1979 in Baseball Resource | Learn About, Share and Discuss 1979 in Baseball At Popflock.com

	... 1969; 1970; 1971; 1972; 1973; 1974; 1975; ; 1976; 1977; 1978; 1979; 1980; 1981; 1982; ; 1983; 1984; 1985; 1986; 1987; 1988; 1989 ...;
	Art; Archaeology; Architecture; Literature; Music; Philosophy; Science +...;

The following are the baseball events of the year 1979 throughout the world.

Champions

Major League Baseball

World Series: Pittsburgh Pirates over Baltimore Orioles (4-3); Willie Stargell, MVP

League Championship Series NBC			World Series ABC

East	Baltimore Orioles	3
West	California Angels	1
			AL	Baltimore Orioles	3
			NL	Pittsburgh Pirates	4
East	Pittsburgh Pirates	3
West	Cincinnati Reds	0

American League Championship Series MVP: None.
National League Championship Series MVP: Willie Stargell
All-Star Game, July 17 at the Kingdome: National League, 7-6; Dave Parker, MVP

Other champions

College World Series: Cal State-Fullerton
Cuban National Series: Sancti Spíritus
Japan Series: Hiroshima Toyo Carp over Kintetsu Buffaloes (4-3)
Big League World Series: West Hempstead, New York
Little League World Series: Pu-Tzu Town, Hsien, Taiwan
Senior League World Series: Tung-Feng LL Taichung, Taiwan
Pan American Games: Cuba over Dominican Republic

Winter Leagues

Awards and honors

Baseball Hall of Fame
Most Valuable Player
- Don Baylor, California Angels, OF (AL)
- Willie Stargell, Pittsburgh Pirates, 1B and Keith Hernandez, St. Louis Cardinals, 1B (NL)
Cy Young Award
- Mike Flanagan, Baltimore Orioles (AL)
- Bruce Sutter, Chicago Cubs (NL)
Rookie of the Year
- John Castino, Minnesota Twins, 3B and Alfredo Griffin, Toronto Blue Jays, SS (AL)
- Rick Sutcliffe, Los Angeles Dodgers, P (NL)
Woman Executive of the Year (major or minor league): Doris Krucker, Midwest League
Gold Glove Award
Cecil Cooper (1B) Milwaukee Brewers (AL)
Frank White (2B) Kansas City Royals (AL)
Buddy Bell (3B) Texas Rangers (AL)
Rick Burleson (SS) Boston Red Sox (AL)
Dwight Evans (OF) Boston Red Sox (AL)
Fred Lynn (OF) Boston Red Sox (AL)
Sixto Lezcano (OF) Milwaukee Brewers (AL)
Jim Sundberg (C) Texas Rangers (AL)
Jim Palmer (P) Baltimore Orioles (AL)

MLB statistical leaders

Type	Name	Stat	Name	Stat
	American League		National League
AVG	Fred Lynn BOS	.333	Keith Hernandez STL	.344
HR	Gorman Thomas MIL	45	Dave Kingman CHC	48
RBI	Don Baylor CAL	139	Dave Winfield SDP	118
Wins	Mike Flanagan BAL	23	Joe Niekro HOU Phil Niekro ATL	21
ERA	Ron Guidry NYY	2.78	J. R. Richard HOU	2.71

Major league baseball final standings

American League
Rank	Club	Wins	Losses	Win %	GB
East Division
1st	Baltimore Orioles	102	57	.642	--
2nd	Milwaukee Brewers	95	66	.590	8
3rd	Boston Red Sox	91	69	.569	11.5
4th	New York Yankees	89	71	.556	13.5
5th	Detroit Tigers	85	76	.528	18
6th	Cleveland Indians	81	80	.503	22
7th	Toronto Blue Jays	53	109	.327	50.5
West Division
1st	California Angels	88	74	.543	--
2nd	Kansas City Royals	85	77	.525	3
3rd	Texas Rangers	83	79	.512	5
4th	Minnesota Twins	82	80	.506	6
5th	Chicago White Sox	73	87	.456	14
6th	Seattle Mariners	67	95	.414	21
7th	Oakland Athletics	54	108	.333	34

