I was at the game in the upper deck - when Eddie Murray hit the long fly ball in the bottom of the eighth I thought they had won it. I get sick to my stomach every time I here We Are Family...
This is great footage, The 1979 Pittsburgh Pirates are my all time favorite MLB team, I remember watching this series as a 15 year old kid and watching Omar Moreno squeeze the final out, I could go back to this time and time again, Thank you.
Were y’all alive for Maz’s Homerun against the Yankees? Never lived through a more exciting time. Of course when the Steelers Won the SB in 1979 - It was wonderful!!
I can't believe that President Carter made an appearance to the Pirates (the champions) locker room/clubhouse. I never knew it at the time, but in the end, I saw that one and it was amazing. A great Series. Well respect to these Bucs right there.
1979 was a great year to be in Pittsburgh, especially for a then 10 year old Kurt Angle. Steelers won the Super Bowl, & Pirates won the World Series that same year, followed by the Steelers winning another super bowl becoming back to back champions just three months later.
LOVE THIS! Thank you for posting, Stephen. I got to show my 3 year old and 19 month old daughters their late grandpa at bat this morning - quite a beautiful moment for us.
So much for white at home and gray on the road, this was the the last Major League game of the 70s where the colorful uniforms were brought into the game
The Orioles sent Jackson to the Yankees in 1976 for a bunch of guys including Scott McGregor and Rick Dempsey. He was taken in the expansion draft by the Mariners after the 1976 season and then traded to the Pirates a month later. Later on he was purchased by the Expos and then they traded him to the Royals for Ken Phelps, who was later traded by the Mariners to the Yankees for Jay Buhner. The Pirates had originally drafted Buhner and traded him to the Yankees to get Tim Foli back and for Steve Kemp...
since I didn't live close to Pittsburgh, l watched the Pirates and this World Series on television , I appreciate how playing the Phillies and Pete Rose Made The Bucs A Better Team. Until recently I hadn't noticed how Willie Stargell held his bat handle. Stargell's statue at the ballpark in Pittsburgh was where I noticed this
In my opinion Kent Tekulve should have been series MVP he saved 3 Games, including critical game 6 and 7, the man was like the Joe Montana of Baseball he performed like a rock under pressure, Damn he was awesome! RIP POPS, Bruce Kison, Chuck Tanner, John Milner, Bill Robinson, Dock Ellis, and Howard Cosell....
Kent Tekulve was my favorite Pirates player of all time. I would agree with you about him getting the M.V.P. but Kent Tekulve blew two saves in Pittsburgh. That's why I think that Phil Garner should have been the M.V.P. of the world series.
By 1979 Manager Earl Weaver Had Already Forgot How To Fuk , Hitting Bill Robinson And Dave Parker with a pitch IN The Top Of The Ninth Inning is so bush league. Changing four Oriole pitchers at the top of the ninth inning was like watching Billy Martin Stumble Out Of A Taxi To Announce "WEAVER'S LOST ANOTHER ORIOLE WORLD SERIES!!!!"
At the end of the game a fan stole Tekulve's hat off of his head and ran with it. Tekulve loved that hat because stargell had given him so many stars for it. he's still looking for that hat today, hoping someone will return it.
I WAS 16 WHEN THIS NOW Fall Classic took place !! FANTASTIC TIME TO BE YOUNG and ENJOYING SPORTS AS A KID growing up in the bay area !! .....How fast these past 40 years went , TRULY !! Also this was such a colorful WS with the uniforms !
WE ARE FAMILY!!!!!! Pops leads his Bucs to Promised Land. A beautiful time, a famed ballclub, with excellent underrated pitching. And that lineup!! The Lumber Company. Three cheers for skipper Chuck Tanner!!!
First time after all these years, I noticed Steve Nicosia (I think it's him) beating the crap out of a guy who must have gotten in his face after the final out.
What happened was that one of the fans that stormed the field stole Kent Tekulve's cap, and both Tekulve and the catcher in question was trying to get it back, not to mention get the attention of the police. That, plus the fact that the Pirates had to almost fight to get to their clubhouse, was why it was a near-riot immediately after the game.
You'd have thought that MLB had learned from what happened at Yankee Stadium, both after Chris Chambliss' GW HR to win the 1976 ALCS and then after the Yankees won the 1977 World Series. The strange thing about what happened in Baltimore is the reaction from the fans after the VISITING team won the World Series, which makes one ponder how many fans at Memorial Stadium that night were rooting for the Pirates to win.
