1978 Major League Baseball season

1978 MLB season
LeagueMajor League Baseball
SportBaseball
DurationApril 5 – October 17, 1978
Number of games162
Number of teams26
TV partner(s)ABC, NBC
Draft
Top draft pickBob Horner
Picked byAtlanta Braves
Regular season
Season MVPAL: Jim Rice (BOS)
NL: Dave Parker (PIT)
Postseason
AL championsNew York Yankees
  AL runners-upKansas City Royals
NL championsLos Angeles Dodgers
  NL runners-upPhiladelphia Phillies
World Series
ChampionsNew York Yankees
  Runners-upLos Angeles Dodgers
World Series MVPBucky Dent (NYY)
MLB seasons

In the 1978 Major League Baseball season, the New York Yankees defeated the Los Angeles Dodgers to win their second consecutive World Series, and 22nd overall, in a rematch of the prior season's Fall Classic. The Yankees overcame clubhouse turmoil, a mid-season managerial change, and a 14-game mid-July deficit in the American League East en route to the championship. All four teams that made the playoffs in 1977 returned for this postseason; none of the four returned to the postseason in 1979.

Standings

Postseason

Bracket

League Championship Series
(ALCS, NLCS)
World Series
      
East NY Yankees 3
West Kansas City 1
AL NY Yankees 4
NL Los Angeles 2
East Philadelphia 1
West Los Angeles 3

Managers

American League

Team Manager Comments
Baltimore Orioles Earl Weaver
Boston Red Sox Don Zimmer
California Angels Dave Garcia and Jim Fregosi Garcia was fired on June 1.
Chicago White Sox Bob Lemon and Larry Doby Lemon was fired on June 24.
Cleveland Indians Jeff Torborg
Detroit Tigers Ralph Houk
Kansas City Royals Whitey Herzog
Milwaukee Brewers George Bamberger
Minnesota Twins Gene Mauch
New York Yankees Billy Martin, Dick Howser, and Bob Lemon Martin resigned on July 24, and Lemon was hired the next day. Lemon won the 1978 World Series
Oakland Athletics Bobby Winkles and Jack McKeon Winkles resigned on May 23.
Seattle Mariners Darrell Johnson
Texas Rangers Billy Hunter and Pat Corrales Hunter was fired on October 1.
Toronto Blue Jays Roy Hartsfield

National League

Team Manager Comments
Atlanta Braves Bobby Cox
Chicago Cubs Bob Kennedy
Cincinnati Reds Sparky Anderson
Houston Astros Bill Virdon
Los Angeles Dodgers Tommy Lasorda Won the National League pennant.
Montreal Expos Dick Williams
New York Mets Joe Torre
Philadelphia Phillies Danny Ozark
Pittsburgh Pirates Chuck Tanner
San Diego Padres Roger Craig
San Francisco Giants Joe Altobelli
St. Louis Cardinals Vern Rapp, Jack Krol, and Ken Boyer Rapp was fired on April 25.

Awards and honors

Major Awards

1978 Award Winners
  American League National League
Award Player Position Team Player Position Team
Most Valuable Player Jim Rice LF BOS Dave Parker RF PIT
Cy Young Award Ron Guidry LHP NYY Gaylord Perry RHP SD
Rookie of the Year Lou Whitaker 2B DET Bob Horner 3B ATL
Relief Man of the Year Goose Gossage RHP NYY Rollie Fingers RHP SD

Gold Glove Awards

1978 Gold Glove Awards
  American League National League
Position Player Team Player Team
P Jim Palmer BAL Phil Niekro ATL
C Jim Sundberg TEX Bob Boone PHI
1B Chris Chambliss NYY Keith Hernandez STL
2B Frank White KC Davey Lopes LA
3B Graig Nettles NYY Mike Schmidt PHI
SS Mark Belanger BAL Larry Bowa PHI
OF Dwight Evans BOS Garry Maddox PHI
OF Fred Lynn BOS Dave Parker PIT
OF Rick Miller CAL Ellis Valentine MTL

Statistical leaders

Statistic American League National League
AVG Rod Carew, MIN .333 Dave Parker, PIT .334
HR Jim Rice, BOS 46 George Foster, CIN 40
RBIs Jim Rice, BOS 139 George Foster, CIN 120
SB Ron LeFlore, DET 68 Omar Moreno, PIT 71
Wins Ron Guidry, NYY 25 Gaylord Perry, SD 21
ERA Ron Guidry, NYY 1.74 Craig Swan, NYM 2.34
Ks Nolan Ryan, CAL 260 J. R. Richard, HOU 303
SV Goose Gossage, NYY 27 Rollie Fingers, SD 37

Feats

No-Hitters

Cycles

Records

American League

  • Most Strikeouts in a Game: 18, Ron Guidry, NYY (June 17 vs. California Angels)
  • Most Shutouts in a Season by a Left-Handed Pitcher: 9, Ron Guidry, NYY (tied record set in 1916 by Babe Ruth, BOS)

