By the time the 1979 season was opening up, the San Diego padres could boast two Cy Young winners on their pitching staff, Randy Jones, the 1976 winner, and Gaylord Perry, fresh off his astounding 1978 season that saw him win his second and becoming the first pitcher to win one in each league.
For Jones, his 1976 season was incredible as he completed 25 of 40 starts, throwing a league-leading 315.1 innings while hurling five shutouts.
He posted a record of 22-14 with an earned run average of 2.74, this after leading the National league with a 2.24 ERA the previous year when he finished second to New York Mets Tom Seaver for the Cy Young Award.
For Perry, he came over to San Diego as a 39-year-old with an impressive MLB resume already behind him, but immediately made his future Hall of Fame case by going 21-6, leading the league in wins, along with an ERA of 2.73 and two shutouts, out-distancing the NL field for his second Cy Young Award.
And while for both pitchers this was the last hurrah of sorts as their careers were winding down for different reasons: Jones arm troubles, Perry old-age, they both put San Diego on the map so to speak with stellar pitching performances.
