1978 Major League Baseball season

Last updated

1978 MLB season
League Major League Baseball
Sport Baseball
DurationApril 5 – October 17, 1978
Number of games162
Number of teams26
TV partner(s) ABC, NBC
Draft
Top draft pick Bob Horner
Picked by Atlanta Braves
Regular season
Season MVP AL: Jim Rice (BOS)
NL: Dave Parker (PIT)
Postseason
AL champions New York Yankees
  AL runners-up Kansas City Royals
NL champions Los Angeles Dodgers
  NL runners-up Philadelphia Phillies
World Series
Champions New York Yankees
  Runners-up Los Angeles Dodgers
World Series MVP Bucky Dent (NYY)
MLB seasons
Usa edcp relief location map.png
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   Giants
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      Phillies
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Pirates   
Locations of teams for the 1977–1992 National League seasons
ButtonGreen.svg West   ButtonBlue.svg East

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.

Contents

Standings

American League

AL East
Team W L Pct. GB Home Road
New York Yankees 10063.61355264537
Boston Red Sox 9964.607159234041
Milwaukee Brewers 9369.57454273942
Baltimore Orioles 9071.559951303941
Detroit Tigers 8676.53113½47343942
Cleveland Indians 6990.4342942362754
Toronto Blue Jays 59102.3664037442258
AL West
Team W L Pct. GB Home Road
Kansas City Royals 9270.56856253645
Texas Rangers 8775.537552303545
California Angels 8775.537550313744
Minnesota Twins 7389.4511938433546
Chicago White Sox 7190.44120½38423348
Oakland Athletics 6993.4262338423151
Seattle Mariners 56104.3503532492455

National League

NL East
Team W L Pct. GB Home Road
Philadelphia Phillies 9072.55654283644
Pittsburgh Pirates 8873.54755263347
Chicago Cubs 7983.4881144383545
Montreal Expos 7686.4691441393547
St. Louis Cardinals 6993.4262137443249
New York Mets 6696.4072433473349
NL West
Team W L Pct. GB Home Road
Los Angeles Dodgers 9567.58654274140
Cincinnati Reds 9269.57149314338
San Francisco Giants 8973.549650313942
San Diego Padres 8478.5191150313447
Houston Astros 7488.4572150312457
Atlanta Braves 6993.4262639423051

Postseason

Bracket

League Championship Series
(ALCS, NLCS)
World Series
      
East NY Yankees 3
West Kansas City 1
AL NY Yankees4
NL Los Angeles 2
East Philadelphia 1
West Los Angeles 3

Managers

American League

TeamManagerComments
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

TeamManagerComments
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
AwardPlayerPositionTeamPlayerPositionTeam
Most Valuable Player Jim Rice LFBOS Dave Parker RFPIT
Cy Young Award Ron Guidry LHPNYY Gaylord Perry RHPSD
Rookie of the Year Lou Whitaker 2BDET Bob Horner 3BATL
Relief Man of the Year Goose Gossage RHPNYY Rollie Fingers RHPSD

Gold Glove Awards

1978 Gold Glove Awards
  American League National League
PositionPlayerTeamPlayerTeam
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, BOS46 George Foster, CIN40
RBIs Jim Rice, BOS139 George Foster, CIN120
SB Ron LeFlore, DET68 Omar Moreno, PIT71
Wins Ron Guidry, NYY25 Gaylord Perry, SD21
ERA Ron Guidry, NYY1.74 Craig Swan, NYM2.34
Ks Nolan Ryan, CAL260 J. R. Richard, HOU303
SV Goose Gossage, NYY27 Rollie Fingers, SD37

