1979 – A month after being acquired by the Blue Jays, Chris Chambliss goes to the Atlanta Braves with Luis Gomez for Barry Bonnell, Pat Rockett and Joey McLaughlin. Chambliss will play eight seasons for the Braves.
1979 – 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.
1979 – Commissioner Bowie Kuhn lets Billy Martin off with a warning, following the October 23rd barroom altercation with a marshmallow salesman.
1979 – Los Angeles Dodgers pitcher Rick Sutcliffe, who posted a 17-10 record for a sub-.500 team, receives 20 of 24 votes to earn National League Rookie of the Year honors.
1979 – Third baseman John Castino, who batted .285 for the Twins, and shortstop Alfredo Griffin, who hit .287 for the Blue Jays, tie for the American League Rookie of the Year Award, each receiving seven of the 28 votes. The deadlock will precipitate a change in the voting system, effective in 1980.
1979 – Righthander Julio Solano is signed as a free agent. In parts of five seasons as an Astro (1983-1987), Solano compiles a 6-8 record with a 4.55 ERA.
1979 – The Atlanta Braves sign relief pitcher Al Hrabosky, a reentry free agent formerly with the Kansas City Royals, to a five-year pact worth $2.2 million.
1979 – The Houston Astros sign free agent pitcher Nolan Ryan. The former California Angels ace and future Hall of Fame member signs a four-year deal worth $4.5 million, making him the highest-paid player in major league history. Ryan also becomes the first player to earn a $1 million annual salary.
1979 – On a flight to Austin, Texas, Daniel Okrent sketches out the first draft of rules for what will become Rotisserie League Baseball. Had the friends he was seeing not ignored these rules, the Rotisserie League would have been called Pit League, after the Austin barbecue joint where Okrent first unveiled them. Two weeks later in New York, he pitches the idea to a more receptive group with whom Okrent lunches monthly at La Rôtisserie Française.
On November 16, 1979, the Boston Red Sox sign free agent slugger Tony Perez. The veteran first baseman, a standout for Cincinnati’s “Big Red Machine” teams of the mid-1970s, played for the Montreal Expos in 1979. The future Hall of Famer will spend three seasons in Boston, compiling a .266 batting average while…