1979 World Series Game 1 Live Blog

BALTIMORE, Md. / October 10, 1979

Top of the 1st
6:59 - Welcome to the Live Blog! The weather is horrible in Baltimore but it looks like Game 1 is going to get underway pretty soon nonetheless. Of course this game is a rematch of the teams from the 1971 Series. I can't believe both the Pirates and Orioles were out of the World Series for 7 years!
7:01 - The crowd is really loud here in Baltimore. The field looks horrible. Visible standing water in left field.
7:03 - 1979 has been a great year but if we lose this World Series, I will have to shave my head and write a depressing song about this year.
7:05 - Only 3/4 of the Orioles infield is sporting mustaches. Surprising!
7:06 - The Orioles are going with a young lefty Mike Flanagan over Jim Palmer?! Pirates leadoff man Omar Moreno is a great one. 18 straight stolen bases, and stolen bases are one of the most important stats.
7:08 - Moreno grounds out. Pirates #2 hitter Tim Foli is a great example of the perfect #2 hitter, an infielder with one home run who chokes up on the bat for every swing.
7:09 - Foli pops out, but Dave Parker doubles down the right field line. He's the best player in baseball.
7:11 - Bill Robinson with an early RBI opportunity. One thing about this cold is how awesome the Pirates jerseys look with long sleeved yellow undershirts. I'll try to get a picture.
7:13 - And Robinson strikes out. I'm already a little nervous. Would hate to go down 1-0 and face Jim Palmer tomorrow. Flanagan has great stuff.

Bottom of the 1st
7:17 - The Pirates are going with Bruce Kison, 13-7, 3.19 on the year. He's a huge big game pitcher, 27-7 in September and October in his career. And he pitched great in the '71 Series. You have to go with him in Game 1.
7:19 - Al Bumbry singles to left. Great speed on the bases. We don't like disco anymore, but we still bat our shortstops second. Mark Belanger is up, batting .167 on the season.
7:20 - As the announcers point out, Belanger's batting average is irrelevant since he's a good hit and run man. This is a great night for O's manager Earl Weaver to secretly smoke in the dugout, since you can see everyone's breath.
7:22 - Belanger walks. Ken Singleton is up, 35 home runs and 111 RBI, and Kison bounces one up there. Kison works well with men on base though.
7:25 - Kison blows a double play ball but gets one out. Second and third, one out for Eddie Murray. With big sideburns, a mustache and a big Afro, the 23-year-old Murray must be pretty warm on this 41 degree night.
7:27 - Murray swings on a 3-0 pitch but walks a pitch later. Probably semi-intentional with a platoon man John Lowenstein due up.
7:28 - Bucs second baseman Phil Garner throws away a double play ball. This time we don't even get one out. Two runs score. 2-0 Orioles. And a big time silent S name at the plate with Doug DeCinces up, men on first and third. Jim Rooker is already throwing in the bullpen.
7:31 - Wild pitch on a ball that should have been stopped. Murray comes in to score. 3-0 O's.
7:32 - Well I guess the wild pitch didn't matter. DeCinces homers. 5-0 O's. Wow, just wow.
7:35 - Billy Smith singles to right and here comes the hook. Chuck Tanner wants the lefty already. Jim Rooker, 4-7, 4.59, will try to stop this from becoming more of a blowout already.
7:39 - The grounds crew is out replacing sod during the rain delay. Meanwhile ABC is advertising the big game, #3 Oklahoma against #4 Texas. Reminds me that Pitt would have a great football team this year if they didn't have a big question mark at QB. 10-9 win over Temple, weak. And we're back underway with Rick Dempsey batting.
7:40 - Dempsey lines out to shortstop and Foli throws the ball away trying to double off Smith. Two out, but you can't throw away balls and win World Series. Mike Flanagan is up for his first ever MLB at bat.
7:42 - Jim Rooker is a straight up fastball pitcher. He wants the strikeout, but he gets Flanagan on a ground ball. 5-0 end of the first.

Top of the 2nd
7:45 - I was listening to this new pop star Michael Jackson between innings. Amazing stuff. With this and the Punk movement, it's only a matter of time until bands like Foreigner and Journey are no longer on Pittsburgh radio. Speaking of punk, I like the music but I just can't bear to trade in my tight brown clothes for tight black clothes.
7:47 - Great shot of Doug DeCinces' wife. I'd take her over Mike Flanagan's wife, shown earlier.
7:48 - Willie Stargell strikes out and looks bad doing it. Bill Madlock grounds out. Also, good thing I can safely covet other men's wives since well under half of all marriages end in divorce.
7:50 - Steve Nicosia grounds out, nothing doing. Huge move to start our backup catcher in the World Series.

Bottom of the 2nd
7:53 - "This Weather is For The Birds" - Hilarious sign. The umpires are apparently going to get the grounds crew to soak up some of the standing water in right field. Conditions were horrible back in '71 too. I'm sure in the next 29 years baseball will come up with some solution to playing World Series games on cold, wet fields.
7:56 - Al Bumbry has a small mustache for a leadoff hitter. Tomorrow's starter John Candelaria is eating yogurt in the dugout. Great analysis of how Willie Stargell got the Pirates to the Series by building team chemistry. And Bumbry grounds out.
7:58 - Mark Belanger has a career .281 slugging percentage. What a #2 hitter. He strikes out.
7:59 - Ken Singleton hit 15 of his 35 home runs with Flanagan pitching. Bill Madlock makes a great play to rob him of an extra base hit down the line, but Stargell can't dig out the throw and Singleton slides into first with a single.
8:00 - Base hit for Murray. Any more runs here and this game is over. Rooker's style is to let them hit it, but he has an 0-3 record vs. Baltimore. "Not very impressive" points out the annoucer, especially with such a huge sample size.
8:02 - "Both teams are, in effect, family." Amazing and unsubstantiated claim by the American Broadcasting Corporation. Lowenstein strikes out. Garner, Rooker and Moreno due up.

Top of the 3rd
8:06 - Just a note, Ayatollah Khomeini has been in power in Iran for 7 months now. How can we get a stable situation in the Middle East with a peacemonger Democrat in office?
8:07 - Garner strikes out. Pittsburgh will let Rooker bat for himself, he's doing well enough.
8:08 - Surprisingly a relief pitcher fails to successfully bunt for a base hit. Two out for Moreno.
8:10 - Moreno flies out.

Bottom of the 3rd
8:12 - Dave Parker just warmed his hand in his crotch on camera for a full minute. "Can't nobody mess with me here," he says in a prerecorded interview.
8:14 - Doug DeCinces fouls one down the line. Orioles ball girls look great in orange fleece shirts, orange pants and orange winter hats. He walks a couple pitches later.
8:17 - Billy Smith grounds out, and so does Dempsey. Rooker is doing a great job holding the O's down until this dangerous offense can get something going for Pittsburgh.