1978 Cleveland Indians season

1978 Cleveland Indians
1978 Cleveland Indians
League	American League
Division	East
Ballpark	Cleveland Municipal Stadium
City	Cleveland, Ohio
Owners	Ted Bonda, Steve O'Neill
General managers	Phil Seghi
Managers	Jeff Torborg
Television	WJKW
Radio	WWWE

Last updated March 13, 2024

Offseason

December 5, 1977: Bruce Compton (minors) and Norm Churchill (minors) were traded by the Indians to the Chicago Cubs for Dave Rosello.^[1]
February 28, 1978: Tom Buskey and John Lowenstein were traded by the Indians to the Texas Rangers for Willie Horton and David Clyde.^[2]
March 15, 1978: Rico Carty was traded by the Indians to the Toronto Blue Jays for Dennis DeBarr.^[3]
March 30, 1978: Dennis Eckersley and Fred Kendall were traded by the Indians to the Boston Red Sox for Rick Wise, Mike Paxton, Ted Cox, and Bo Díaz.^[4]

Regular season

On May 12, pitcher Nolan Ryan of the California Angels struck out Buddy Bell for the 2500th strikeout of his career.^[5]

v t e AL East	W	L	Pct.	GB	Home	Road
New York Yankees	100	63	0.613	—	55–26	45–37
Boston Red Sox	99	64	0.607	1	59–23	40–41
Milwaukee Brewers	93	69	0.574	6½	54–27	39–42
Baltimore Orioles	90	71	0.559	9	51–30	39–41
Detroit Tigers	86	76	0.531	13½	47–34	39–42
Cleveland Indians	69	90	0.434	29	42–36	27–54
Toronto Blue Jays	59	102	0.366	40	37–44	22–58

Record vs. opponents

1978 American League record v t e Sources:
Team	BAL	BOS	CAL	CWS	CLE	DET	KC	MIL	MIN	NYY	OAK	SEA	TEX	TOR
Baltimore	—	7–8	4–6	8–1	9–6	7–8	2–8	7–8	5–5	6–9	11–0	9–1	7–4	8–7
Boston	8–7	—	9–2	7–3	7–8	12–3	4–6	10–5	9–2	7–9	5–5	7–3	3–7	11–4
California	6–4	2–9	—	8–7	6–4	4–7	9–6	5–5	12–3	5–5	9–6	9–6	5–10	7–3
Chicago	1–8	3–7	7–8	—	8–2	2–9	8–7	4–7	8–7	1–9	7–8	7–8	11–4	4–6
Cleveland	6–9	8–7	4–6	2–8	—	5–10	5–6	5–10	5–5	6–9	4–6	8–1	1–9	10–4
Detroit	8–7	3–12	7–4	9–2	10–5	—	4–6	7–8	4–6	4–11	6–4	8–2	7–3	9–6
Kansas City	8–2	6–4	6–9	7–8	6–5	6–4	—	6–4	7–8	6–5	10–5	12–3	7–8	5–5
Milwaukee	8–7	5–10	5–5	7–4	10–5	8–7	4–6	—	4–7	10–5	9–1	5–5	6–4	12–3
Minnesota	5–5	2–9	3–12	7–8	5–5	6–4	8–7	7–4	—	3–7	9–6	6–9	6–9	6–4
New York	9–6	9–7	5–5	9–1	9–6	11–4	5–6	5–10	7–3	—	8–2	6–5	6–4	11–4
Oakland	0–11	5–5	6–9	8–7	6–4	4–6	5–10	1–9	6–9	2–8	—	13–2	6–9	7–4
Seattle	1–9	3–7	6–9	8–7	1–8	2–8	3–12	5–5	9–6	5–6	2–13	—	3–12	8–2
Texas	4–7	7–3	10–5	4–11	9–1	3–7	8–7	4–6	9–6	4–6	9–6	12–3	—	4–7
Toronto	7–8	4–11	3–7	6–4	4–10	6–9	5–5	3–12	4–6	4–11	4–7	2–8	7–4	—

Notable transactions

June 14, 1978: Dennis Kinney was traded by the Indians to the San Diego Padres for Dan Spillner.^[6]
June 15, 1978: Mike Vail was traded by the Indians to the Chicago Cubs for Joe Wallis.^[7]
June 15, 1978: Joe Wallis was traded by the Indians to the Oakland Athletics for Gary Alexander.^[7]
June 22, 1978: Bill Laxton was traded by the Indians to the San Diego Padres for Dave Freisleben.^[8]
June 26, 1978: Dennis DeBarr was traded by the Indians to the Chicago Cubs for Paul Reuschel.^[9]
July 3, 1978: Willie Horton was released by the Indians.^[10]

