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1979 American League Championship Series

1979 ALCS: The Orioles Hold Back The Angels

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The Baltimore Orioles had made the American League Championship Series a regular part of their schedule in the early 1970s with five appearances from 1969-74. After a three-year hiatus, the Orioles returned to the 1979 ALCS. The California Angels were novices at this postseason baseball thing, having won their first AL West title. It was Baltimore who had the upper hand in a series whose individual games were much more competitive than the series result as a whole.

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You can read more about the regular season paths each team took to its division title and the years enjoyed by the key players. This article’s focus is on the games of the 1979 ALCS itself.

READ MORE ABOUT THE 1979 BALTIMORE ORIOLES
READ MORE ABOUT THE 1979 CALIFORNIA ANGELS

The series that was then a best-of-five affair opened in Baltimore by virtue of the rotation system that existed. The first two games would be in Charm City, with the balance of the ALCS played out in Anaheim over the weekend.

Two future Hall of Famers took the ball in Game 1. Jim Palmer was on the mound for the Orioles against the Angels’ Nolan Ryan. California got to Palmer with two outs in the first, as Dan Ford hit a solo home run. Two innings later, the Angels attacked again with two outs and again it was Ford doing the damage.  After a base hit by Rick Miller and a walk to Carney Lansford, Ford drilled an RBI double for a two-zip lead.

California second baseman Bobby Grich was a former Oriole and he helped his old team in the bottom half of the third with an error that triggered a Baltimore rally. Rick Dempsey hit an RBI double and light-hitting shortstop Mark Belanger tied the game with a two-out RBI single.

The Angels should have gotten to Palmer again in the fourth when Rod Carew led off with a double and there were quickly runners on the corners with no one out. But Palmer escaped and his team took the lead in the inning’s bottom half. Pat Kelly drew a walk, stole second, took third on a wild pitch and scored on a sac fly from third baseman Doug DeCinces.

Carew, one of the best pure contact hitters to ever play the game singled in the sixth and scored the tying run on a double by Grich. The Orioles were in position to get the lead right back when they put two on with one out. But Ryan induced Lee May to hit into a 5-4-3 double play.

Palmer was now dialed in and rolled through the ninth, keeping the Angels at bay. Ryan left after seven, but John Montague kept the Orioles under control in the eighth and ninth. The game went into extra innings.

California went quietly in the top of the 10th against reliever Don Stanhouse. DeCinces led off the home half of the inning. DeCinces would soon leave Baltimore via free agency to join these same Angels, but tonight he was just a thorn in the side of California manager Gene Mauch. DeCinces began the 10th with a single and was quickly bunted up to second. With two outs, Montague intentionally walked leadoff hitter Al Bumbry.

John Lowenstein, a platoon outfielder and left-handed hitting specialist was up. He launched a three-run blast to win the game 6-3. Lowenstein was the hero, but Baltimore pitching had been decisive—over the last four innings, California managed just one hit, a single by Carew.

Game 2 was a late Thursday afternoon start, beginning shortly after 3 PM, so there was no time for the Angels to lament their Game 1 fate. Especially not when Baltimore was coming back with soon-to-be Cy Young Award winner Mike Flanagan.

The second game started just like the first—with a two-out solo blast from Ford to get the Angels a quick 1-0 lead. But this one quickly got away from California starter Dave Frost when it was time for him to take the mound.

Bumbry led off with a single and then stole second. Subsequent singles by Eddie Murray, Kelly, DeCinces, two walks and an error produced four runs. In the bottom of the second, Bumbry walked and again stole second. After he scored on a base hit from Kiko Garcia, Frost was out and Mark Clear was in.

It didn’t help. After a single from Ken Singleton, Murray delivered a three-run jack and this game was blown wide open early 8-1. When DeCinces led off the Oriole third with a walk and scored on consecutive two-out singles from Bumbry and Garcia, it looked like just another meaningless run that made it 9-1. It turned out to be incredibly important.