National League
Rank	Club	Wins	Losses	Win %	GB
East Division
1st	Pittsburgh Pirates	98	64	.605	--
2nd	Montreal Expos	95	65	.594	2
3rd	St. Louis Cardinals	86	76	.531	12
4th	Philadelphia Phillies	84	78	.519	14
5th	Chicago Cubs	80	82	.494	18
6th	New York Mets	63	99	.389	35
West Division
1st	Cincinnati Reds	90	71	.559	--
2nd	Houston Astros	89	73	.549	1.5
3rd	Los Angeles Dodgers	79	83	.488	11.5
4th	San Francisco Giants	71	91	.438	19.5
5th	San Diego Padres	68	93	.422	22
6th	Atlanta Braves	66	94	.413	23.5

Events

January

January 23 - Willie Mays receives 409 of 432 votes in the Baseball Writers' Association of America election to earn enshrinement in the Hall of Fame.

February

February 3 - The Minnesota Twins trade Rod Carew to the California Angels for Ken Landreaux, Dave Engle, Paul Hartzell and Brad Havens. His first season with the Angels, he helps his new team reach the post season for the first time, batting over .300 for the next five seasons, and being selected for the next six American League All-Star teams.

March

March 7 - The Special Veterans Committee selects Warren Giles and Hack Wilson for the Hall of Fame.

April

April 7 - In the earliest no-hitter in major league history, the Houston Astros' Ken Forsch shuts down the Atlanta Braves 6-0. His brother, St. Louis Cardinals pitcher Bob Forsch, hurled a no-hitter the previous season against the Philadelphia Phillies -- making them the first big league brothers to each toss a no-hitter.
April 19 - New York Yankees' closer Rich Gossage breaks his right thumb in a clubhouse fight with teammate Cliff Johnson. Gossage would miss almost two months, while 1978 American League Cy Young Award winner Ron Guidry voluntarily replaced him in the bullpen for a short time.

May

May 9 - With the score tied 4-4 in the ninth inning, and Jimmy Sexton on first base with no outs, the Houston Astros' Terry Puhl lays down a sacrifice bunt. The Cardinals attempt to get the lead runner on the play, however, second base umpire Dave Pallone calls Sexton safe, claiming that Garry Templeton never touched the bag. Cardinals manager Ken Boyer, First baseman Keith Hernandez and catcher Ted Simmons are ejected from the game. Players on the Cardinals bench begin throwing bats and helmets onto the field in protest. As a result, Pallone orders the entire Cardinals bench into the clubhouse, allowing players only to come onto the field as needed. The Cardinals would get out of the inning without a run scoring; however, they would lose in the sixteenth inning.
May 17 - Dave Kingman of the Chicago Cubs hits three home runs and Mike Schmidt of the Philadelphia Phillies hits two, the second of which proves to be the game winner in the tenth inning, as the Phillies beat the Cubs 23-22 at Wrigley Field. Bill Buckner had a grand slam and seven RBIs for Chicago. The game included a then Major League record 11 home runs and 50 hits.
May 25 - Starter Ross Baumgarten and reliever Randy Scarbery pitched the first combined one-hitter in Chicago White Sox history, defeating Nolan Ryan and the California Angels, 6-1, at Comiskey Park.
May 28 - Texas Rangers first baseman Mike Jorgensen is hit in the head by a pitch from Boston Red Sox pitcher Andy Hassler. Dave Roberts comes into the game to pinch run for Jorgensen, and Pat Putnam takes over as the Rangers' regular first baseman for the next month. Aside from a pinch-hit appearance on May 31, Jorgensen does not play again until July 1. After suffering headaches, it is discovered he has a small blood clot inside his head, which apparently caused a seizure and could have resulted in his early demise.
May 31 - Detroit Tigers pitcher Pat Underwood makes his major league debut against his brother, Tom, pitching for the Toronto Blue Jays. Both brothers hold the opposing team scoreless until Tom surrendered a solo home run to Jerry Morales leading off the eighth.

June

June 8 - The Kansas City Royals use their fourth overall pick to draft Dan Marino. In the seventeenth round, they select Stanford's John Elway. Neither player would sign with the Royals, though they would go on to record-breaking careers in the National Football League.
June 12 - The Detroit Tigers hire Sparky Anderson as their new manager.
June 18 - Bob Lemon is fired as manager of the defending World Series champ New York Yankees after a sluggish 34-31 start. Billy Martin, originally slated not to take over until the 1980 season, is brought back early by George Steinbrenner, drawing the ire of Reggie Jackson.
June 24 - In a 5-1 loss to the Rangers, Rickey Henderson debuts for the Oakland Athletics. He singles and doubles; the first of his over 3,000 career hits, and steals the first of his over 1,400 bases.