Feats

No-Hitters

Cycles

Records

American League

National League

Career milestones

3,000 hits

500 home runs

3,000 strikeouts

Home field attendance

Team nameWinsHome attendancePer game
Los Angeles Dodgers [1] 95−3.1%3,347,84513.3%41,331
Philadelphia Phillies [2] 90−10.9%2,583,389−4.3%31,505
Cincinnati Reds [3] 924.5%2,532,4970.5%31,656
New York Yankees [4] 1000.0%2,335,87111.1%28,838
Boston Red Sox [5] 992.1%2,320,64311.9%28,301
Kansas City Royals [6] 92−9.8%2,255,49321.7%27,846
California Angels [7] 8717.6%1,755,38622.5%21,671
San Francisco Giants [8] 8918.7%1,740,477148.6%21,487
Detroit Tigers [9] 8616.2%1,714,89326.1%21,172
San Diego Padres [10] 8421.7%1,670,10721.4%20,619
Milwaukee Brewers [11] 9338.8%1,601,40643.6%19,770
Toronto Blue Jays [12] 599.3%1,562,585−8.1%19,291
Chicago Cubs [13] 79−2.5%1,525,3115.9%18,601
Chicago White Sox [14] 71−21.1%1,491,100−10.0%18,639
Texas Rangers [15] 87−7.4%1,447,96315.8%17,658
Montreal Expos [16] 761.3%1,427,007−0.5%17,838
St. Louis Cardinals [17] 69−16.9%1,278,215−23.0%15,780
Houston Astros [18] 74−8.6%1,126,1451.5%13,903
Baltimore Orioles [19] 90−7.2%1,051,724−12.0%12,984
New York Mets [20] 663.1%1,007,328−5.6%12,592
Pittsburgh Pirates [21] 88−8.3%964,106−22.1%11,903
Atlanta Braves [22] 6913.1%904,4943.7%11,167
Seattle Mariners [23] 56−12.5%877,440−34.4%10,833
Cleveland Indians [24] 69−2.8%800,584−11.1%10,264
Minnesota Twins [25] 73−13.1%787,878−32.2%9,727
Oakland Athletics [26] 699.5%526,9996.3%6,587

Notable events

January–March

April–May

June–July

August–September

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.

References

  1. "Los Angeles Dodgers Attendance, Stadiums and Park Factors". Baseball-Reference.com . Retrieved September 8, 2020.
  2. "Oakland Athletics Attendance, Stadiums and Park Factors". Baseball-Reference.com . Retrieved September 8, 2020.
  3. "Cincinnati Reds Attendance, Stadiums and Park Factors". Baseball-Reference.com . Retrieved September 8, 2020.
  4. "New York Yankees Attendance, Stadiums and Park Factors". Baseball-Reference.com . Retrieved September 8, 2020.
  5. "Boston Red Sox Attendance, Stadiums and Park Factors". Baseball-Reference.com . Retrieved September 8, 2020.
  6. "Kansas City Royals Attendance, Stadiums and Park Factors". Baseball-Reference.com . Retrieved September 8, 2020.
  7. "Los Angeles Angels Attendance, Stadiums and Park Factors". Baseball-Reference.com . Retrieved September 8, 2020.
  8. "San Francisco Giants Attendance, Stadiums and Park Factors". Baseball-Reference.com . Retrieved September 8, 2020.
  9. "Detroit Tigers Attendance, Stadiums and Park Factors". Baseball-Reference.com . Retrieved September 8, 2020.
  10. "San Diego Padres Attendance, Stadiums and Park Factors". Baseball-Reference.com . Retrieved September 8, 2020.
  11. "Milwaukee Brewers Attendance, Stadiums and Park Factors". Baseball-Reference.com . Retrieved September 8, 2020.
  12. "Toronto Blue Jays Attendance, Stadiums and Park Factors". Baseball-Reference.com . Retrieved September 8, 2020.
  13. "Chicago Cubs Attendance, Stadiums and Park Factors". Baseball-Reference.com . Retrieved September 8, 2020.
  14. "Chicago White Sox Attendance, Stadiums and Park Factors". Baseball-Reference.com . Retrieved September 8, 2020.
  15. "Texas Rangers Attendance, Stadiums and Park Factors". Baseball-Reference.com . Retrieved September 8, 2020.
  16. "Washington Nationals Attendance, Stadiums and Park Factors". Baseball-Reference.com . Retrieved September 8, 2020.
  17. "St. Louis Cardinals Attendance, Stadiums and Park Factors". Baseball-Reference.com . Retrieved September 8, 2020.
  18. "Cleveland Indians Attendance, Stadiums and Park Factors". Baseball-Reference.com . Retrieved September 8, 2020.
  19. "Baltimore Orioles Attendance, Stadiums and Park Factors". Baseball-Reference.com . Retrieved September 8, 2020.
  20. "New York Mets Attendance, Stadiums and Park Factors". Baseball-Reference.com . Retrieved September 8, 2020.
  21. "Pittsburgh Pirates Attendance, Stadiums and Park Factors". Baseball-Reference.com . Retrieved September 8, 2020.
  22. "Atlanta Braves Attendance, Stadiums and Park Factors". Baseball-Reference.com . Retrieved September 8, 2020.
  23. "Seattle Mariners Attendance, Stadiums and Park Factors". Baseball-Reference.com . Retrieved September 8, 2020.
  24. "Cleveland Indians Attendance, Stadiums and Park Factors". Baseball-Reference.com . Retrieved September 8, 2020.
  25. "Minnesota Twins Attendance, Stadiums and Park Factors". Baseball-Reference.com . Retrieved September 8, 2020.
  26. "Oakland Athletics Attendance, Stadiums and Park Factors". Baseball-Reference.com . Retrieved September 8, 2020.