Flanagan cruised through five. The Angels touched him again in the sixth when Carew doubled and came around on a single form Lansford. In the seventh, singles from Don Baylor and Brian Downing led to a Grich sac fly and it was 9-3. Still nothing to suggest a game was in the offing.

The top of the eighth was when it got interesting. Flanagan issued a leadoff walk. After an error, Lansford drove in a run that made it 9-4 and left runners on the corners. Baylor, who would win the AL MVP award from the DH spot this year, drove in another run with a single that moved Lansford to third and chased Flanagan. Downing hit a sac fly.

Baltimore might have put the game away all over again after two bunt singles opened the bottom of the eighth, but they couldn’t get anything across. It set the stage for a dramatic ninth inning.

Stanhouse walked the leadoff man, Larry Harlow, and then gave up a one-out double to pinch-hitter Willie Davis. California had made it all the way back to have the tying run at the plate. Carew grounded out. One run scored, but the Angels were down to their last breath. Ford was up and he singled the other way. The hit cut the lead to 9-8 and on a futile throw to third, Ford moved up to second. The winning run was improbably in scoring position.

Oriole manager Earl Weaver ordered an intentional walk to Baylor, preferring to take his chances with Downing. The move paid off. Downing bounced a grounder to DeCinces who stepped on third. Baltimore survived a hair-raising 9-8 finish.

A rain-out had delayed the opening of the ALCS by a day, so the normal day off for travel was not in place. The teams headed west and were back on the field for Friday night, an early evening start locally and prime-time in the East. The Orioles sent Dennis Martinez out to try and clinch their first pennant since 1971. Frank Tanana, the Angel lefty, had his team’s season in his hands.

For the third straight game, California scored in the first inning and though it wasn’t Ford hitting a home run, the rightfielder was still in the middle of it. After Lansford singled and stole second, Ford picked him up with a base hit. The 1-0 lead held until the top of the fourth, when Singleton doubled and consecutive singles from Murray and May tied the game.

Baylor did not have a good ALCS, going just 3-for-16. His biggest hit came in the bottom of the fourth in Game 3 when he homered for a 2-1 lead. The Angels had a great chance to extend the lead in the bottom of the fifth when the bases were loaded with one out. Alas, Ford finally came up short, hitting into a double play.

In the top of the sixth, Baltimore made it hurt. Singleton and Murray singled and May drew a walk to load the bases with none out. DeCinces sac fly tied the game and moved Murray to third. Now it was California’s turn to come up big defensively. Rich Dauer hit a fly ball to center that Murray tried to tag up on. Miller gunned him down at the plate and kept it a 2-2 game.

It didn’t stay that way long though. Bumbry lashed a one-out triple in the seventh and scored the go-ahead run. In the meantime, Martinez was cruising, having set down ten in a row heading into the ninth inning. Then he got Baylor to start the final frame.

Carew wasn’t going quietly and he went the other way for a double into the left-center gap. Weaver called for Stanhouse. The reliever walked Downing, but Grich to hit a lazy fly ball to center. Unbelievably, the reliable Bumbry dropped it and the game was tied. Harlow then doubled and the Angels had stolen a 4-3 win.

All three games had been heartstoppers. Bumbry was on a big hook if his team didn’t close out this ALCS. But he and all of Baltimore could soon breathe easy. Because the thrill-a-minute baseball that marked the first three games was about to come to a screeching halt on Saturday afternoon.

Baltimore got after California starter Chris Knapp in the third for two runs. A base hit, a walk and a bunt single led to a Singleton sac fly and RBI hit for Murray. Even though Gary Roenicke hit into a double play the Orioles already had enough runs for lefty Scott McGregor.

DeCinces and Dempsey each doubled in the fourth to make it 3-0. The Angels rallied in the fifth, when singles by Downing and Grich helped load the bases with none out. But a Miller fly ball wasn’t deep enough to score a run and McGregor then induced a double play ground ball. The 1979 ALCS effectively ended at this point.

Baltimore blew it open in the seventh. Singleton and Roenicke each had RBI singles and Kelly delivered the coup de grace with a three-run blast that opened an 8-0 lead. McGregor completed a six-hit shutout and the Orioles were returning to the World Series.

