the game with the Pittsburgh Pirates' Dave Parker, Los Angeles Dodgers' Reggie Smith and San Diego Padres' Dave Winfield, who were also recognized as having the finest throwing arms in the National League. For the season, he batted a team leading .293, and finished second to Gary Carter with 25 home runs and 76 RBIs. He, Cromartie and Dawson turned it up a notch in . Valentine led the major leagues with 25 assists from the outfield to receive a Gold Glove Award as one of the National League's top three defensive outfielders. Meanwhile, Cromartie and Dawson also led their respective positions in outfield assists to give the Expos the unquestionable top defensive outfield in the major leagues. With their bats, Valentine and Dawson tied for the team lead with 25 home runs apiece, Valentine had a team leading 76 RBIs, Dawson scored a team leading 84 runs and Cromartie had a team leading .297 batting average. Suspension The Expos were in a pennant race for the entire season, however, Valentine's 1979 season got off to a bumpy start. He was one-for-three with an RBI in the Expos' match-up with the Chicago Cubs at Wrigley Field on April 21, but that only brought his batting average up to an even .200, and his RBI total to four. In the eighth inning, with two outs and a runner on second, Valentine drew a walk, bringing future Hall of Famer Tony Pérez to the plate. Bruce Sutter induced a ground ball to short; Cubs shortstop Iván DeJesús flipped the ball to second baseman Ted Sizemore to force Valentine at second, and end the threat. Valentine disagreed with the call, and tossed his batting helmet into short right field in frustration. Believing that the helmet was tossed at him, second base umpire Steve Fields ejected Valentine from the game. Outraged, Valentine charged the umpire and bumped him. Valentine received a three-game suspension and $500 fine for his actions. The controversy seemed to do him some good, as he started hitting right after the incident occurred. Valentine hit a pinch hit three-run home run to carry the Expos to a 7–5 victory over the San Francisco Giants in his first game back, and went 12-for-33 with ten RBIs in his first ten games back from his suspension. In the first game of a May 27 doubleheader with the St. Louis Cardinals, he drove in