1978 Kansas City Royals season
The 1978 Kansas City Royals season was their tenth in Major League Baseball. The Royals won their third consecutive American League West title with a record of 92-70. For the third postseason in a row, Kansas City lost to the New York Yankees, falling 3-1 in the 1978 American League Championship Series.
1978 Kansas City Royals | |
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1978 AL West Champions | |
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Other information | |
Owner(s) | Ewing Kauffman |
General manager(s) | Joe Burke |
Manager(s) | Whitey Herzog (third full season) |
Local television | KBMA (Steve Shannon) |
Local radio | WIBW (AM) (Denny Matthews, Fred White) |
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Regular season
Season standings
AL West | W | L | Pct. | GB | Home | Road |
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Kansas City Royals | 92 | 70 | 0.568 | — | 56–25 | 36–45 |
Texas Rangers | 87 | 75 | 0.537 | 5 | 52–30 | 35–45 |
California Angels | 87 | 75 | 0.537 | 5 | 50–31 | 37–44 |
Minnesota Twins | 73 | 89 | 0.451 | 19 | 38–43 | 35–46 |
Chicago White Sox | 71 | 90 | 0.441 | 20½ | 38–42 | 33–48 |
Oakland Athletics | 69 | 93 | 0.426 | 23 | 38–42 | 31–51 |
Seattle Mariners | 56 | 104 | 0.350 | 35 | 32–49 | 24–55 |
Record vs. opponents
1978 American League Records Sources: | ||||||||||||||
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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 4, 1978: John Mayberry was purchased from the Royals by the Toronto Blue Jays.[1]
- June 5, 1978: The Royals traded a player to be named later to the San Diego Padres for Steve Hamrick (minors). The Royals completed the deal by sending Gary Lance to the Padres on September 29.[2]
- August 3, 1978: Gerry Ako (minors) and cash were traded by the Royals to the Milwaukee Brewers for Jamie Quirk.[3]
Draft picks
- June 6, 1978: 1978 Major League Baseball draft
- Jeff Cornell was drafted by the Royals in the 8th round.[4]
- Frank Viola was drafted by the Royals in the 16th round, but did not sign.[5]
Roster
1978 Kansas City Royals | |||||||||
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Roster | |||||||||
Pitchers
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Catchers
Infielders
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Outfielders
Other batters |
Manager
Coaches
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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 |
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C | Darrell Porter | 150 | 520 | 138 | .265 | 18 | 78 |
1B | Pete LaCock | 118 | 322 | 95 | .295 | 5 | 48 |
2B | Frank White | 143 | 461 | 127 | 275 | 7 | 50 |
3B | George Brett | 128 | 510 | 150 | .294 | 9 | 62 |
SS | Freddie Patek | 138 | 440 | 109 | .248 | 2 | 46 |
LF | Willie Wilson | 127 | 198 | 43 | .217 | 0 | 16 |
CF | Amos Otis | 141 | 486 | 145 | .298 | 22 | 96 |
RF | Al Cowens | 132 | 485 | 133 | .274 | 5 | 63 |
DH | Hal McRae | 156 | 623 | 170 | .273 | 16 | 72 |
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 |
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Clint Hurdle | 133 | 417 | 110 | .264 | 7 | 56 |
Tom Poquette | 80 | 204 | 44 | .216 | 4 | 30 |
John Wathan | 67 | 190 | 57 | .300 | 2 | 28 |
Steve Braun | 64 | 137 | 36 | .263 | 0 | 14 |
Jerry Terrell | 73 | 133 | 27 | .203 | 0 | 8 |
U L Washington | 69 | 129 | 34 | .264 | 0 | 9 |
Joe Zdeb | 60 | 127 | 32 | .252 | 0 | 11 |
Jamie Quirk | 17 | 29 | 6 | .207 | 0 | 2 |
Joe Lahoud | 13 | 16 | 2 | .125 | 0 | 0 |
Art Kusnyer | 9 | 13 | 3 | .231 | 1 | 2 |
Luis Silverio | 8 | 11 | 6 | .545 | 0 | 3 |
Dave Cripe | 7 | 13 | 2 | .154 | 0 | 1 |
Jim Gaudet | 3 | 8 | 0 | .000 | 0 | 0 |