Yes, that was catcher Steve Nicosia. The fan grabbed Kent's cap and he might have tried to grab something from Steve. That was a mistake. LOL The mounted police actually started to line the field for the 1986 LCS as a reaction to Met fans tearing the Shea outfield to shreds on the night they clinched the NL East division. I'm so glad I grew up in the 1970's and 1980's - a wild and more care free time!
cjs83172 ...Let the fan have a hat...big deal...is that a sacred baseball cap? The fan that caught Maris' 61st home run tried to give the ball back to Roger after the game but Maris told him: 'You sell it, you can make some good money off of the sale.' Today's baseball player would take the ball and give the guy some old baseball gloves and bats...the difference is characer and class.
Earl Weaver = Bobby Cox. They lived by the saying "a 3 run HR plus good pitching equals a win". The problem was both teams faced 4 quality starters in the post season that didn't give up homers on a regular basis
Another problem the Orioles had in the World Series when Weaver was their manager was that they got real tight when the pressure was on, which is a main reason why they struggled when their backs got against the wall. That really became apparent in their two World Series against the Pirates, because in both cases, when the pressure increased on them when they were blowing their two-game leads, the worse they seemed to perform, especially at the plate. After demolishing Pirate pitching in the first two games of the 1971 World Series (especially in Game 2), the Orioles scored eight runs in the last five games (and were held to four hits or less in four of the last five games), and it was even worse in 1979, when they scored a grand total of two runs the last three games after moving out to a 3-1 series lead, thanks to scoring 17 runs in Games 4 and 5 off that same pitching. Weaver's teams simply got tight under pressure.
- And the O's missed Eddie Murray's bat after Game 2; Murray drove in both Oriole runs in Game 2, which they lost...& he went hitless for the rest of the series. And Murray had a chance to finally bust out with the bases loaded in the 8th inning of Game 7 & possibly give the Orioles the lead back again...& instead he flies out to right to end the last real Oriole threat of the Series. Baltimore's bats went dead cold after they led 3 games to 1( 2 runs scored in the final 3 games ), & Chuck Tanner's pitching staff worked their magic & gave the Bucs a chance to turn the tide & come back to take the Series in 7 games in a hard-fought & well-earned Fall Classic Series victory in '79. The true mark of a team that really kept together & played together...like a Family. :)
And that fact about how the Orioles' bats went dead silent after building a 2-game lead in the 1979 World Series matches what happened in their World Series match-up in 1971, when after winning the first two games in Baltimore, the Orioles' hitters amassed a grand total of nine HITS in the three games in Pittsburgh, and the harder they tried, the worse it got, and it didn't get much better when the World Series returned to Baltimore for Games 6 and 7. The exact same thing happened in 1979, when the Orioles got a grand total of two runs in the final three games, with one of those runs coming on a solo HR by Rich Dauer in Game 7. One big problem the Orioles had, and it goes back to Earl Weaver's managerial style, was that they had too many sluggers in their line-up, and not enough hitters who put the ball in play, and in both World Series match-ups against the Pirates, who had a much better balanced team, it came home to roost. And the mere fact that Kiko Garcia, who basically served as a bridge from Mark Belanger to Cal Ripken, Jr. as the team's shortstop, was the best Oriole hitter in the '79 World Series, should say it all. And it also goes to show that when you get to a Game 7, as was the case in both Pirates-Orioles World Series, the team with the best player usually winds up winning, because one player can carry a team for one game, and on both occasions, that one player was wearing a Pirate uniform (Roberto Clemente in 1971 and Willie Stargell in 1979).
I think what you've described is happening to a lot of teams in MLB today. There are too many sluggers trying to hit 9-run, 900-foot moonshots and not enough hitters who can put the ball into play. It's turning the game into an all-or-nothing snooze fest that takes forever to play.
And it's been happening in MLB for about a decade, if not longer. One thing about the sudden ascendancy of the Kansas City Royals in 2014 was that they employed the very style of play you're talking about. Fundamental baseball, and it got them to Game 7 of that year's World Series, which they would likely have won if not for Madison Bumgarner, and then in 2015, had the best record in MLB, and after a narrow escape against the Astros, cruised to the World Series title. They didn't stay up there that long, but what their 2-year run proved was that teams can still win by playing good, solid, fundamental baseball.
Kellie I will agree this great series in 1979 is so criminally underrated among the best world series ever. Even the '71 series aka the Clemente series gets more attention than this. With that said, I got to disagree about the best ever. At least since WWII, IMO in no order these all time fall classics that are slightly better. 1)1975 2)1986 3)1991 4)2001 5)2011 6)2016
I loved Kent! Far as I know, he still hosts the post game shows in Pittsburgh? I went to see my dad in Erie pa just before he passed in 2017 and the last thing I did with him the night before I had to return to Wyoming was watch a pirates game. As the post game show started, my dad turned to me and said "do you recognize the host?" I couldn't believe it was Kent! He reminded me that around 78 79, I would practice pitching like him with a tennis ball against our back wall every day back then. He was the first submariner pitcher that I'd ever seen and I thought it was the coolest thing! Great memories!
