Bill Madlock: the game I'll never forget as told to Al Doyle: former pirates third baseman recalls Game 5 of the 1979 World Series when he collected four hits in Pittsburgh's comeback victory

Baseball Digest, Oct, 2004

NOTHING IN MY CAREER COMPARES TO 1979, WHEN THE PIRATES WON the World Series.

I started the season with the Giants, and I'll never forget June 28, which was the day the Pirates picked me up in a trade. It was great to go from a last-place team to a contender. The Pirates were a talented bunch of players.

The Giants were playing me out of position at second base, and the Pirates moved me back to third. The Pirates didn't have a lot of big stars--Dave Parker and Willie Stargell were our biggest names--but we had a lot of good, solid players like Phil Garner, Tim Foli, Bill Robinson and Omar Moreno.

How did the Pirates win the pennant? It all goes back to leadership. Chuck Tanner was the best manager I ever played for. He treated you like a man on and off the field. You can't talk about leadership and not mention Willie.

There was a lot of confidence on that team, and it was because of Willie. We always thought that the last four innings of a game were ours, because we scored a lot of late-inning runs. I just saw a program on the '79 Pirates on ESPN Classic, and I cried. Not because I'm getting older, but just knowing that Willie isn't here any more.

The Pirates had to battle the Expos to win the National League East, and we won three out of four games against them in the last week of the season. Willie hit some big home runs for us, and everything fell into place. We swept the Reds in three games, and it was the Pirates and the Orioles in the World Series.

The Orioles got five runs off Bruce Kison in the first inning of Game 1, and they hung on to win 5-4. Manny Sanguillen had a pinch-hit single in the ninth inning of Game 2 for a 3-2 win, and the next three games were in Pittsburgh.

We didn't look very sharp at home. The Pirates lost the next two games 8-4 and 9-6, and we were down three games to one. That's when Willie--or "Pops"--spoke up.

"We haven't played our best ball," Willie said to the "Family", which is what we were called that year. It looked like the Orioles were celebrating a little too much in Willie's opinion, and he wasn't happy about it.

I had my best Series game the next day, October 14, when I had four hits and we won 7-1. We trailed in the game, 1-0, going into the bottom of the sixth when Tim Foli led off with a walk. Parker followed with a single and Bill Robinson sacrificed to move the runners to second and third. "Pops" hit a sacrifice fly that tied the game and then I got my third hit of the game to give us a 2-1 lead.

We scored two more runs in the seventh to push our lead to 4-1. In the eighth, I got things started for a three-run rally by leading off with a single. I finished the day four-for-four with one run and one RBI.

Bert Blyleven picked up the win in relief and forced a return to Baltimore for the final two games.

Candy (John Candelaria) and Teke (Kent Tekulve) shut out the Orioles 4-0, in Game 6 and it came down to the last game with Jim Bibby starting for the Pirates and left-hander Scott McGregor for the Orioles. It was low-scoring game, 1-0, in the top of the seventh--when Pops batted with Robinson on base. He hit a homer over the right field wall to give us the lead. It was his third homer in the Series, and Willie was the MVP. Teke came in to finish the game, and we won 4-1 on the road.

I hit well (9-for-24.375) in the Series, but it wasn't just me. The whole team hit over .300 (.323) against the Orioles. It was an unbelievable season.

I'll never forget being part of the "Family" that season and playing in the World Series. I was on a contender for the first time in my career. We didn't make as much money then as they do today, but I just enjoyed playing baseball.

Boxscore

Pittsburgh Pirates vs. Baltimore Orioles

October 14, 1979

Baltimore Orioles

Player, Pos.                    AB       R        H      RBI
Kiko Garcia. ss                  4       0        0        0
Benny Ayala, ph/lf               1       0        0        0
Al Bumbry, cf (b)                1       0        0        0
Ken Singleton, rf                4       0        0        0
Eddie Murray, 1b                 4       0        0        0
Gary Roenicke, cf/lf             4       1        1        0
Doug DeCinces, 3b                4       0        2        0
Rich Dauer, 2b                   3       0        0        0
John Lowenstein, ph (d)          1       0        1        0
Rick Dempsey, c                  3       0        2        0
Terry Crowley, ph (e)            1       0        0        0
Mike Flanagan, p                 1       0        0        0
Pat Kelly, ph (c)                1       0        0        0

Totals                          32       1        6        0

Pittsburgh Pirates

Player, Pos.                    AB       R        H      RBI
Omar Moreno, cf                  4       1        0        0
Tim Foli, ss                     4       2        2        3
Dave Parker, rf                  4       1        2        1
Bill Robinson, lf                4       0        1        0
Willie Stargell, 1b              3       1        1        1
Bill Madlock, 3b                 4       1        4        1
Steve Nicosia, c                 4       0        0        1
Phil Garner, 2b                  4       1        2        0
Jim Rooker, p                    1       0        0        0
Lee Lacey, ph (a)                1       0        1        0
Bert Blyleven, p                 1       0        0        0

Totals                          34       7       13        7

(a) Singled for Jim Rooker in the fifth inning. (b) Flied out
for Benny Ayala in the sixth inning. (c) Struck out for Mike
Flanagan in the seventh inning. (d) Singled for Rich Dauer
in the ninth inning. (e) Flied out for Rick Dempsey in the
ninth inning.

Baltimore        0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0--1
Pittsburgh       0 0 0 0 0 2 2 3 x--7

Baltimore Orioles

Pitcher IP            IP     H    R    ER   BB    SO
Mike Flanagan (L)     6.0    6    2     2    1     6
Tim Stoddard          0.2    2    2     2    0     0
Tippy Martinez        0.1    2    1     1    0     0
Don Stanhouse         1.0    3    2     2    2     0

Pittsburgh Pirates

Pitcher               IP     H    R    ER    BB   SO
Jim Rooker            5.0    3    1     1     2    2
Bert Blyleven (W)     4.0    3    0     0     1    3

DP--Pittsburgh 2. LOB--Baltimore 7, Pittsburgh 9. 2B--Robinson,
Roenicke, Dempsey, Parker. 3B--Foli. SF--Stargell.

Time--2:54 Attendance--50,920