July

July 12 - The Detroit Tigers win the first game of a scheduled doubleheader against the Chicago White Sox, 4-1, on Disco Demolition Night at Chicago's Comiskey Park. Thousands of young fans swarm onto the field between the games, damaging the field and causing mayhem throughout the stadium. The White Sox are forced to forfeit the second game.
July 13 - In a rare event, Nolan Ryan of the California Angels and Steve Renko of the Boston Red Sox take separate no-hitters into the ninth inning before they both lose the no hit bids. Ryan's no-hit bid against the New York Yankees benefitted from some questionable official scoring; Jim Spencer's drive to center that Angels centerfielder Rick Miller barely got a glove on was ruled an error. In the ninth, Thurman Munson reached on an error by shortstop Jim Anderson. Two batters later, Reggie Jackson singled to center to unquestionably break up the no-hitter. The next batter, Lou Piniella hit a sacrifice fly to score Munson, and break up the shutout. The run was, however, unearned. Ryan's Angels defeat the Yankees, 6-1. Renko's no-hit bid against the Oakland Athletics is broken up by Rickey Henderson with one out. After recording a second out, Renko walks Mitchell Page, and is pulled in favor of Bill Campbell by Red Sox manager Don Zimmer. Campbell strikes out the only batter he faces, Dave Revering to earn the save, however, Renko is denied the shutout as a result. The Red Sox defeat the A's, 2-0. Ryan's feat, however, receives considerably more attention as the game was nationally televised on ABC's Monday Night Baseball and Ryan (while pitching the game) was on the ensuing issue's cover of Sports Illustrated.
July 17 - The National League wins its eighth straight All-Star Game, 7-6, at Seattle. Lee Mazzilli hits a home run to tie the game in the eighth, and walks in the ninth to bring in the winning run. Dave Parker, with two outstanding throws, is named the MVP, and Pete Rose appears in the game playing first base, making him the only player in MLB history to appear in the game at five different positions in the field in his All-Star game career.
July 24 - Boston's Carl Yastrzemski hits his 400th home run off Oakland Athletics pitcher Mike Morgan in the 7th inning of the Red Sox's 7-3 win over the Athletics at Boston's Fenway Park.
July 27 - Bert Blyleven of the Pittsburgh Pirates pitches a 9-1 complete game victory against the Montreal Expos. However, he also strikes out five times as a hitter in the game, becoming the only pitcher in major league history to do so.

August

August 2 - The Chicago White Sox announce that Don Kessinger has been fired as manager, and that he will be replaced by rookie manager Tony La Russa.
August 3 - Over 51,000 mourners attend a memorial service for New York Yankees captain Thurman Munson at Yankee Stadium, who was killed the day before in a plane crash.
August 5 - Fred Lynn hits his 100th career home run, helping the Red Sox beat Milwaukee Brewers 7-2.
August 6 - The entire New York Yankee team flies to Canton, Ohio for captain Thurman Munson's funeral. Hours later, the team returns to New York City and defeats the Baltimore Orioles 5-4 at Yankee Stadium, before a national viewing audience on ABC's Monday Night Baseball. Bobby Murcer, one of Munson's best friends, drives in all five Yankee runs with a three-run home run in the seventh inning and a two-run single in the bottom of the ninth.
August 13 - The St. Louis Cardinals' Lou Brock slashes his 3,000th hit off the hand of Chicago Cubs pitcher Dennis Lamp in a 3-2 Cardinals win at Busch Memorial Stadium.
August 22 - At Riverfront Stadium, Johnny Bench breaks Frank Robinson's record for most home runs by a Cincinnati Red. His shot, the 325th home run of his career (all with the Reds), comes off Stan Bahnsen in the fourth inning of the Reds' 7-2 victory over the Montreal Expos.
August 24 - The Philadelphia Phillies retire eventual Hall of Famer Richie Ashburn's number 1.