I’m a Philly native, but the Pirates were always my second favorite team when I was growing up. It was great to see the Bucs win this series and then to have the Phils do it too the very next year. For me it was baseball heaven- 1979 and 1980 😁
I was a young Phillies fan living near Buffalo, but I was obsessed with baseball, no matter which team. I went to Three Rivers in Auguest of 1979 to watch a couple games the Buccos had vs. the Dodgers. Great times.
Seeing Tug get the final out was pretty awesome also. Great pitcher. Great personality also. His son is pretty talented as well. You just don't see too many characters in baseball like you did back then.
Like in 1971 at Memorial Stadium in that game seven against the Pirates for Mike Cuellar, Scott Macgregor pitched a terrific game in this game seven. Unfortunately, like eight years earlier no performances whatsoever from the lineup to hit and score runs.
YES! I agree! The Pittsburgh Pirates should have been the team of the 70's not the Red's. The Pittsburgh Pirates won more games in the 70's than the Red's and won as many World Series Championships as the Red's with two. One World Series Championship in 1971 and this one in 1979. Go Pirates!
I didn't realize Garner hit 500 for the Series? Thanks Mr Alexander so much for uploading the games! I loved the Pirates as a kid! Dave Parker was my favorite player!!!!
I NEVER Liked Pete Rose and the 70'S Reds either, yuck! the Pirates in my opinion WERE THE TEAM OF THE 70'S National league, and the Oakland A's in the American league...
@@stephenalexander2553 There really was no team of the 70s the The Pirates won 2 the Orioles won 1 the Reds won 2 the A's won 3 the Yankees won 2 pretty much spread out evenly during the decade
Lubbock. Texas 1979.. I was 8 yrs old. My 1st introduction to baseball. Watched entire series with my Dad. He was for Baltimore as he had graduated Johns Hopkins. Me?...for Pirates all the way! Tekulve would come out, I'd dance around living room. Dad would cuss & sink into recliner. What a thrill to be for Pirates from game 1 & see them win, especially for a little GIRL. THANK YOU for uploading this to ytube. Never dreamed I'd see again
Yeah I got into the entire vibe of the Pirates that year, I was also into the band "Chic", who wrote and recorded the song "We Are Family" for Sister Sledge.
I was 11...this World Series made me a baseball fan. I grew up in the New York area, so I am a Mets fan, but the Pirates have always been 1A with me. I finally visited Pittsburgh a few years ago and went to a Pirates game.
One of two times the great, HOF Eddie Murray missed a chance to be truly immortal. It was a good swing but not a confident swing in the 8th and Parker still got chased to the track. If Murray puts it over the fence, a GS to win Game 7 of the World Series? That's stuff they would talk about 40 years later. The other was a game in Aug 1985 when he had 3 HR and 9 RBI...hit a GS, 3 run, and solo. Had TWO chances at a two run HR. Flew out deep to CF on one and walked the other - besides tying 2 MLB records with 4 HR and 11 RBI he would have hit for the cycle in home runs, the odds against seeing that again would be astronomical.
I told my bro that I miss the fans pouring onto the field after the last out of a championship win. However after seeing Nicosia punching someone out 😂, Tekulve about to, people grabbing at Stargell and in the 78 WS game 6, Thurman Munson chasing some dude down for snatching his cap or mask and socking dude, I get it😂. It’s too damn dangerous for everybody.
Awesome post. Made me want to make a list. TOP TEN: Mike Schmidt Willie Stargell J.R. Richard George Brett Joe Morgan Dwight Evans Carlton Fisk Rod Carew Tony Gwynn Rich Gossage Honorable mention: Ozzie Smith Paul Molitor Yadier Molina Greg Maddox Miguel Cabrera Edgar Martinez Keith Hernandez Joaquin Andújar Kent Tekulve Mike Piazza Jack Clark Jeff Kent Jim Rice Bob Horner Mariano Rivera Brooks Robinson Manny Ramirez Greg Luzinski Dave Kingman Al Hrabowski Dale Murphy Chase Utley Gary Carter Nolan Ryan Jim Thome
crowtservo IKR? Almost 40 years ago already. But Pittsburgh still has the Penguins (who won back to back Stanley Cups these past couple years) and the Steelers who won two Super Bowls in 2006 and 2009. Though they're long due for another one soon.
