1978 American League

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The 1978 season of the American League was the seventy-eighth season of the league.

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Season summary[edit]

In a one-game playoff for the American League Eastern Division title, the New York Yankees defeated the Boston Red Sox 5 to 4. For the final out, Boston's Carl Yastrzemski popped up a Goose Gossage pitch to Graig Nettles.

Standings[edit]

Bold indicates league champion, Italics indicates World Series champion
Rank Team G W L T WPCT GB RS (RS/G) RA (RA/G) AVG OBP SLG ERA FPCT
Eastern Division
1 New York Yankees 163 100 63 0 .613 -.- 735 (4.51) 582 (3.57) 0.267 0.328 0.388 3.18 0.982
2 Boston Red Sox 163 99 64 0 .607 1.0 796 (4.88) 657 (4.03) 0.267 0.336 0.424 3.54 0.977
3 Milwaukee Brewers 162 93 69 0 .574 6.5 804 (4.96) 650 (4.01) 0.276 0.339 0.432 3.65 0.977
4 Baltimore Orioles 161 90 71 0 .559 9.0 659 (4.09) 633 (3.93) 0.258 0.326 0.396 3.56 0.982
5 Detroit Tigers 162 86 76 0 .531 13.5 714 (4.41) 653 (4.03) 0.271 0.338 0.392 3.64 0.981
6 Cleveland Indians 159 69 90 0 .434 29.0 639 (4.02) 694 (4.36) 0.261 0.323 0.379 3.97 0.980
7 Toronto Blue Jays 161 59 102 0 .366 40.0 590 (3.66) 775 (4.81) 0.250 0.307 0.359 4.54 0.979
Western Division
1 Kansas City Royals 162 92 70 0 .568 -.- 743 (4.59) 634 (3.91) 0.268 0.329 0.399 3.44 0.976
2 Texas Rangers 162 87 75 0 .537 5.0 692 (4.27) 632 (3.90) 0.253 0.331 0.381 3.36 0.976
3 California Angels 162 87 75 0 .537 5.0 691 (4.27) 666 (4.11) 0.259 0.325 0.370 3.65 0.978
4 Minnesota Twins 162 73 89 0 .451 19.0 666 (4.11) 678 (4.19) 0.267 0.339 0.375 3.69 0.977
5 Chicago White Sox 161 71 90 0 .441 20.5 634 (3.94) 731 (4.54) 0.264 0.316 0.379 4.21 0.977
6 Oakland Athletics 162 69 93 0 .426 23.0 532 (3.28) 690 (4.26) 0.245 0.302 0.351 3.62 0.971
7 Seattle Mariners 160 56 104 0 .350 35.0 614 (3.84) 834 (5.21) 0.248 0.314 0.359 4.67 0.978

League leaders[edit]

Bold indicates league record, Italics indicate all-time record

Batting[edit]

Statistic Leader Team Number
Games Played Jim Rice Boston Red Sox 163
At Bats Jim Rice Boston Red Sox 677
Runs Scored Ron LeFlore Detroit Tigers 126
Hits Jim Rice Boston Red Sox 213
Doubles George Brett Kansas City Royals 45
Triples Jim Rice Boston Red Sox 15
Home Runs Jim Rice Boston Red Sox 46
Total Bases Jim Rice Boston Red Sox 406
Runs Batted In Jim Rice Boston Red Sox 139
Stolen Bases Ron LeFlore Detroit Tigers 68
Caught Stealing Miguel Dilone Oakland Athletics 23
Walks Mike Hargrove Texas Rangers 107
Intentional Base-on-Balls Rod Carew Minnesota Twins 19
Hit by Pitch Don Baylor California Angels 18
Strikeouts Gary Alexander Oakland Athletics/Cleveland Indians 166
Sacrifice Hits Bert Campaneris Texas Rangers 25
Sacrifice Flies Don Baylor California Angels 12
Grounded into Double Plays Lyman Bostock California Angels 26
Batting Average Rod Carew Minnesota Twins 0.333
On-Base Percentage Rod Carew Minnesota Twins 0.411
Slugging Percentage Jim Rice Boston Red Sox 0.600
On-Base plus Slugging Jim Rice Boston Red Sox 0.970
On-Base plus Slugging Plus Jim Rice Boston Red Sox 158