Randy Bass | 2 | 2 | 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 |
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Dennis Leonard | 40 | 294.2 | 21 | 17 | 3.33 | 183 |
Paul Splittorff | 39 | 262 | 19 | 13 | 3.40 | 76 |
Larry Gura | 35 | 221.2 | 16 | 4 | 2.72 | 81 |
Rich Gale | 31 | 192.1 | 14 | 8 | 3.09 | 88 |
Andy Hassler | 11 | 58.1 | 1 | 4 | 4.32 | 26 |
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 |
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Doug Bird | 40 | 98.2 | 6 | 6 | 5.29 | 48 |
Marty Pattin | 32 | 78.2 | 3 | 3 | 3.32 | 30 |
Andy Hassler | 11 | 58.1 | 1 | 4 | 4.32 | 26 |
Jim Colborn | 8 | 28.1 | 1 | 2 | 4.76 | 8 |
Steve Busby | 7 | 21.1 | 1 | 0 | 7.59 | 10 |
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 |
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Al Hrabosky | 58 | 8 | 7 | 20 | 2.88 | 60 |
Steve Mingori | 45 | 1 | 4 | 7 | 2.74 | 28 |
Randy McGilberry | 18 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 4.21 | 12 |
Steve Foucault | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3.86 | 0 |
Bill Paschall | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 3.38 | 5 |
George Throop | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0.00 | 2 |
ALCS
Game 1
October 3: Royals Stadium
Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E |
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New York | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 7 | 16 | 0 |
Kansas City | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 2 |
W: Jim Beattie (1-0) L: Dennis Leonard (0-1) S: Ken Clay (1) | ||||||||||||
HRs: NYY – Reggie Jackson (1) |
Game 2
October 4: Royals Stadium
Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E |
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New York | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 4 | 12 | 1 |
Kansas City | 1 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 2 | X | 10 | 16 | 1 |
W: Larry Gura (1-0) L: Ed Figueroa (0-1) | ||||||||||||
HRs: KCR – Freddie Patek (1) |
Game 3
October 6: Yankee Stadium
Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E |
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Kansas City | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 5 | 10 | 1 |
New York | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | X | 6 | 10 | 0 |
W: Goose Gossage (1-0) L: Doug Bird (0-1) | ||||||||||||
HRs: KCR – George Brett 3 (3) NYY – Reggie Jackson (2) Thurman Munson (1) |
Game 4
October 7: Yankee Stadium
Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E |
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Kansas City | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 7 | 0 |
New York | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | X | 2 | 4 | 0 |
W: Ron Guidry (1-0) L: Dennis Leonard (0-2) S: Goose Gossage (1) | ||||||||||||
HRs: NYY – Graig Nettles (1) Roy White (1) |
Farm system
Level | Team | League | Manager |
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AAA | Omaha Royals | American Association | John Sullivan |
AA | Jacksonville Suns | Southern League | Gordon Mackenzie |
A | Fort Myers Royals | Florida State League | Gene Lamont |
Rookie | GCL Royals | Gulf Coast League | José Martínez |
LEAGUE CHAMPIONS: Omaha
Notes
- John Mayberry at Baseball Reference
- Gary Lance at Baseball Reference
- Jamie Quirk at Baseball Reference
- Jeff Cornell at Baseball Reference
- Frank Viola at Baseball Reference
References
- Johnson, Lloyd; Wolff, Miles, eds. (1997). The Encyclopedia of Minor League Baseball (2nd ed.). Durham, North Carolina: Baseball America. ISBN 978-0-9637189-8-3.
External links
- 1978 Kansas City Royals at Baseball Reference
- 1978 Kansas City Royals at Baseball Almanac