Opening Day Lineup


Opening Day Starters
#	Name	Position
00	Paul Dade	RF
18	Duane Kuiper	2B
1	Johnny Grubb	LF
29	Andre Thornton	1B
23	Willie Horton	DH
14	Larvell Blanks	SS
25	Buddy Bell	3B
28	Rick Manning	CF
13	Ron Pruitt	C
17	Wayne Garland	P

^[11]

Roster

1978 Cleveland Indians

Roster

Pitchers

Catchers

Infielders

Outfielders

Other batters

23 Willie Horton
30 Larry Lintz

Manager

10 Jeff Torborg

Coaches

6 Rocky Colavito (Hitting)
-- Dave Duncan (Bullpen)
2 Harvey Haddix (Pitching)
7 Joe Moeller (Bullpen)
4 Joe Nossek (Third Base)

Player stats

Batting

Note: G = Games played; AB = At bats; R = Runs scored; H = Hits; 2B = Doubles; 3B = Triples; HR = Home runs; RBI = Runs batted in; AVG = Batting average; SB = Stolen bases

Player	G	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	AVG	SB
Gary Alexander	90	324	39	76	14	3	17	62	.235	0
Buddy Bell	142	556	71	157	27	8	6	62	.282	1
Larvell Blanks	70	193	19	49	10	0	2	20	.254	0
Dan Briggs	15	49	4	8	0	1	1	1	.163	0
Wayne Cage	36	98	11	24	6	1	4	13	.245	1
Bernie Carbo	60	174	21	50	8	0	4	16	.287	1
Ted Cox	82	227	14	53	7	0	1	19	.233	0
Paul Dade	93	307	37	78	12	1	3	20	.254	12
Bo Diaz	44	127	12	30	4	0	2	11	.236	0
Alfredo Griffin	5	4	1	2	1	0	0	0	.500	0
Johnny Grubb	113	378	54	100	16	6	14	61	.265	5
Ron Hassey	25	74	5	15	0	0	2	9	.203	2
Willie Horton	50	169	15	42	7	0	5	22	.249	3
Jim Kern	3	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	.000	0
Duane Kuiper	149	547	52	155	18	6	0	43	.283	4
Larry Lintz	3	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	—	0
Rick Manning	148	566	65	149	27	3	3	50	.263	12
Jim Norris	113	315	41	89	14	5	2	27	.283	12
Ron Pruitt	71	187	17	44	6	1	6	17	.235	2
Horace Speed	70	106	13	24	4	1	0	4	.226	2
Andre Thornton	145	508	97	133	22	4	33	105	.262	4
Mike Vail	14	34	2	8	2	1	0	2	.235	1
Tom Veryzer	130	421	48	114	18	4	1	32	.271	1
Team Totals	159	5365	639	1400	223	45	106	596	.261	64

Pitching

Note: W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; G = Games pitched; GS = Games started; SV = Saves; IP = Innings pitched; R = Runs allowed; ER = Earned runs allowed; BB = Walks allowed; K = Strikeouts

Player	W	L	ERA	G	GS	SV	IP	R	ER	BB	K
David Clyde	8	11	4.28	28	25	0	153.1	80	73	60	83
Al Fitzmorris	0	1	6.28	7	0	0	14.1	10	10	7	5
Dave Freisleben	1	4	7.11	12	10	0	44.1	37	35	31	19
Wayne Garland	2	3	7.89	6	6	0	29.2	27	26	16	13
Don Hood	5	6	4.48	36	19	0	154.2	82	77	77	73
Jim Kern	10	10	3.08	58	0	13	99.1	36	34	58	95
Dennis Kinney	0	2	4.42	18	0	5	38.2	21	19	14	19
Rick Kreuger	0	0	3.86	6	0	0	9.1	4	4	3	7
Sid Monge	4	3	2.76	48	2	6	84.2	36	26	51	54
Mike Paxton	12	11	3.86	33	27	1	191.0	89	82	63	96
Paul Reuschel	2	4	3.11	18	6	0	89.2	33	31	22	24
Dan Spillner	3	1	3.67	36	0	3	56.1	26	23	21	48
Rick Waits	13	15	3.20	34	33	0	230.1	97	82	86	97
Rick Wise	9	19	4.34	33	31	0	211.2	116	102	59	106
Team Totals	69	90	3.97	159	159	28	1407.1	694	621	568	739

