor Cruz Victor Cruz (baseball) 3 9 4.23 61 0 10 78.2 70 41 37 34 40 Wayne Garland 4 10 5.23 18 14 0 94.2 120 70 55 34 40 Don Hood 1 0 3.68 13 0 1 22.0 13 9 9 14 7 Sid Monge 12 10 2.40 76 0 19 131.0 96 37 35 64 108 Mike Paxton 8 8 5.92 33 24 0 159.2 210 118 105 52 70 Paul Reuschel 2 1 7.94 17 1 1 45.1 73 43 40 11 22 Dan Spillner 9 5 4.62 49 13 1 157.2 153 82 81 64 97 Rick Waits 16 13 4.44 34 34 0 231.0 230 123 114 91 91 Sandy Wihtol 0 0 3.38 5 0 0 10.2 10 4 4 3 6 Eric Wilkins 2 4 4.39 16 14 0 69.2 77 41 34 38 52 Rick Wise 15 10 3.73 34 34 0 231.2 229 111 96 68 108 Team totals 81 80 4.57 161 161 32 1431.2 1502 805 727 570 781 Awards and honors Andre Thornton, Roberto Clemente Award All-Star Game Farm system Minor League Baseball AAA Tacoma Tugs Pacific Coast League Gene Dusan AA Chattanooga Lookouts Southern League Woody Smith A Waterloo Indians Midwest League Cal Emery A-Short Season Batavia Trojans New York–Penn League Tom TrebelhornJohnson, Lloyd, and Wolff, Miles, ed., The Encyclopedia of Minor League Baseball, 3rd edition. Durham, North Carolina: Baseball America, 2007 Notes 2 References 1979 Cleveland Indians team page at Baseball Reference 1979 Cleveland Indians team page at www.baseball-almanac.com Category:Cleveland Guardians seasons Cleveland Indians season Cleve Category:1970s in Cleveland Category:Long stubs with short prose