September

September 11 - Dave Concepción and George Foster hit back-to-back home runs in the seventh inning off Houston Astros ace reliever Joe Sambito and the Cincinnati Reds hold off the Astros 9-8. The Reds trailed the Astros by 1/2 game and moved into first place to stay in the National League West.
September 12 - The Boston Red Sox's Carl Yastrzemski records his 3000th career hit with a single off of pitcher Jim Beattie during a 9-2 win over the rival New York Yankees at Fenway Park. He is the first American League player to reach both 3,000 hits and 400 home runs.
September 14 - The Minnesota Twins trade All-Star first baseman Rod Carew to the California Angels for Dave Engle, Paul Hartzell and Brad Havens. Carew, who hit .333 for the Twins in 1978 but had vowed never to play again for team's owner Calvin Griffith after he made disparaging remarks against black players a few months earlier, will hit .318 for the Angels for the rest of the season. Carew will be inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1991.
September 15 - As part of a 10-2 win over the Baltimore Orioles, the Red Sox's Bob Watson hits for the cycle. Having done it for the Houston Astros on June 24, 1977, he is the first player to do this in both leagues.
September 17 - George Brett hits his 20th triple of the season. He is the first player since Willie Mays in 1957 to join the 20-20-20 club.
September 23 - Lou Brock steals the 938th base of his career, breaking Billy Hamilton's all-time National League record. Brock's St. Louis Cardinals defeat the New York Mets 7-4 in ten innings.
September 24 - Pete Rose collects his 200th hit of the season, giving him ten seasons with at least 200 hits. This breaks the record set by Ty Cobb.
September 28 - Garry Templeton of the St. Louis Cardinals collects his 100th hit of the season while batting right-handed. Having already collected 100 hits while batting left-handed, Templeton is the first player in history to accomplish this. He had batted right-handed, exclusively, for the last week of the season to get the needed hits.
September 28 - The Cincinnati Reds' Frank Pastore pitches a complete-game 3-0 shutout over the Atlanta Braves, clinching the National League West Division title for the Reds.

October

October 17 - In Game Seven of the World Series, Willie Stargell hits his third home run of the Series to send the Pittsburgh Pirates to their third straight win over the Baltimore Orioles, to win the World Series Championship. Stargell wins Series MVP honors. The Pirates came back from a deficit of 3 games-to-1.
October 23 - Yankee manager Billy Martin gets into a barroom fight with Joseph Cooper, a marshmallow salesman from Minnesota. Six days later, Martin is fired from the Yankees and replaced with Dick Howser.

November

November 13 - For the first time ever, there will be League co-MVPs as Keith Hernandez of the St. Louis Cardinals shares the National League Baseball Most Valuable Player Award with Willie Stargell of the Pittsburgh Pirates. Stargell is the oldest person to win this award (since broken by Barry Bonds in 2004). The Pirates have thus won (or shared) all four "Most Valuable Player" awards for the season (All-Star Game, National League Championship Series, World Series, and National League regular season). This is the first such sweep in Major League history (Stargell had won the awards for the NLCS, World Series, and National League regular season, while teammate Dave Parker won the All-Star Game award).
November 20 - California Angels outfielder and DH Don Baylor wins the American League Most Valuable Player Award after hitting .296 with 36 home runs and a major league-leading 120 runs scored and 139 runs batted in. Baylor receives 20 of 28 first-place votes to become the first Angel ever to win MVP honors.
November 26 - Third baseman John Castino, who batted .285 for the Minnesota Twins, and shortstop Alfredo Griffin, who hit .287 for the Toronto Blue Jays, tie for the American League Rookie of the Year Award, each receiving seven of the 28 first-place votes. The deadlock precipitates a change in the voting system, effective in 1980.
November 28 - Los Angeles Dodgers pitcher Rick Sutcliffe, who posted a 17-10 record with a 3.46 ERA for a sub-.500 team, receives 20 of first-place 24 votes to earn the National League Rookie of the Year honors. Right fielders Jeffrey Leonard of the Houston Astros (3) and Scot Thompson of the Chicago Cubs (1) receive the other votes.

December

December 1 - San Diego Padres outfielder Dave Winfield and Texas Rangers third baseman Buddy Bell are first-time honorees as The Sporting News announces the 1979 Gold Glove teams.

