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1978 Kansas City Royals season
| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| name | Kansas City Royals |
| season | 1978 |
| misc | American League West champions |
| league | American League |
| division | West |
| ballpark | Royals Stadium |
| city | Kansas City, Missouri |
| record | 92–70 (.568) |
| divisional_place | 1st |
| owners | Ewing Kauffman |
| general_managers | Joe Burke |
| managers | Whitey Herzog (third full season) |
| television | KBMA–TV 41 |
| (Denny Matthews, Steve Shannon, Fred White) | |
| radio | WIBW–AM 580 |
| KMBZ–AM 980 | |
| (Denny Matthews, Fred White) |
(Denny Matthews, Steve Shannon, Fred White) KMBZ–AM 980 (Denny Matthews, Fred White) |}} 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 ALCS.
Regular season
Season standings
Record vs. opponents
Notable transactions
- April 4, 1978: John Mayberry was purchased from the Royals by the Toronto Blue Jays.
- 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.
- August 3, 1978: Gerry Ako (minors) and cash were traded by the Royals to the Milwaukee Brewers for Jamie Quirk.
Draft picks
- June 6, 1978: 1978 Major League Baseball draft
- Jeff Cornell was drafted by the Royals in the 8th round.
- Frank Viola was drafted by the Royals in the 16th round, but did not sign.
Roster
| 1978 Kansas City Royals |
|---|
| **Roster** |
| **Pitchers** |
Game log
Postseason Game log
|-style="background:#fcc;"
| 1 || || 7:30p.m. CDT || Yankees || L 1–7 || Beattie (1–0) || Leonard (0–1) || Clay (1) || 2:57 || 41,143 || NYY 1–0 || L1
|-style="background:#cfc;"
| 2 || || 2:30p.m. CDT || Yankees || W 10–4 || Gura (1–0) || Figueroa (0–1) || — || 2:42 || 41,158 || Tied 1–1 || W1
|-style="background:#fcc;"
| 3 || || 2:30p.m. CDT || @ Yankees || L 5–6 || Gossage (1–0) || Bird (0–1) || — || 2:13 || 55,445 || NYY 2–1 || L1
|-style="background:#fcc;"
| 4 || || 7:30p.m. CDT || @ Yankees || L 1–2 || Guidry (1–0) || Leonard (0–2) || Gossage (1) || 2:20 || 56,356 || NYY 3–1 || L2
|-
|- style="text-align:center;"
| Legend: = Win = Loss
Bold = Royals team member
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 | 150 | 520 | 138 | .265 | 18 | 78 | |
| 1B | 118 | 322 | 95 | .295 | 5 | 48 | |
| 2B | 143 | 461 | 127 | .275 | 7 | 50 | |
| 3B | 128 | 510 | 150 | .294 | 9 | 62 | |
| SS | 138 | 440 | 109 | .248 | 2 | 46 | |
| LF | 127 | 198 | 43 | .217 | 0 | 16 | |
| CF | 141 | 486 | 145 | .298 | 22 | 96 | |
| RF | 132 | 485 | 133 | .274 | 5 | 63 | |
| DH | 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 133 | 417 | 110 | .264 | 7 | 56 | |
| 80 | 204 | 44 | .216 | 4 | 30 | |
| 67 | 190 | 57 | .300 | 2 | 28 | |
| 64 | 137 | 36 | .263 | 0 | 14 | |
| 73 | 133 | 27 | .203 | 0 | 8 | |
| 69 | 129 | 34 | .264 | 0 | 9 | |
| 60 | 127 | 32 | .252 | 0 | 11 | |
| 17 | 29 | 6 | .207 | 0 | 2 | |
| 13 | 16 | 2 | .125 | 0 | 0 | |
| 9 | 13 | 3 | .231 | 1 | 2 | |
| 7 | 13 | 2 | .154 | 0 | 1 | |
| 8 | 11 | 6 | .545 | 0 | 3 | |
| 3 | 8 | 0 | .000 | 0 | 0 | |
| 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 40 | 294.2 | 21 | 17 | 3.33 | 183 | |
| 39 | 262.0 | 19 | 13 | 3.40 | 76 | |
| 35 | 221.2 | 16 | 4 | 2.72 | 81 | |
| 31 | 192.1 | 14 | 8 | 3.09 | 88 | |
| 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 40 | 98.2 | 6 | 6 | 5.29 | 48 | |
| 32 | 78.2 | 3 | 3 | 3.32 | 30 | |
| 11 | 58.1 | 1 | 4 | 4.32 | 26 | |
| 8 | 28.1 | 1 | 2 | 4.76 | 8 | |
| 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 58 | 8 | 7 | 20 | 2.88 | 60 | |
| 45 | 1 | 4 | 7 | 2.74 | 28 | |
| 18 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 4.21 | 12 | |
| 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3.86 | 0 | |
| 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 3.38 | 5 | |
| 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0.00 | 2 |
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** | 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 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
LEAGUE CHAMPIONS: Omaha
Notes
References
References
- [https://www.baseball-reference.com/m/maybejo01.shtml John Mayberry] at ''Baseball Reference''
- [https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/l/lancega01.shtml Gary Lance] at ''Baseball Reference''
- [https://www.baseball-reference.com/q/quirkja01.shtml Jamie Quirk] at ''Baseball Reference''
- [https://www.baseball-reference.com/c/corneje01.shtml Jeff Cornell] at ''Baseball Reference''
- [https://www.baseball-reference.com/v/violafr01.shtml Frank Viola] at ''Baseball Reference''
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