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
1978 AL West Champions
Major League affiliations
Location
Other information
OwnersEwing Kauffman
General managersJoe Burke
ManagersWhitey Herzog (third full season)
Local televisionKBMA
(Steve Shannon)
Local radioWIBW (AM)
(Denny Matthews, Fred White)
< Previous season     Next season >

Regular season

Season standings
AL West W L Pct. GB Home Road
Kansas City Royals 9270 0.568 — 56–25 36–45
Texas Rangers 8775 0.537 5 52–30 35–45
California Angels 8775 0.537 5 50–31 37–44
Minnesota Twins 7389 0.451 19 38–43 35–46
Chicago White Sox 7190 0.441 20½ 38–42 33–48
Oakland Athletics 6993 0.426 23 38–42 31–51
Seattle Mariners 56104 0.350 35 32–49 24–55

Record vs. opponents
1978 American League record

Sources:
Team BAL BOS CAL CWS CLE DET KC MIL MIN NYY OAK SEA TEX TOR
Baltimore —7–84–68–19–67–82–87–85–56–911–09–17–48–7
Boston 8–7—9–27–37–812–34–610–59–27–95–57–33–711–4
California 6–42–9—8–76–44–79–65–512–35–59–69–65–107–3
Chicago 1–83–77–8—8–22–98–74–78–71–97–87–811–44–6
Cleveland 6–98–74–62–8—5–105–65–105–56–94–68–11–910–4
Detroit 8–73–127–49–210–5—4–67–84–64–116–48–27–39–6
Kansas City 8–26–46–97–86–56–4—6–47–86–510–512–37–85–5
Milwaukee 8–75–105–57–410–58–74–6—4–710–59–15–56–412–3
Minnesota 5–52–93–127–85–56–48–77–4—3–79–66–96–96–4
New York 9–69–75–59–19–611–45–65–107–3—8–26–56–411–4
Oakland 0–115–56–98–76–44–65–101–96–92–8—13–26–97–4
Seattle 1–93–76–98–71–82–83–125–59–65–62–13—3–128–2
Texas 4–77–310–54–119–13–78–74–69–64–69–612–3—4–7
Toronto 7–84–113–76–44–106–95–53–124–64–114–72–87–4—

Notable transactions

Draft picks

Roster
1978 Kansas City Royals
Roster
Pitchers Catchers

Infielders

 Outfielders

Other batters

 Manager

Coaches

Player stats

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
CDarrell Porter150520138.2651878
1BPete LaCock11832295.295548
2BFrank White143461127.275750
3BGeorge Brett128510150.294962
SSFreddie Patek138440109.248246
LFWillie Wilson12719843.217016
CFAmos Otis141486145.2982296
RFAl Cowens132485133.274563
DHHal McRae156623170.2731672

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
Clint Hurdle133417110.264756
Tom Poquette8020444.216430
John Wathan6719057.300228
Steve Braun6413736.263014
Jerry Terrell7313327.20308
U L Washington6912934.26409
Joe Zdeb6012732.252011
Jamie Quirk17296.20702
Joe Lahoud13162.12500
Art Kusnyer9133.23112
Dave Cripe7132.15401
Luis Silverio8116.54503
Jim Gaudet380.00000
Randy Bass220.00000

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
Dennis Leonard40294.221173.33183
Paul Splittorff39262.019133.4076
Larry Gura35221.21642.7281
Rich Gale31192.11483.0988
Andy Hassler1158.1144.3226

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
Doug Bird4098.2665.2948
Marty Pattin3278.2333.3230
Andy Hassler1158.1144.3226
Jim Colborn828.1124.768
Steve Busby721.1107.5910

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
Al Hrabosky5887202.8860
Steve Mingori451472.7428
Randy McGilberry180104.2112
Steve Foucault30003.860
Bill Paschall20113.385
George Throop11000.002

ALCS
Main article: 1978 American League Championship Series

Game 1

October 3: Royals Stadium

Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
New York 011 020 030 7160
Kansas City 000 001 000 122
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
New York 000 000 220 4121
Kansas City 140 000 32X 10161
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
Kansas City 101 010 020 5101
New York 010 201 02X 6100
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
Kansas City 100 000 000 170
New York 010 001 00X 240
W: Ron Guidry (1-0)  L: Dennis Leonard (0-2)  S: Goose Gossage (1)
HRs: NYY – Graig Nettles (1) Roy White (1)

Farm system
See also: Minor League Baseball
Level Team League Manager
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
  1. John Mayberry at Baseball Reference
  2. Gary Lance at Baseball Reference
  3. Jamie Quirk at Baseball Reference
  4. Jeff Cornell at Baseball Reference
  5. 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.
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