1979 World Series
| 1979 World Series | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
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| Dates | October 10–17 | |||||||||
| Venue(s) | Memorial Stadium (Baltimore) Three Rivers Stadium (Pittsburgh) | |||||||||
| MVP | Willie Stargell (Pittsburgh) | |||||||||
| Umpires | Jerry Neudecker (AL), Bob Engel (NL), Russ Goetz (AL), Paul Runge (NL), Jim McKean (AL), Terry Tata (NL) | |||||||||
| Hall of Famers | Pirates: Bert Blyleven Dave Parker Willie Stargell Orioles: Eddie Murray Jim Palmer Frank Robinson (coach) Earl Weaver (manager) | |||||||||
| Broadcast | ||||||||||
| Television | ABC | |||||||||
| TV announcers | Keith Jackson (in Baltimore) Al Michaels (in Pittsburgh) Howard Cosell and Don Drysdale | |||||||||
| Radio | CBS | |||||||||
| Radio announcers | Vin Scully and Sparky Anderson | |||||||||
| ALCS | Baltimore Orioles over California Angels (3–1) | |||||||||
| NLCS | Pittsburgh Pirates over Cincinnati Reds (3–0) | |||||||||
The 1979 World Series was a best-of-seven playoff between the National League (NL) champion Pittsburgh Pirates (98–64) and the American League (AL) champion Baltimore Orioles (102–57) to determine the Major League Baseball championship. In winning, the Pirates became the fourth team ever to come back from a three games to one deficit to win the World Series. This marked the second time in the 1970s that the Pirates won a World Series Game 7 on the road against the Orioles, the previous time being in 1971. The Pirates were known for adopting Sister Sledge's hit "We Are Family" as their theme song during the season.
Willie Stargell, Bruce Kison, and Manny Sanguillén were the only players left from the Pirates team that defeated the Orioles in 1971, and Jim Palmer and Mark Belanger, along with manager Earl Weaver, were the only remaining Orioles from the 1971 team. Grant Jackson pitched for the Orioles in the 1971 series and for the Pirates in the 1979 series, and Frank Robinson, the Orioles' hitting coach, played for Baltimore in 1971. Pirates' infielder Rennie Stennett was not on the team's World Series roster in 1971.
In this series, each game was played under National League rules. As a result, the Orioles' pitchers had to bat, and Tim Stoddard got his first major league hit and runs batted in (R.B.I.) in Game 4. Lee May, Baltimore's Designated Hitter, was reduced to three pinch-hitting appearances, but if the DH had been in use, Pittsburgh would have platooned Lee Lacy and Mike Easler in the role, which would have negated any advantage to Baltimore.
Willie Stargell was voted World Series Most Valuable Player after batting .400 with a record seven extra-base hits, matching Reggie Jackson's record of 25 total bases set two years earlier. At age 38, Stargell became the oldest World Series MVP, breaking the previous mark set by his late teammate Roberto Clemente, who was MVP in 1971 at the age of 37.
The 1979 Pirates were the last team to win Game 7 of a World Series on the road until the San Francisco Giants defeated the Royals in Kansas City. Pittsburgh became the third city to win the Super Bowl and the World Series in the same season or calendar year, with the Steelers having already won Super Bowl XIII (they would later repeat in Super Bowl XIV following the Pirates' championship). New York's Jets and Mets won championships in the 1969 calendar year, followed by Baltimore (Orioles and Colts) in the 1970 season, New York (Mets and Giants) in the 1986 season, and Boston/New England in the 2004 (Red Sox and Patriots) and 2018 seasons (Red Sox and Patriots).
As of 2026, this is Pittsburgh's last World Series victory and appearance, and their second-most recent postseason victory. The Pirates currently hold the longest active World Series appearance drought in the National League.