Movies

Bleacher Bums (TV)
The Kid from Left Field (TV)

Births

January

January 3 - Rosman García
January 3 - Carlos Maldonado
January 3 - Michael Restovich
January 5 - Rubén Quevedo
January 15 - Ben Howard
January 16 - Jack Cust
January 18 - Wandy Rodríguez
January 21 - Byung-hyun Kim
January 22 - Carlos Ruiz
January 23 - Juan Rincón
January 25 - Philip Barzilla
January 26 - Kenny Kelly
January 28 - Phil Seibel
January 29 - Lance Niekro

February

February 7 - Eliézer Alfonzo
February 7 - Humberto Cota
February 7 - Jon Leicester
February 8 - Aaron Cook
February 8 - Ryan Snare
February 9 - Akinori Iwamura
February 9 - Mike Tonis
February 11 - Éric Cyr
February 11 - Chris Mabeus
February 15 - Luis Ugueto
February 17 - Josh Willingham
February 22 - Steve Colyer
February 23 - Chris Aguila
February 24 - Brian Esposito
February 24 - Dennis Tankersley
February 25 - Josh Labandeira

August

August 2 - Colby Lewis
August 2 - Humberto Quintero
August 2 - Matt Riley
August 9 - Ron Flores
August 10 - Dan Johnson
August 10 - Brandon Lyon
August 11 - Jorge Padilla
August 12 - D. J. Houlton
August 13 - Román Colón
August 13 - Corey Patterson
August 13 - Jon Switzer
August 14 - Ángel Santos
August 15 - Ryan Budde
August 15 - Roberto Novoa
August 19 - Rocky Cherry
August 20 - Franklyn Gracesqui
August 20 - Cory Sullivan
August 23 - Prentice Redman
August 23 - Chris Roberson
August 26 - Charlie Zink
August 27 - Tommy Murphy
August 27 - Andy Pratt
August 29 - David Sanders
August 29 - Ryan Shealy
August 29 - Eduardo Villacis
August 30 - Scott Richmond
August 30 - Luis Rivas
August 31 - Clay Hensley
August 31 - Shane Loux
August 31 - Tim Raines, Jr.
August 31 - Ramón Santiago

September

September 5 - Cliff Bartosh
September 5 - Ryan Spilborghs
September 7 - Nathan Haynes
September 7 - Brian Stokes
September 11 - Frank Francisco
September 16 - Chris George
September 16 - Bobby Korecky
September 18 - Kevin Thompson
September 18 - Billy Traber
September 19 - Lenny DiNardo
September 19 - Andrew Good
September 22 - Charlton Jimerson
September 24 - Nate Cornejo
September 26 - Yurendell DeCaster
September 27 - Jon Garland
September 28 - Jason Young
September 29 - Shelley Duncan
September 29 - Joe Thurston

October

October 9 - Alay Soler
October 10 - Brad Ziegler
October 11 - Shane Youman
October 14 - Duaner Sánchez
October 17 - John Ennis
October 17 - Gil Velazquez
October 20 - Choo Freeman
October 21 - Khalil Greene
October 21 - Gabe Gross
October 21 - Steve Holm
October 21 - Tim Spooneybarger
October 22 - Eli Whiteside
October 23 - Ramón Castro
October 23 - Bud Smith
October 25 - Jeremy Brown
October 25 - Tony Torcato
October 28 - Bobby Cramer
October 30 - Jason Bartlett

November

November 1 - Coco Crisp
November 4 - Ezequiel Astacio
November 6 - Adam LaRoche
November 7 - Willie Collazo
November 9 - David Bush
November 9 - Adam Dunn
November 11 - J. R. House
November 13 - Gerald Laird
November 15 - John Stephens
November 18 - Steve Bechler
November 19 - John-Ford Griffin
November 19 - Ryan Howard
November 20 - Lino Urdaneta
November 21 - Bárbaro Cañizares
November 24 - Horacio Ramírez
November 25 - Matt Tupman
November 26 - Jeff Fulchino
November 27 - Carlos Mendoza
November 27 - Jonathan Van Every
November 28 - Nook Logan
November 28 - Mike Schultz
November 29 - Francis Beltrán

December

December 2 - José Morban
December 3 - Eric Hull
December 4 - Manny Gonzalez
December 7 - Ryan Theriot
December 9 - Eric Stults
December 12 - Garrett Atkins
December 15 - Kevin Cameron
December 17 - David Kelton
December 19 - Chip Ambres
December 19 - Rafael Soriano
December 20 - David DeJesus
December 24 - Joe Valentine
December 26 - J. C. Boscán
December 28 - Bill Hall