Pitching[edit]

Statistic Leader Team Number
Wins Ron Guidry New York Yankees 25
Losses Rick Wise Cleveland Indians 19
Win-Loss Percentage Ron Guidry New York Yankees 0.893
Appearances Bob Lacey Oakland Athletics 74
Games Started Mike Flanagan
Dennis Leonard
Baltimore Orioles
Kansas City Royals
40
Complete Games Mike Caldwell Milwaukee Brewers 23
Shutouts Ron Guidry New York Yankees 9
Games Finished Rich Gossage New York Yankees 55
Saves Rich Gossage New York Yankees 27
Innings Pitched Jim Palmer Baltimore Orioles 296.0
Batters Faced Dennis Leonard Kansas City Royals 1218
Hits Allowed Dennis Leonard Kansas City Royals 283
Home Runs Allowed Dennis Eckersley Boston Red Sox 30
Base-on-Balls Allowed Nolan Ryan California Angels 148
Intentional Base-on-Balls Bob Lacey Oakland Athletics 13
Hit Batsmen Ken Kravec Chicago White Sox 10
Strikeouts Nolan Ryan California Angels 260
Wild Pitches Nolan Ryan California Angels 13
Balks Frank Tanana California Angels 8
Runs Allowed Roger Erickson Minnesota Twins 129
Earned Runs Allowed Mike Flanagan Baltimore Orioles 126
Earned Run Average Ron Guidry New York Yankees 1.74
Walks plus Hits
per Inning Pitched
Ron Guidry New York Yankees 0.946

All-Star Game[edit]

The American League lost the forty-ninth midsummer classic at San Diego Stadium in San Diego, CA on Tuesday, July 11, 1978 by a score of 7 to 3. The league's manager was Billy Martin.

Postseason[edit]

The American League Championship Series, featured New York Yankees, the Eastern Division winner, and the Kansas City Royals, the Western Division winner. The Yankees defeated the Royals, 3 games to 1.

In the World Series, the American League champion New York Yankees defeated the National League's Los Angeles Dodgers, 4 games to 2.

Award winners[edit]

The winner of the league's Most Valuable Player Award, given its Most Valuable Player, was Jim Rice, an outfielder with the Boston Red Sox. In the award's voting, he had 352 out of a possible 392 points and 20 first place votes.

The winner of the league's Cy Young Award, given its best pitcher, was Ron Guidry of the New York Yankees. In the award's voting, he had 140 out of a possible 140 points and 28 first place votes.

The winner of the league's Rookie of the Year Award, given its best rookie player, was Lou Whitaker, a second baseman with the Detroit Tigers. In the award's voting, he had 21 out of a possible 28 points and 21 first place votes.

Gold Gloves[edit]

The following players won the Gold Glove Award, given to the league's best fielders as voted upon by its managers and coaches, at their respective position.

Position Player Team
P Jim Palmer Baltimore Orioles
C Jim Sundberg Texas Rangers
1B Chris Chambliss New York Yankees
2B Frank White Kansas City Royals
3B Graig Nettles New York Yankees
SS Mark Belanger Baltimore Orioles
OF Dwight Evans Boston Red Sox
Rick Miller California Angels
Fred Lynn Boston Red Sox

Monthly Awards[edit]

Hall of Fame Game[edit]

The thirty-sixth annual Hall of Fame Game was played on August 7 at Doubleday Field in Cooperstown, NY near the National Baseball Hall of Fame. The game ended in a 4 - 4 tie between the Detroit Tigers of the American League and New York Mets of the National League. The game was stopped by rain in top of the seventh inning.

Notable events[edit]

Umpires[edit]

* Denotes a fill-in umpire

Further Reading[edit]

  • Will Leitch: "'78: Yanks' wild journey, Seaver's no-no, Rice rakes", mlb.com, June 5, 2020. [1]