1978 Milwaukee Brewers season

1978  Milwaukee Brewers
League	American League
Division	East Division
Ballpark	Milwaukee County Stadium
City	Milwaukee, Wisconsin
Owners	Bud Selig
General managers	Harry Dalton
Managers	George Bamberger
Television	WTMJ-TV (Merle Harmon, Bob Uecker, Mike Hegan)
Radio	620 WTMJ (Merle Harmon, Bob Uecker)
Stats	ESPN.com BB-reference
←  1977 Seasons 1979  →

The 1978 Milwaukee Brewers season involved the Brewers finishing third in the American League East with a record of 93 wins and 69 losses. The Brewers achieved their first winning season in franchise history, nine in Milwaukee after the first (1969) as the Seattle Pilots.

Offseason

• October 25, 1977: Gorman Thomas was sent by the Brewers to the Texas Rangers to complete an earlier deal (the Rangers traded Ed Kirkpatrick to the Brewers for a player to be named later) made on August 20. ^[1]
• December 6, 1977: Kevin Kobel was purchased from the Brewers by the New York Mets. ^[2]
• December 14, 1977: Ken McMullen was released by the Brewers. ^[3]
• December 31, 1977: Ray Fosse was signed as a free agent by the Brewers. ^[4]
• January 16, 1978: Randy Stein was signed as a free agent by the Brewers. ^[5]
• February 8, 1978: Gorman Thomas was purchased by the Brewers from the Rangers. ^[1]
• March 30, 1978: Von Joshua was released by the Brewers. ^[6]

Regular season

Opening Day starters

• Jerry Augustine
• Sal Bando
• Cecil Cooper
• Andy Etchebarren
• Larry Hisle
• Sixto Lezcano
• Paul Molitor
• Don Money
• Lenn Sakata
• Gorman Thomas ^[7]

Season standings

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

• April 1, 1978: Bob Galasso was signed as a free agent by the Brewers. ^[8]
• April 4, 1978: Tony Muser was signed as a free agent by the Brewers. ^[9]
• June 6, 1978: Rickey Keeton was drafted by the Brewers in the 3rd round of the 1978 Major League Baseball Draft. ^[10]
• August 3, 1978: Jamie Quirk was traded by the Brewers to the Kansas City Royals for Gerry Ako (minors) and cash. ^[11]

Roster

1978 Milwaukee Brewers
Roster
Pitchers 46 Jerry Augustine 36 Mark Bomback 48 Mike Caldwell 35 Bill Castro 47 Ed Farmer 30 Moose Haas 10 Bob McClure 40 Willie Mueller 27 Andy Replogle 23 Eduardo Rodríguez 39 Lary Sorensen 43 Randy Stein 25 Bill Travers		Catchers  8 Andy Etchebarren 12 Larry Haney 21 Buck Martinez 22 Charlie Moore Infielders  6 Sal Bando 15 Cecil Cooper 11 Jim Gantner  1 Tim Johnson  4 Paul Molitor  7 Don Money  5 Tony Muser  1 Tim Nordbrook 21 Lenn Sakata 19 Robin Yount		Outfielders 26 Dick Davis  9 Larry Hisle 16 Sixto Lezcano 11 Dave May 24 Ben Oglivie 20 Gorman Thomas 14 Jim Wohlford 11 Jeff Yurak		Manager 31 George Bamberger Coaches 12 Larry Haney (Bullpen) 33 Frank Howard (First base) 32 Harvey Kuenn (Hitting) 38 Cal McLish (Pitching) 37 Buck Rodgers (Third base)

Player stats

Batting

Starters by position

Note: Pos = Position; G = Games played; AB = At bats; H = Hits; Avg. = Batting average; HR = Home runs; RBI = Runs batted in

Pos	Player	G	AB	H	Avg.	HR	RBI
C	Buck Martinez	89	256	56	.219	1	20
1B	Cecil Cooper	107	407	127	.312	13	54
2B	Paul Molitor	125	521	142	.273	6	45
3B	Sal Bando	152	540	154	.285	17	78
SS	Robin Yount	127	502	147	.293	9	71
LF	Larry Hisle	142	520	151	.290	34	115
CF	Gorman Thomas	137	452	111	.246	32	86
RF	Sixto Lezcano	132	442	129	.292	15	61
DH	Dick Davis	69	218	54	.248	5	26

Other batters

Note: G = Games played; AB = At bats; H = Hits; Avg. = Batting average; HR = Home runs; RBI = Runs batted in

Player	G	AB	H	Avg.	HR	RBI
Don Money	137	518	152	.293	14	54
Ben Oglivie	128	469	142	.303	18	72
Charlie Moore	96	268	72	.269	5	31
Jim Wohlford	46	118	35	.297	1	19
Jim Gantner	43	97	21	.216	1	8
Lenn Sakata	30	78	15	.192	0	3
Dave May	39	77	15	.195	2	11
Tony Muser	15	30	4	.133	0	5
Tim Nordbrook	2	5	0	.000	0	0
Andy Etchebarren	4	5	2	.400	0	2
Jeff Yurak	5	5	0	.000	0	0
Larry Haney	5	5	1	.200	0	1
Tim Johnson	3	3	0	.000	0	0

Pitching

Starting pitchers

Note: G = Games pitched; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts

Player	G	IP	W	L	ERA	SO
Mike Caldwell	37	293.1	22	9	2.36	131
Lary Sorensen	37	280.2	18	12	3.21	78
Jerry Augustine	35	188.1	13	12	4.54	59
Bill Travers	28	175.2	12	11	4.41	66
Moose Haas	7	30.2	2	3	6.16	32

Other pitchers

Note: G = Games pitched; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts

Player	G	IP	W	L	ERA	SO
Andy Replogle	32	149.1	9	5	3.92	41
Eduardo Rodríguez	32	105.1	5	5	3.93	51
Mark Bomback	2	1.2	0	0	16.20	1

Relief pitchers

Note: G = Games pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; SV = Saves; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts

Player	G	W	L	SV	ERA	SO
Bob McClure	44	2	6	9	3.74	47
Bill Castro	42	5	4	8	1.81	17
Randy Stein	31	3	2	1	5.33	42
Willie Mueller	5	1	0	0	6.39	6
Ed Farmer	3	1	0	1	0.82	6

Farm system

See also: Minor League Baseball

The Brewers' farm system consisted of four minor league affiliates in 1978. ^[12]

Level	Team	League	Manager
Triple-A	Spokane Indians	Pacific Coast League	John Felske
Double-A	Holyoke Millers	Eastern League	George Farson
Class A	Burlington Bees	Midwest League	Lee Sigman
Class A Short Season	Newark Co-Pilots	New York–Penn League	Ken Richardson

Notes

1. Gorman Thomas page at Baseball Reference
2. Kevin Kobel page at Baseball Reference
3. Ken McMullen page at Baseball Reference
4. Ray Fosse page at Baseball Reference
5. Randy Stein page at Baseball Reference
6. Von Joshua page at Baseball Reference
7. 1978 Milwaukee Brewers Roster by Baseball Almanac
8. Bob Galasso page at Baseball Reference
9. Tony Muser page at Baseball Reference
10. Rickey Keeton page at Baseball Reference
11. Jamie Quirk page at Baseball Reference
12. "1978 Milwaukee Brewers Minor League Affiliates". Baseball-Reference. Sports Reference. Retrieved December 30, 2020.

References

• 1978 Milwaukee Brewers team page at Baseball Reference
• 1978 Milwaukee Brewers team page at www.baseball-almanac.com