The Pittsburgh Pirates 1979 World Series Collector's Edition (A&E)
Picture: C+ Sound: C+
Extras: B+ Program: A
A&E Home Video and Major League Baseball have joined
forces for something that's been long overdue -- releasing complete and unedited
DVD versions of classic sporting events. In this particular case,
it's the 76th World Series in 1979 between the Pittsburgh Pirates and
the Baltimore Orioles. Rewatching every moment of these old games
has been one of the highlights of the year for me, bringing back a rush of
childhood memories. There's no doubt that fans everywhere will want to
relive the championships of their favorite teams. But the key words here
are "complete and unedited versions" of the games. Part of the
fun was going back and seeing how everything looked during the 1979 fall
classic, from what the stadiums looked like to what the fans looked like to
what the team uniforms looked like to hearing legendary announcer Howard
Cosell tell it like it was. Hopefully, the NFL, NHL, NBA and NCAA will
follow suit. A potential gold mine is right there waiting in those
archives.
After losing the National League East to the
Philadelphia Phillies on the second to last day of the season in 1978, the
hard-hitting Pittsburgh Pirates, nicknamed "The Lumber Company," got
off to a slow start at the beginning of the 1979 season, but two key trades
early in the campaign, which acquired third baseman Bill Madlock from
the San Francisco Giants and shortstop Tim Foli from the New York Mets, added two
important pieces to the puzzle. The addition of former batting champion
Madlock and the pesky Foli were clearly two key components to helping the
Pirates narrowly beat out the upstart Montreal Expos to take the N.L. East that
year, but not enough can be said about the leadership of veteran power hitter
Willie Stargell. The 38-year-old Stargell, affectionately nicknamed
"Pops," was the team's inspirational leader, and during one
rough stretch in the middle of the season Stargell adopted the Sister Sledge
disco hit "We Are Family" as the team's unifying theme
song. It worked. The song became the team's anthem for the
rest of that season with the '79 Pirates to this day being known as "The
Family." As Stargell said in an interview recorded two decades
ago, the '79 club was full of characters who couldn't be more different
off the field, but when they were on the field together, they became one.
After clinching the N.L. East title on the last
weekend of the season after a strong challenge from the up and coming Montreal
Expos, the Pirates would be matched against the N.L. West-winning Cincinnati
Reds in the then five game League Championship series -- the Reds had beaten
the Pirates three previous times in the playoffs during the 1970s, but the 1979
edition of The Big Red Machine was without Pete Rose, who was traded to the
Phillies the previous year. After surprising the baseball world by
sweeping Cincinnati in three straight games, the Pirates advanced to the World
Series against the Baltimore Orioles, a team known for its excellent
pitching staff that had won 102 regular season games in 1979. With
four of the seven World Series games in Baltimore that year, the Orioles were
the favorite. Managed by the silver-haired, crafty Earl Weaver,
who managed the Orioles in the 1971 Series, which the
Pirates also came from behind to win in seven games, the '79 Orioles
had the Pirates down three games to one, before The Family pulled it
together and won three straight to take the 1979 Series.
And because the '79 Bucs were forced to beat the Orioles three best
starting pitchers (Mike Flanagan, Jim Palmer and Scott McGregor) in the final
three games, it remains one of the greatest comebacks in World Series
history.
But in revisiting these games in their entirety for the
first time in 27 years, so many memories that receded to the back of one's mind
suddenly come rushing to the forefront. For instance,
the unseasonably cold and rainy weather during much of the series;
the defensive errors that cost the Pirates Game 1; Manny Sanguillen's
game-winning pinch hit to give the Pirates the win in Game 2; Pirates second
baseman Phil Garner's clutch hitting throughout the series; Pirates manager
Chuck Tanner's bold move to start Jim Rooker in Game 5 with his team on
the brink of elimination, and Rooker rising to the challenge by pitching
four shutout innings and combining with Bert Blyleven for a crucial
7-1 victory in the last game of the series played at Three Rivers Stadium;
Stargell's big two-run homer in Game 7; and sidearm-throwing reliever Kent
Tekulve's big saves in Games 6 and 7 at Baltimore. But one of the most
interesting facts of the series is that on Sunday morning October 14, 1979,
with the Pirates down three games to one, Chuck Tanner's mother died, giving
the Pirates a rallying point, and, possibly, some heavenly help.
A&E's 7-disc DVD box set of the 1979 World Series is a
genuine keepsake. Each game is presented full frame (in the original
1:33:1 analog color video, looking good) on its own individual DVD in its
own plastic case with statistics and facts from the game on each side of the
case. Each game begins with a warning that there may be some
interference in audio and sound due to imperfections inherent in the original
videotapes of the games. Thankfully, though, most of the interference
only lasts for a few seconds at a time and only persists for any length of
time in the later innings of Game 5 and Game 7. But what a treat it
is to again hear the distinctive voice of Howard Cosell, who announced
the '79 World Series on ABC with Don Drysdale, Keith Jackson and Al
Michaels. Cosell was truly a great broadcaster and a straight-shooter who
always made watching games more entertaining.
The 1979 World Series Collector's Edition
is a beautifully put together set, and an absolute must-have for
Pirate fans. Furthermore, the fact that the Bucs haven't won another
World Series in the subsequent 27 years, and with the team currently on its way
to its 14th consecutive losing season, this DVD box set will make fans
appreciate that magical '79 season more than ever. The Game 7
disc also has bonus features including the last half inning of
the Pirates victory over Cincinnati in the playoffs, older
interviews with Willie Stargell (God rest his soul), more recent interviews
with other members of the '79 squad including Bill Robinson, Tim Foli and
Don Robinson, highlights of Dave Parker's two great throws that made
him the MVP of the 1979 All-Star Game, plus footage of the post-Game 7
celebration in the Pirates locker room where President Jimmy Carter paid a
congratulatory visit. All of this brings a smile to your face, and, if
you're old enough to have watched this live in '79, will make you marvel at how
fast 27 years have flown by.
- Chuck O'Leary