The American League was still a year away from voting an LCS MVP, so this honor is left vacant. If we can fill it retroactively, the pick would be Murray. He was 5-for-12, homered and the multiple intentional walks he kept getting underscored how much California feared him and got his OBP for the series to .588.

Other heroes included Dempsey, who went 4-for-10 with two doubles and Singleton was 6-for-16. On the California side, Carew had seven hits and Ford’s consistent first-inning dominance always had the Angels in games.

Baltimore briefly kept their momentum going in the 1979 World Series against Pittsburgh. The Orioles grabbed the first two games at home and led the series 3-1, with Murray again hitting the ball well. But the first baseman’s fortunes tracked those of the team. He began to slump, the rest of the offense went with him and the Pirates won the final three games.

The 1979 ALCS wasn’t the last we were going to see of either franchise. The Angels returned here in 1982 and again in 1986, though each loss got progressively more heartbreaking and it wasn’t until 2002 that they finally put their demons to rest and won it all.

The Orioles would not wait nearly as long—this core group of players, augmented by a young shortstop with the name of Ripken, would win it all in 1983.

1979 Baltimore Orioles: Earl Returns To The October Stage

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The Baltimore Orioles were the AL East’s dominant team, starting with the expansion of 1969 and each league’s split into two divisions. The Orioles won five of the first six AL East titles. The Birds then finished out of the money from 1975-78, though the team remained competitive each year. But “competitive” wasn’t good enough for manager Earl Weaver, and the 1979 Baltimore Orioles put the team back on top of the division and back in the World Series.

Weaver’s great teams had been built on pitching, and this team was no different. To say the Orioles led the league in ERA is accurate, but also understates the case. The ERA differential between the Baltimore staff and the second-best team was the same as the gap from #2 to #10.

Mike Flanagan won 23 games and the Cy Young Award. Dennis Martinez, Steve Stone, Scott McGregor were all effective, with ERAs in the 3s. The veteran Jim Palmer no longer had the same arm that won him three Cy Youngs, but he was still good enough to post a 10-6 record and 3.30 ERA.

And the rotation was just the beginning. The bullpen was deep and versatile. Sammy Steward worked 117 innings and posted a 3.52 ERA. Tippy Martinez won ten games with a 2.88 ERA. Tim Stoddard didn’t have the same workload, but his 1.71 ERA spoke volumes, while Don Stanhouse saved 21 games with a 2.85 ERA.

This staff carried an offense that only ranked eighth in the American League. The production at catcher, second base, third base, centerfield and DH was fairly mediocre. But big years from two players provided enough punch.

Eddie Murray was only 23-years-old and getting started on what would be a Hall of Fame career at first base. Murray hit 25 home runs, finished with 99 RBIs and had an on-base percentage of .369. And Ken Singleton in rightfield was even better—a .405 OBP, 35 home runs and 111 RBIs. And while Gary Roenicke wasn’t one of the big names on this team, he was popular locally and for good reason–in 1979, he finished with an on-base percentage of .378 while hitting 25 home runs.

The Orioles got off to a poor start, with a 4-8 beginning. That included losing five of the six to the two-time defending World Series champion New York Yankees. It also included taking four straight losses in Milwaukee, where the Brewers had emerged as a contender in the AL East in 1978.

Here’s a good point to remind younger readers that not only were the Brewers an American League team until 2002, there was also no Central Division. Each league was simply an East and a West until 1994. Thus, the Brewers, Cleveland Indians and Detroit Tigers joined Baltimore, New York, the Boston Red Sox, and Toronto Blue Jays in the AL East—and only the first-place team went to the playoffs, moving directly into the League Championship Series.

Thus, slow starts were always at least a little more concerning than is the case today, and certainly when it comes at the hands of key division rivals. Milwaukee was making a return visit to Baltimore for a four-game weekend series on April 20. It was as good a time as any to right the ship.

