Today in 1979 - Pittsburgh Pirates vs New York Mets

September 8, 1979 – Today in 1979, the Pittsburgh Pirates went to Shea Stadium to take on the New York Mets.

New York got on the board first in the bottom of the 6^th inning with a 2 run homerun by Ed Kranepool.  Pittsburgh responded in the top of the 8^th with an RBI single by Omar Moreno and a sacrifice fly by Tim Foli.  The game was tied 2-2 and went to extra innings.

The game went on until the bottom of the 15^th inning.  Jim Bibby relieved Jim Rooker.  The Mets had a man on third and two outs.  Bibby faced John Stearns, who hit an RBI single to left field.  Game over.  The New York Mets beat the Pittsburgh Pirates 3-2.

Dock Ellis got the win for the Mets, going to 4-12.  Jim Rooker was charged with the loss, falling to 3-7.  The Pittsburgh Pirates went to 84-57.  They were first in the NL East, a game ahead of the Montreal Expos.  The Mets went to 55-84.  They were 28 games behind the Pittsburgh Pirates, last in the NL East.

Notables

• There were 2 Hall of Famers playing in this game, both with the Pirates: Bert Blyleven and Willie Stargell.
  
• This was Chuck Tanner’s third season managing the Pirates.  He led the team to a World Series championship that season.  Tanner managed the team from 1977-85.
  
• This was also Joe Torre’s third season managing the Mets.  He managed the team from 1977-81.  Of course, he managed the New York Yankees from 1996-2007 and led them to 6 World Series appearances and 4 championships (1996 and 1998-2000).  He also managed the St. Louis Cardinals from 1990-95 and the Los Angeles Dodgers from 2008-10.
  
• After leaving the Mets, Torre managed the Atlanta Braves from 1982-84.  Tanner also managed the Braves from 1986-88.  This was his last managing job in MLB.
  
• Both Tanner and Torre played for the Braves when the team was still in Milwaukee, but in different years.
  
• Pirates’ second baseman Phil Garner went on to manage the Houston Astros to the NL Pennant in 2004.  He managed the team from 2004-07.
  
• Mets’ center fielder Lee Mazilli managed the Baltimore Orioles from 2004-05.
  
• This was Ed Kranepool’s last season with the Mets.  He was the last remaining member of the 1962 and 1969 Mets still on the team.
  
• Kranepool hit his last homerun and RBI of his career in this game.
  
• Two weeks after this game, Dock Ellis went to the Pittsburgh Pirates, who purchased his contract.

Game stats and other data can be found on Baseball-Reference.com at Pittsburgh Pirates vs New York Mets - September 8, 1979.