With Lee Elia at the helm, the team maneuvered itself to 51 wins in the next 101 games to finish fourth in the National League East.
After getting off to a dismal 1–8 start, the season began to turn when Mike Schmidt hit his 500th career home run in Pittsburgh on April 18.
Schmidt cracked the milestone long ball on a 3–0 count off the Pirates' Don Robinson with two men on base in the ninth inning, which rallied the club from a one-run deficit to an eventual 8–6 victory.
Schmidt slammed three home runs in an 11–6 victory over the Expos on June 14 in Montreal, eventually finishing the season with 35 and 530 career homers.
[3] After going as high as six games over .500 in late August, the team crashed to a 13–21 finish and tied for fourth place in the NL East with the Pirates.