In Friday night’s opener, Roenicke and second baseman Rich Dauer stepped up with three hits apiece. Singleton homered. Stone tossed seven good innings and produced a 6-3 win. On Saturday, veteran DH Lee May homered twice, drove in four runs, and provided all the offense for Stewart. The versatile pitcher started, went seven strong and won 4-2.

Sunday would be an old-fashioned doubleheader, with just twenty minutes in between games. Third baseman Doug DeCinces and outfielder John Lowenstein both homered in the opener, Dennis Martinez went the distance and Baltimore secured a series win, 6-2. And in the nightcap, they nailed down the sweep—three hits and four RBIs from Murray, home runs from DeCinces and Singleton and eight sharp innings from Flanagan. The final was 7-3 and the Birds were off and running.

This four-game sweep triggered a 14-1 run that included sweeping the eventual AL West champion California Angels. By Memorial Day, Baltimore was 29-16. They were two games up on Boston, plus-five on New York, and Milwaukee was six games off the pace.

The Orioles ripped off a dominating June, going 23-6. The surge put the Brewers and Yankees in a considerable hole—nine games and eleven games back respectively. But the Red Sox were hanging tough, still within 4 ½. And when Baltimore cooled just a bit—a 5-7 West Coast road trip leading into the All-Star break, Boston pulled to within two games. The Orioles and Red Sox were the two best teams in all of baseball midway through.

Baltimore took their revenge on the West Coast—the Angels, Oakland A’s, and Seattle Mariners—when those same teams came East, and the Orioles won eight of ten. They had pushed their lead back out to five games when they went to Milwaukee on July 30, where the Brewers were still on the fringes of the race.

Stone was brilliant in Monday night’s opener and a two-run blast from centerfielder Al Bumbry was all that was needed in a 2-1 win. On Tuesday night, home runs from catcher Rick Dempsey, along with Murray, had the Birds up 5-4 in the ninth. Murray unloaded with an insurance grand slam and the final was 9-5. And on Wednesday night, three first-inning runs staked Dennis Martinez and he rolled to a 5-2 win.

Baltimore’s AL East lead was now 7 ½ games. They flew to New York. For the Yankees, it was the day a tough season turned tragic—catcher Thurman Munson died in a crash while flying his private plane. A pall was cast over all of baseball.

The Oriole surge slowed in the first part of August when they went 7-8. Boston was within four games and Milwaukee was still in striking distance at 7 ½ out. But this stretch of late summer leading into Labor Day was decisive. Baltimore went 9-4. The Red Sox hit the skids and fell into third place. The Brewers moved into second, but were still eight games off the pace.

Already in a comfortable position, the Orioles all but put this race to bed with a 7-3 road trip that included taking three of four up in Fenway Park. They were 11 games up. The clinching moment came on the regular season’s penultimate Saturday. Baltimore, their magic number down to 1, was waiting to play Cleveland in a night game. When word came from Milwaukee that the Brewers had lost in the afternoon, Saturday night could be one long party in old Memorial Stadium.

Baltimore’s final record was 102-57. They had comfortably won  a division where Boston and Milwaukee  also won 90-plus games and New York, even in a tragic year, won 89 games. The Orioles were heading into October as the team to beat.

The Angels were the opponent in the American League Championship Series. The ALCS would produce some breathtaking excitement–extra-innings and ninth-inning dramatics–through the first three games. Baltimore won two of those games and then closed out a pennant with a Game 4 blowout.

The World Series had a result that was unfortunately like 1971, at least if you were an Oriole fan. Just as they had that year, they met the Pittsburgh Pirates. In ’71, the Orioles had won the first two games at home before losing a seven-game series. In ’79, they took three of the first four before losing a seven-game series.

Murray couldn’t keep his ALCS hot streak going—he struggled to a 4-for-26 performance in the Series, including flying out in the eighth inning of Game 7 when the bases were loaded with two outs and his team trailed 2-1. Baltimore lost a heartbreaker. 

The ending shouldn’t detract from the season as a whole though. The Orioles saw Murray emerge as a star, they blew away the best division in baseball and they returned to the World Series.