Awards and honors

All-Star Game

Farm system

Level	Team	League	Manager
AAA	Portland Beavers	Pacific Coast League	Gene Dusan
AA	Chattanooga Lookouts	Southern League	John Orsino and Jim Bragan
A	Waterloo Indians	Midwest League	Woody Smith
A-Short Season	Batavia Trojans	New York–Penn League	Luis Isaac

^[12]

Notes

↑ Dave Rosello page at Baseball Reference
↑ David Clyde page at Baseball Reference
↑ Rico Carty page at Baseball Reference
↑ Dennis Eckersley page at Baseball Reference
↑ "The Nolan Ryan Express | The Strikeout King". smackbomb.com/nolanryan. Archived from the original on July 16, 2011. Retrieved July 28, 2008.
↑ Dan Spillner page at Baseball Reference
1 2 Joe Wallis page at Baseball Reference
↑ Bill Laxton page at Baseball Reference
↑ Paul Reuschel page at Baseball Reference
↑ Willie Horton page at Baseball Reference
↑ 1978 Opening Day Lineup at Baseball-Reference
↑ Johnson, Lloyd, and Wolff, Miles, ed., The Encyclopedia of Minor League Baseball, 3rd edition. Durham, North Carolina: Baseball America, 2007

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rico Carty</span> Dominican baseball player

Ricardo Adolfo Jacobo Carty, nicknamed "Beeg Boy", is a Dominican former professional baseball player. He played in Major League Baseball as an outfielder from 1963 to 1979, most prominently as a member of the Atlanta Braves where he helped the franchise win its first National League Western Division title in 1969. Carty had a career batting average of .299 and, was the 1970 National League (NL) batting champion with a .366 batting average. He earned his starting role in the 1970 All-Star Game as a write-in candidate.

The 1981 New York Yankees season was the franchise's 79th season. Games were suspended for 50 days due to the 1981 Major League Baseball strike, causing a split season. The Yankees competed as members of the American League East, finishing first in the first half of the season, and tying for fifth in the second half of the season; overall, they won 59 games while losing 48. The team advanced to the postseason due to their first-half first-place finish, where they defeated the Milwaukee Brewers in the American League Division Series and the Oakland Athletics in the American League Championship Series, capturing the Yankees' only pennant of the 1980s. The Yankees then lost the World Series in six games to the Los Angeles Dodgers. The Yankees played their home games at Yankee Stadium and were managed by Gene Michael until September 5, and by Bob Lemon thereafter.

The 1984 Chicago Cubs season was the 113th season of the Chicago Cubs franchise, the 109th in the National League and the 69th at Wrigley Field. The Cubs finished with a record of 96 wins and 65 losses in first place of the National League East. Chicago was managed by Jim Frey and the general manager was Dallas Green. The Cubs' postseason appearance in this season was their first since 1945. The Cubs pitching staff included 1984 Cy Young Award winner Rick Sutcliffe, and the lineup included 1984 Baseball Most Valuable Player Award winner second baseman Ryne Sandberg. Frey was awarded Manager of the Year for the National League for leading the Cubs to 96 victories. The Cubs were defeated in the 1984 National League Championship Series by the San Diego Padres three games to two.

The 1978 Texas Rangers season involved the Rangers finishing second in the American League West with a record of 87 wins and 75 losses.

The Oakland Athletics' 1987 season involved the A's finishing third in the American League West with a record of 81 wins and 81 losses. Mark McGwire set a rookie record by hitting 49 home runs. At the beginning of the season, the word "Athletics" returned, in script lettering, to the front of the team's jerseys. Former A's owner, Charles O. Finley banned the word "Athletics" from the club's name in the past because he felt that name was too closely associated with former Philadelphia Athletics owner Connie Mack. In his first full Major League season, Mark McGwire hit 49 home runs, a single-season record for a rookie; he was named the American League Rookie of the Year. McGwire would be the first American League rookie since Al Rosen of the Cleveland Indians in 1950 to lead the American League in home runs. The 1987 season also saw the return of Reggie Jackson to Oakland.

The 1978 Oakland Athletics season was the team's eleventh in Oakland, California. The team sought to rebound from its first losing season in a decade. Despite low expectations, the Athletics remained competitive for nearly three-quarters of the season. Despite posting a respectable 61–56 mark through 117 games, the Athletics collapsed in the season's final weeks; their 8–37 finish ensured a second consecutive season of fewer than 70 wins.