National League

  • Longest Modern Consecutive Game Hitting Streak: 44, Pete Rose, CIN (June 14 – July 31)
  • Most Strikeouts in a Season by a Right-Handed Pitcher: 303, J. R. Richard, HOU

Career Milestones

3,000 Hits

500 Home Runs

3,000 Strikeouts

Home field attendance

Team name Wins Home attendance Per game
Los Angeles Dodgers 95 -3.1% 3,347,845 13.3% 41,331
Philadelphia Phillies 90 -10.9% 2,583,389 -4.3% 31,505
Cincinnati Reds 92 4.5% 2,532,497 0.5% 31,656
New York Yankees 100 0.0% 2,335,871 11.1% 28,838
Boston Red Sox 99 2.1% 2,320,643 11.9% 28,301
Kansas City Royals 92 -9.8% 2,255,493 21.7% 27,846
California Angels 87 17.6% 1,755,386 22.5% 21,671
San Francisco Giants 89 18.7% 1,740,477 148.6% 21,487
Detroit Tigers 86 16.2% 1,714,893 26.1% 21,172
San Diego Padres 84 21.7% 1,670,107 21.4% 20,619
Milwaukee Brewers 93 38.8% 1,601,406 43.6% 19,770
Toronto Blue Jays 59 9.3% 1,562,585 -8.1% 19,291
Chicago Cubs 79 -2.5% 1,525,311 5.9% 18,601
Chicago White Sox 71 -21.1% 1,491,100 -10.0% 18,639
Texas Rangers 87 -7.4% 1,447,963 15.8% 17,658
Montreal Expos 76 1.3% 1,427,007 -0.5% 17,838
St. Louis Cardinals 69 -16.9% 1,278,215 -23.0% 15,780
Houston Astros 74 -8.6% 1,126,145 1.5% 13,903
Baltimore Orioles 90 -7.2% 1,051,724 -12.0% 12,984
New York Mets 66 3.1% 1,007,328 -5.6% 12,592
Pittsburgh Pirates 88 -8.3% 964,106 -22.1% 11,903
Atlanta Braves 69 13.1% 904,494 3.7% 11,167
Seattle Mariners 56 -12.5% 877,440 -34.4% 10,833
Cleveland Indians 69 -2.8% 800,584 -11.1% 10,264
Minnesota Twins 73 -13.1% 787,878 -32.2% 9,727
Oakland Athletics 69 9.5% 526,999 6.3% 6,587

Notable events

January–March

April–May

  • April 13 – Reggie Jackson hits a 3-run home run in the first inning of the New York Yankees' home opener. Jackson is showered with "Reggie Bar" candy bars, which had been given out free to fans in attendance. The Yankees defeat the Chicago White Sox, 4–2.
  • April 16 – St. Louis Cardinal Bob Forsch no-hits the Philadelphia Phillies at Busch Stadium, striking out 3 and walking 2 in a 5–0 victory. It is the first of two no-hitters Forsch will throw in his career.
  • April 22 – Cleveland Indians first baseman Andre Thornton hits for the cycle in a 13–4 victory over the Boston Red Sox at Fenway Park.
  • May 5 – In front of a home crowd at Riverfront Stadium, Cincinnati's Pete Rose records his 3,000 career hit when he singles in the fifth inning off Montreal's Steve Rogers.
  • May 23 – With the Oakland Athletics in first place in the Western Division, manager Bobby Winkles resigns and is replaced by Jack McKeon, the same man he succeeded one year earlier.