I wouldnt say theyre irrelevant. They just havent won in a while. Ever since 22 joined the team they have played better. Since 2012 the buccos have been only a few batters/pitchers away from making the NLCS.
I appreciate this. I was a DETROIT tigers fan. Pirates fan in this world series. I was 17 years old. I still have a pirate's wall pennent from 1979. Willie Stargell was my favorite player for Pittsburgh. Pitchers wasted no time scratching themselves and moved the game along. Baseball today is nothing more than overpriced cry babies and a generation of entitlement.
Just like 1971 with Mike Cuellar in game seven against the Pirates, Scott McGregor pitched his talented heart out in this 1979 World Series only to see one pitch, albeit obviously against two magnificent Pittsburgh players Clemente and Stargell, just make the game changing difference for the the Orioles that denied what could have been a remarkable baseball dynasty under Earl Weaver.
I often think the same thing, those two close game 7 losses cost Weaver the title of one of the greatest managers of all time. Although still a Hall of Famer.
@@kevinevans5921 And both times in 1971 and '79, the Orioles had commanding leads in both series against Pittsburgh. 2-0 Series lead in '71 and 3-1 in '79.
Carnival Soul yes, ironic how many similarities in those 2 series, including both ending October 17, Stargell scoring the winning run in both games, and if not for the crazy 9th, both games 2-1.
@@kevinevans5921 Yes he did score the winning run in both game sevens. Forgot about that. And both were lost at Memorial Stadium despite the great pitching the Orioles got from Cuellar and McGregor respectively.
As a life long Orioles fan I just have to say that the Orioles of the 70s under Earl Weaver were the biggest choking machine in sports history. The World Series stage was just too big for them.
The '79 Orioles dominated baseball that year, ran away with the division, won the pennant, and then, perhaps, when they went up 3-games-to-1 on the Pirates thought they had things all wrapped up. Turns out they underestimated a Pirates team that had battled all season to win their division, not clinching until the last day of the regular season. Then they swept past the Reds and when the chips were down vs the Orioles they battled back once again & stunned the Orioles, in fact the Pirates won 3 of the 4 games played at Memorial Stadium including of course Games 6 & 7. And Willie 'Pops' Stargell was undoubtedly the spiritual leader of the ballclub the whole way through.
I watched the Orioles almost all season that year. Thought they had the series cinched when winning two straight in Pittsburg and would get revenge for '71. Oh well. What pissed me off the most was the constant coverage of the Pirate wives blowing their whistles and the network playing "We are Family." It's not shown here because this was coverage between innings just before or after commercial breaks. Only thing worse was '69 when both NY teams beat the Baltimore teams (Mets and Jets). My uncle still thinks the Colts/Jets game was fixed...
Broke my10 year old heart. After Dauer’s homer I was so excited, I tripped over my feet running through the house. Stargell’s, not the same reaction. 😩😩😩😩
thanks so much for sharing this series! this was the first team i ever loved that actually won! so seeing this again was really great. :-) kent tekulve rules!!!
Help me out Bucs fans??? What were the stars on the old fashioned caps back then? I remember the Pirates and the Cardinals? Having the same kind of caps, but only Pittsburgh having those "Ohio State " kind of "gold star" kind of things back then and I was only 12 when this happened.
All right. So, I was born the year after the Pirates last won it all. And all bets are off now. Because if they could go 40-plus years without a world championship, what stops them from going another 40? It might not happen in my lifetime. It might be a big fat ZERO for them in my time.
Fueled by greenies and chew. These were the golden years of major league baseball. I've absolutely loved this series. You woulda thought the orioles were gonna win after watching the first three games, but they choked
The city of Pittsburg was spoiled at this time. The Steelers were champs four times in six years, and these Pirates won this WS after winning the last three games in a row. A lot o’ trophies….
Then the Orioles, Tigers, Mets, Dodgers, A's, Reds, Twins, Blue Jays, Braves, Diamondbacks, Angels, Marlins, White Sox, Phillies, Yankees, Cardinals, Giants, Royals, Cubs, Asterisks, Red Sox, and Nationals.
1:54:00 is, by one measure, the most crucial at bat ever. No other at-bat in MLB history would go farther is determining the winner of the World Series. Luckily, the Pirates came out on top. (Other at-bats ended up being more important because of the outcome of the at-bat but no other at-bat was more important before the outcome was determined.) www.thebaseballgauge.com/post.php?tab=plays&first=min&last=max&type=All&WPA=champ&round=All&gm=All&BestOf=All&half=All&inning=All&outs=All&bases=All&invTm=All&batTm=All&fldTm=All&awTm=All&hmTm=All&park=All&WalkOff=&results=25&sort=LI_a&page=1#metric
