1979 - A Tale of Two Players

During the offseason, the Cubs made only one major deal. On February 23, 1979, they traded spare outfielder Greg Gross, catcher Dave Rader, and Manny Trillo, their slick-fielding second baseman, to Philadelphia for outfielder Jerry Martin, catcher Barry Foote, second baseman Ted Sizemore, and a couple of minor leaguers. With this deal, the Cubs improved themselves at centerfield and catcher, but hurt themselves at second, where Sizemore was the equal of Trillo with neither the glove nor the bat (and Trillo was never noted for his hitting in the first place). The Cubs would struggle to find even a competent second baseman until 1983.

However, the biggest change may have been a completely unheralded one that did not show up in the newspapers. Aware that his greatest asset, Sutter, had been worn down in the second half of both the previous two seasons, Franks decided to change the way he was used. Instead of using Sutter in the late innings of any close game, Franks would save him for the occasions when the Cubs had the best possibility of victory. In 1979, he would use Sutter almost exclusively in save situations. Sutter was the first relief pitcher used this way and, in that sense, the first modern “closer”. The main difference between Sutter and today’s closers is that Sutter was frequently used for multi-inning save attempts.

Opening Day Lineup – 1979 De Jesus, ss Sizemore, 2b Buckner, 1b Kingman, lf Murcer, rf Ontiveros, 3b Martin, cf Foote, c Reuschel, p

Other than the three acquisitions from the Phillies, the lineup was much the same as in 1978. The early returns were not encouraging. By the end of May, the Cubs were 20-25, in 5^th place, 9.5 games out.  Along the way, they played perhaps the most bizarre of the many bizarre games at Wrigley Field, a 23-22 loss to the Phillies in 10 innings (see “Great Games”).

The phrase “June swoon” had been often used to describe the 1978 Cubs, but the ’79 team turned that on its ear by using a fantastic June to climb back into the race. Chicago went 16-8 that month and then followed that with an 18-13 July. On July 27, the Cubs beat the New York Mets 4-2 to put themselves within half a game of the division lead. It seemed possible they had recaptured the magic of 1977. Kingman had two home runs in the game to run his season total to 32. Sutter saved his 23^rd game to go with a microscopic 1.25 ERA. Dick Tidrow, a middle reliever who had been acquired from the Yankees in May for Ray Burris, was the winning pitcher to run his record to 10-3.

In a familiar refrain, it wouldn’t get any better for the ’79 Cubs than this. After the July 27 victory, they lost their next 6 games to fall 5 back. They were still in third place as August closed, but started a seven-game losing streak on the last day of the month. They were still over .500 (78-77) on September 23 when Franks resigned. Franks was 65 years old and reportedly had trouble relating to some of his players, particularly Sizemore (who was traded to Boston on August 17) and Buckner. He had brought the Cubs tantalizingly close to relevance, but couldn’t find a way to avoid the late-season collapses that seemed to have become endemic to the team. True to form, the dispirited Cubs lost five out of their last seven games under coach Joe Amalfitano to finish just under .500 at 80-82.

At least there was some consolation for Chicago fans in the form of impressive individual accomplishments. Finally healthy and effective all year, Sutter finished with 37 saves, tying the NL record and missing the Major League record by one. He finished with a 2.22 ERA and 110 strikeouts in 101.1 innings. Sportswriters voted him the Cy Young Award as the best pitcher in the National League. Managers of other teams, taking note, began to save their best relief pitchers for game-winning situations, inaugurating the era of the true “closer.” 

Kingman ended his season with 48 home runs; it was the most round-trippers by a Cub since centerfielder Hack Wilson hit 56 in 1930, which was the NL record until 1998. Kingman drove in 115 runs, just missing the league lead, and hit .288. It was by far the best batting average of his career which would end after the 1984 season with a lifetime average of .236. Kingman was a true phenomenon in 1979, frequently breaking windows in houses across the street from Wrigley with mammoth home runs. He seemed on the cusp of superstardom. Bobby Murcer, who had been expected to team with Kingman to form a potent power combination, was traded to the Yankees, his original team, on June 26, hitting .258 with 7 homers. The new centerfielder, Jerry Martin, was second on the club in round-trippers with 19.

Rick Reuschel had another strong season, finishing at 18-12, and Lamp had better luck than in ’78 turning in an 11-10 mark on a 3.50 ERA.[1] Ken Holtzman, who had been re-acquired from the Yankees in June 1978, ended his career back where it began, going 6-9 as the fifth starter. Dick Tidrow turned out to be a fine acquisition as Sutter’s setup man, with an 11-5 record and a 2.72 ERA, all in relief. The rest of the Cubs’ bullpen featured three future star closers: Guillermo “Willie” Hernandez (the 1984 AL Cy Young winner for Detroit), Bill Caudill, and Donnie Moore. Unfortunately, all three had yet to mature. The lowest ERA among the group was Caudill’s 4.80. 

1979 Cubs Batting Leaders: R – Dave Kingman, 97; H – Ivan De Jesus, 180; HR – Kingman, 48;  RBI – Kingman, 115; BA – Kingman, .288; OBP – Steve Ontiveros, .362; SP – Kingman, .613

1979 Cubs Pitching Leaders: G – Dick Tidrow, 63; IP – Rick Reuschel, 239; W – Reuschel, 18; SO – Lynn McGlothen, 147; ERA – Dennis Lamp, 3.50; SV – Bruce Sutter, 37

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[1] Pitching out of the bullpen for Toronto in 1985, Lamp again won 11 games, but this time without a single loss.