June–July

  • June 14 – Pete Rose begins a 44-game hitting streak with 2 hits in the Reds' 3–1 win over the Chicago Cubs.
  • June 16 – Cincinnati's Tom Seaver throws a no-hitter against the visiting St. Louis Cardinals. Seaver strikes out 3 and walks 3 in a 4–0 Reds' win.
  • June 17 – Yankees pitcher Ron Guidry strikes out an American League-record (for left handers) 18 batters in a 4–0 shutout of the California Angels. "Louisiana Lightning" moves to 11–0 on the season.
  • June 30 – San Francisco Giants slugger Willie McCovey hits his 500th career home run, a solo shot off Atlanta's Jamie Easterly at Atlanta–Fulton County Stadium. McCovey is the 12th member of the prestigious 500 home run club and the first new member since Frank Robinson in 1971.
  • July 11 – The National League defeats the American League, 7–3, in the All-Star Game at San Diego Stadium. Steve Garvey earns MVP honors, and Vida Blue, the starting pitcher for the NL, becomes the first pitcher to start in the All-Star Game for both leagues. Blue also started in 1971 and 1975 for the AL.
  • July 13 – Nolan Ryan of the California Angels and Steve Renko of the Boston Red Sox take no-hitters into the ninth inning of their respective games before both lose their no-hit bids. Ryan's Angels defeat the New York Yankees, 6–1, while Renko's Red Sox shut out the Oakland Athletics, 2–0.
  • July 17 – In the latest incident in their tumultuous relationship, Yankees manager Billy Martin suspends Reggie Jackson for five days after accusing Jackson of ignoring signs from the dugout. During the bottom of the 10th inning of a tie game against the Kansas City Royals, Martin gives Jackson the bunt sign. After Jackson fails miserably on his first attempt, Martin takes the sign off, but Jackson bunts again anyway. Jackson pops up to the catcher, Martin pinch hits for Jackson the next inning, and the Yankees go on to lose the game, 5–2. The loss drops the Yankees 14 games behind the first-place Boston Red Sox.
  • July 19 – The Yankees win the first of five straight games without the suspended Reggie Jackson, defeating the Minnesota Twins, 2–0, at Metropolitan Stadium.
  • July 20 – Shortstop Chris Speier of the Montreal Expos hits for the cycle against the Atlanta Braves, going 4–4 with 6 RBI in a 7–3 win at Olympic Stadium.
  • July 24 – In Kansas City, an anguished Billy Martin announces his resignation as Yankees manager. At the time, the defending champion Yankees are 52–42 and 10 games behind the first-place Boston Red Sox in the American League East. Martin's resignation comes one day after he said of right fielder Reggie Jackson and owner George Steinbrenner, "The two of them deserve each other. One's a born liar, and the other's convicted." Bob Lemon is named manager, but third base coach Dick Howser fills in for Martin that evening against the Royals.
  • July 26 – Reds catcher Johnny Bench hits his 300th career home run, a 2-run shot off the Mets' Nino Espinosa at Shea Stadium. The Reds lose, 12–3.
  • July 27 – Minnesota Twins third baseman Mike Cubbage hits for the cycle in a 6–3 win over the Toronto Blue Jays at Metropolitan Stadium. Cubbage goes 4–4 with 4 RBI.
  • July 29 – Before an Old Timers Day crowd of 46,711, Yankee Stadium announcer Bob Sheppard reveals that Billy Martin, who resigned as Yankees manager just five days earlier, will return as manager beginning in 1980, with Bob Lemon moving to the front office as GM. As it happens, the Yankees accelerate the timetable and Martin winds up taking over during the 1979 season.

August–September

  • August 1 – Pete Rose's 44-game hitting streak comes to an end in Atlanta. Rose goes 0–4 against Braves pitchers Larry McWilliams and Gene Garber, and strikes out in the ninth inning to end the game. Rose's streak is the second-longest in major league history, and he bats .385 (70 for 182) during the stretch.
  • August 20 – Los Angeles Dodgers teammates Steve Garvey and Don Sutton engage in a clubhouse brawl prior to the Dodgers' 5–4 win over the Mets at Shea Stadium. Garvey and Sutton had been feuding for some time, but public comments by Sutton about Garvey's clean-cut image sparked the brawl.
  • August 25 – Major league umpires stage a one-day strike in violation of their union contract. The league is forced to employ amateur umpires until a restraining order compels the striking umpires to return to work.
  • September 5 – The Montreal Expos defeat the Chicago Cubs, 10–9, in a nine-inning game that sees a major league record 45 players participate.
  • September 7 – 10 – The famed "Boston Massacre" occurs at Fenway Park. The first-place Boston Red Sox enter the four-game series against the second-place New York Yankees with a four-game lead in the AL East, down from 14 just seven weeks earlier. The Yankees pummel the Red Sox by scores of 15–3, 13–2, 7–0, and 7–4. The Yankees outscore the Red Sox 42 to 9 during the four-game sweep and find themselves atop the division for the first time all season.
  • September 15 – The Los Angeles Dodgers become the first team in major league history to draw 3 million fans in a season.
  • September 24 – Ron Guidry of the New York Yankees ties an American League record for left-handed pitchers with his ninth shutout of the season, blanking the Cleveland Indians, 4–0. The record was set by Red Sox southpaw Babe Ruth in 1916.
  • September 28 – Houston Astros pitcher J. R. Richard fans Bruce Benedict of the Atlanta Braves for his 303rd strikeout of the season, setting the National League single-season record for strikeouts by a right-handed pitcher.
  • September 30 – The Philadelphia Phillies beat the host Pittsburgh Pirates, their in-state rivals, 10–8, to clinch their third straight National League East title. The Phils overcome a first-inning grand slam from Willie Stargell and winning pitcher Randy Lerch contributes two home runs to his cause. The loss snaps the Pirates 24-game winning streak at Three Rivers Stadium.

October

Deaths

Television coverage

ABC aired Monday Night Baseball, the All-Star Game, and both League Championship Series. NBC televised the weekend Game of the Week and the World Series.


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