Deaths

January-March

January 9 - Charley Stis, 94, who spent more than six decades in professional baseball as a player, manager, scout and umpire
January 25 - Charlene Barnett, 50, who played second base in the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League from 1949 to 1952 and was a member of three champion teams
February 7 - Warren Giles, 82, president of the National League from 1951 to 1969, and general manager of the Cincinnati Reds from 1937 to 1951
February 8 - Alex Gaston, 85, catcher for the New York Giants and Boston Red Sox between 1920 and 1929
February 8 - Art Williams, 44, the first black umpire in the National League, working from 1972 to 1977 including the 1975 NLCS
February 26 - Forrest Thompson, 60, left-handed pitcher for the Washington Senators in the late 1940s
March 2 - Dale Alexander, 75, first baseman who batted .331 in five seasons with the Tigers and Red Sox, winning the 1932 batting title, before an injury ended his career; later a scout
March 29 - Luke Easter, 63, first baseman in the Negro Leagues who had 100 RBI in each of his first two seasons with the Cleveland Indians

April-June

April 3 - Harry Simpson, 53, outfielder and first baseman who led the AL in triples twice
April 6 - Al Evans, 62, longtime catcher for the Washington Senators, later a minor league manager
April 6 - Rudy Kallio, 86, pitcher for the Detroit Tigers (1918-19) and Boston Red Sox (1925); later a coach for Triple-A Portland Beavers and scout for the Chicago Cubs
April 18 - Lindsay Deal, 67, outfielder for the 1939 Brooklyn Dodgers
May 3 - Tom Jenkins, 81, outfielder for the Boston Red Sox, Philadelphia Athletics and St. Louis Browns in the early 1920s
May 5 - Bill Lucas, 43, general manager of the Atlanta Braves since September 1976 and the first African-American general manager in MLB history
May 23 - Hiroshi Oshita, 56, Hall of Fame first baseman who played for the Toei Flyers from 1946 to 1951 and the Nishitetsu Lions from 1952 to 1959
June 8 - Muriel Coben, 58, All-American Girls Professional Baseball League pitcher, and member of a Canadian women's curling champion team
June 11 - Fred Martin, 63, pitcher for the St. Louis Cardinals (1946, 1949-1950) who appeared in 57 career games; later a minor league manager and pitching instructor for the Chicago Cubs, where he taught the split-finger fastball to eventual Hall of Fame Bruce Sutter; was pitching coach of the Chicago White Sox at the time of his passing
June 17 - Duffy Lewis, 91, left fielder for the Boston Red Sox who starred on three champions and mastered Fenway Park's sloping left field
June 18 - Hal Trosky, 66, first baseman for the Indians who batted .302 lifetime and had six 100-RBI seasons

July-September

July 12 - Tom Lovelace, 81, pinch hit in one game with the Pittsburgh Pirates in 1922.
July 22 - Amos Strunk, 90, a center fielder for the Philadelphia Athletics, Boston Red Sox and Chicago White Sox between 1908 and 1924 and a member of four World Series champion teams
August 2 - Thurman Munson, 32, 7-time All-Star catcher for the New York Yankees since 1969 who batted .300 five times and won the 1976 MVP award; 1970 Rookie of the Year won three Gold Gloves and batted .357 in 30 postseason games
August 9 - Walter O'Malley, 75, principal owner of the Dodgers franchise from 1950 to 1975, and sole owner from 1975 until his death; during his tenure, the team won four World Series titles; moved the team from Brooklyn to Los Angeles and constructed Dodger Stadium
September 4 - Turkey Stearnes, 78, center fielder in the Negro Leagues who led the Negro National League in home runs six times while batting .350

October-December

October 22 - John Drebinger, 88, sportswriter for The New York Times for 41 years
November 18 - Freddie Fitzsimmons, 78, knuckleball pitcher who won 217 games for the New York Giants and Brooklyn Dodgers
December 4 - Bert Delmas, 68, infielder for the 1933 Brooklyn Dodgers
December 15 - Stan Hack, 70, 5-time All-Star third baseman for the Chicago Cubs who batted .301 lifetime and posted a .394 career on-base percentage, the highest of any 20th-century third baseman; scored 100 runs seven times and led NL in hits and steals twice each