Mlb 1979: Pittsburgh Pirates:

I can honestly say that for about 15 years I've wanted to own this series. Now that I own it, I have not been disappointed in the least. If you are a Pirates fan, especially of the late 70's era, you will be in heaven! This edition comes complete with a separate casing for each DVD (7 in all), and liner stats included for each game (with inning by inning pbp). You can watch each game in its entirety, or skip to any half-inning.

Here are some notes to be aware of:

- The announcers from the original broadcast are included, making you feel like you've gone back in time.

- The games vary in quality, and I'm guessing that there might have been more than one original source when A&E tracked each game down. With that said, however, they are ALL better than I expected and easily watchable. Game 3 is the best quality, and Game 5 the worst.

- As someone said earlier, many of the graphics from games 2, 3, and 4 are simply missing. I believe these three games were taken from a different source as the others, as their screen quality is slightly superior.

- All the "extras" are placed on the last DVD with game 7. I especially liked Don Robinson's interviews. He sounded very sentimental. Dave Parker's 2 bullets (assists) during the '79 All-Star game are priceless.

- Every Pirate on the roster played at least once except pitcher Joe Coleman. Thus, you get a live look at nearly every player. Even Matt Alexander, who basically only pinch ran throughout the season, played in game 2 and spent an inning in the outfield.

- This is Parker's last great season with the Pirates ('80 was good, but not great - he would reemerge later with the Reds). Ironically, this is Stargell's last great season as well.

- Tekulve bounced back after a horrific game 4 (losing the game) and held off the O's in games 6 and 7.

- Those uniforms still hold a special place for me.

All in all, you can't go wrong with this. The quality is excellent for the time, and the games do not disappoint. Buy it NOW!!!

The past 14 baseball seasons have put this Pittsburgh Pirates fan into a funky malaise, as year after year my Buccos rack up more loses than victories, and continue to stock their team with raw green youths and stop-gap, over the hill rent-a-players. So finding the 1979 World Series in this nicely packaged DVD format was just the remedy I needed to pull me out of my perennial baseball blues. What better way to escape from the melancholy gloom that is the Pirates present than to immerse oneself in their glorious past?

Watching this great World Series was like a wonderful family reunion. Everyone was there - Pops, Cobra, Teke, Scrap Iron, Mad Dog, Otter, Antelope, Candy Man, Sangy, Crazy Horse, Hammer, Rook, and on and on - the whole family. To once again see Willie Stargell windmill his bat and hit a majestic home run, or Kent Tekulve use that goofy side arm delivery to retire batters, erased for a moment the pain of the present and took me back to the days of my youth when the Pirates used "lumber and lightning" to dominate baseball, and their driving disco theme song "We Are Fam-a-lee" became a joyous anthem that lifted the hearts of every Pirates fan.

Even after putting aside my partisan preference, the 1979 World Series was a gem. It matched up two expert and colorful managers in Chuck Tanner and the cunning Earl Weaver, as well as the two powerful teams that included three future Hall of Famers (Willie Stargell, Eddie Murray, and Jim Palmer). The Pirates came back from being down three games to one to win the series on the power of an outstanding performance by Willie Stargell, who not only was named MVP of the series, but won baseball's MVP award that year in his final great season. Two games really stand out in my mind. Game two, when a late inning pinch hit by Manny Sanguillen (once the Pirates' star catcher, but relegated to the bench in the twilight of his career) provided the game winning RBI is the first. (Sanguillen later dedicated his hit to his late, great teammate, Roberto Clemente.) Game five is the other, perhaps the greatest in the series. Pittsburgh faced elimination after loosing two straight games at home, and Tanner, in a surprise move, gave the ball to an aging Jim Rooker, whose lousy season that year was a sign that his effective years were behind him. Rooker rose to the challenge and pitched like a champion, winning the game as the last hurrah of his career, and sending the series back to Baltimore.

As others have mentioned, the picture and sound quality vary from disc to disc, but nothing that can distract from the joy of seeing this great team win it all once again. The packaging is first rate - each game disc having its own case which displays its box score and details from the game. If you are a Pirates fans, you can't afford not to include this wonderful reminder of past glory in your collection, to watch whenever the gloom of our perpetual season of discontent gets you down.

Theo Logos

This set is absolutely incredible! Every single pitch of the '79 World Series is here. I was 12 when I last saw these games, and viewing them again has brought back so many memories. From Stargell's dingers and Teke's funky deliver, to that weird rainbow head guy behind the plate in Baltimore. It all came back to me the instant I saw it again. Unlike today, all the players seemed to be enjoying themselves immensely, even when they were playing hurt. And the comradarie between the two teams is refreshingly evident. If you're interested in baseball (even a little bit), I highly recommend this. If you're like Howard Cosell, who seemed more interested in arguing with Drysdale and checking out the player's wives, you won't be disappointed either. These DVD's will get me through at least 2 or 3 more sub .500 Pirates seasons.

› Go to Amazon.com to see all 19 reviews  4.8 out of 5 stars