1979 – Willie McCovey of the San Francisco Giants hits his 513th home run, off Dennis Lamp, establishing him as the National League all-time left-handed home run leader, but the Chicago Cubs beat the Giants, 8 – 6, at Candlestick Park.
The Mets enjoy the most productive inning in franchise history when ten runners cross the plate in the sixth fame of their 12-6 victory over the Reds at Shea Stadium. The highlight of the double-digit deluge is Doug Flynn’s three-run inside-the-park home run.
On June 12 1979, Tiger skipper Les Moss, who was hired early in the offseason to replace Ralph Houk, is terminated 53 games into his first season as a major league manager, having compiled a 27-26 record with the team. Detroit makes the unusual managerial move to hire an unexpectedly available Sparky Anderson, the fired…
On June 11, 1979 The Cardinals’ Ted Simmons homers from both sides of the plate in a 9 – 7 win over the Dodgers.
On June 9, 1979 At Royals Stadium Willie Wilson slashes an opposite-field off gap shot off Yankee reliever Ken Clay, the hit that gets through to the wall. He will fly around the bases giving the Royals the win via his walk-off inside the park homerun in 13 innings vs the New York Yankees. 9-8.
6/8/1979: Two more rained out homers in Milwaukee. Lamar Johnson and Alan Bannister hit back-to-back drives to lead off the second inning. The pitcher was Bill Travers.
Charlotte Knights pitcher Mike Boddicker sets a Southern League record with 18 strikeouts in an 8 – 2 win over Knoxville.
Texas Rangers back-up C/1B John Ellis hits two home runs with a double and six RBI to back Ferguson Jenkins and propel the Rangers to a 7 – 1 win over the Milwaukee Brewers. John Grubb singles in the 9th inning to extend his hitting streak to 20 games.
6/5/1979: Seattle’s Willie Horton hit a towering fly ball in the eighth inning of a game in the Kingdome. The drive, off Detroit’s John Hiller, hit a speaker in left field and became a single. If it had not, it would have been Horton’s 300th home run, which came the next day off Jack Morris.
Pat Underwood, in his major league debut, blanks the Blue Jays for 8 1/3 innings, earning the victory when the Tigers beat Toronto, 1-0, thanks to Jerry Morales’ eighth inning solo home run. The 22 year-old rookie’s mound opponent is his older brother Tom, now winless in seven decisions, who goes the distance in the Exhibition Stadium contest.
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