The Cincinnati Reds' 1984 season consisted of the Cincinnati Reds attempting to win the National League West. It marked the return of Bob Howsam as General Manager, after Dick Wagner was fired during the 1983 season. The Reds finished in fifth place that year, as they escaped last place in the NL West, which the team had finished in 1982 and 1983.

The 1989 Chicago Cubs season was the 118th season of the franchise, the 114th in the National League and 74th season at Wrigley Field. The Cubs were managed by Don Zimmer in his second season as manager and played their home games at Wrigley Field as members of National League East.

The 1989 San Francisco Giants season was the Giants' 107th season in Major League Baseball, their 32nd season in San Francisco since their move from New York following the 1957 season, and their 30th at Candlestick Park. The Giants finished in first place in the National League West with a record of 92 wins and 70 losses. It was their second division title in three years. The Giants defeated the Chicago Cubs in five games in the NLCS. However, they were swept by their cross-Bay rivals, the Oakland Athletics, in an earthquake-marred World Series.

The 1987 San Francisco Giants season was the Giants' 105th season in Major League Baseball, their 30th season in San Francisco since their move from New York following the 1957 season, and their 28th at Candlestick Park. The Giants finished in first place in the National League West with a record of 90 wins and 72 losses. They lost the NLCS in seven games to the St. Louis Cardinals. It was their first playoff appearance since 1971.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">1978 San Diego Padres season</span> Major League Baseball team season

The 1978 San Diego Padres season was the tenth in franchise history. They finished in fourth place in the National League West with a record of 84–78, eleven games behind the first-place Los Angeles Dodgers. This was the Padres' first-ever winning season.

The 1983 Philadelphia Phillies season included the Phillies winning the National League East title with a record of 90–72, by a margin of six games over the Pittsburgh Pirates. They defeated the Los Angeles Dodgers, three games to one in the NLCS, before losing the World Series to the Baltimore Orioles, four games to one. The Phillies celebrated their centennial in 1983, were managed by Pat Corrales (43–42) and Paul Owens (47–30), and played their home games at Veterans Stadium.

The 1973 Chicago Cubs season was the 102nd season of the Chicago Cubs franchise, the 98th in the National League and the 58th at Wrigley Field. The Cubs finished fifth in the National League East with a record of 77–84.

The 1977 Chicago Cubs season was the 106th season of the Chicago Cubs franchise, the 102nd in the National League and the 62nd at Wrigley Field. The Cubs finished fourth in the National League East with a record of 81–81, 20 games behind the Philadelphia Phillies.

The 1978 Chicago Cubs season was the 107th season of the Chicago Cubs franchise, the 103rd in the National League and the 63rd at Wrigley Field. The Cubs finished third in the National League East with a record of 79–83.

The 1981 Chicago Cubs season was the 110th season of the Chicago Cubs franchise, the 106th in the National League and the 66th at Wrigley Field. The Cubs finished the first-half in last place at 15–37, 17½ games behind the Philadelphia Phillies, and the second-half in fifth place at 23–28, six games behind the eventual NL East Champion Montreal Expos in the National League East. It was also the final season for the Cubs under the Wrigley family ownership, as the Tribune Company took over the club late in the year.

The 1983 Chicago Cubs season was the 112th season of the Chicago Cubs franchise, the 108th in the National League and the 68th at Wrigley Field. The Cubs finished fifth in the National League East with a record of 71–91.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dave Freisleben</span> American baseball player (born 1951)

David James Freisleben is an American former professional baseball pitcher. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the San Diego Padres, Cleveland Indians, and Toronto Blue Jays.

References

This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.

[1] Dave Rosello page at Baseball Reference

[2] David Clyde page at Baseball Reference

[3] Rico Carty page at Baseball Reference

[4] Dennis Eckersley page at Baseball Reference

[5] "The Nolan Ryan Express | The Strikeout King". smackbomb.com/nolanryan. Archived from the original on July 16, 2011. Retrieved July 28, 2008.

[6] Dan Spillner page at Baseball Reference

[wallis-7] 1 2 Joe Wallis page at Baseball Reference

[8] Bill Laxton page at Baseball Reference

[9] Paul Reuschel page at Baseball Reference

[10] Willie Horton page at Baseball Reference

[11] 1978 Opening Day Lineup at Baseball-Reference

[12] Johnson, Lloyd, and Wolff, Miles, ed., The Encyclopedia of Minor League Baseball, 3rd edition. Durham, North Carolina: Baseball America, 2007

[1]

[2]

[3]

[4]

[5]

[6]

[7]

[8]

[9]

[10]

[11]

[12]