1978 American Association season

BR minors page

The 1978 American Association season was the 71st in the league's history, and ended with the Omaha Royals winning the league championship. The Royals had lost the two previous championship series to the Denver Bears.

The Royals became only the fourth team in Triple-A history to win a championship with a losing record, and the first since the 1955 Rochester Red Wings. The 1939 Louisville Colonels were the only other AA team to achieve the feat.

This was the first season for the Springfield Redbirds.

Final standings

Playoff teams in bold .

East Division	W	L	Pct.	GB	Manager	Affiliation
Indianapolis Indians	78	57	.578	--	Roy Majtyka	Cincinnati Reds
Evansville Triplets	78	58	.574	½	Les Moss	Detroit Tigers
Springfield Redbirds	70	66	.515	8½	Jimy Williams	St. Louis Cardinals
Iowa Oaks	66	70	.485	15½	Joe Sparks	Chicago White Sox

West Division	W	L	Pct.	GB	Manager	Affiliation
Omaha Royals	66	69	.489	--	John Sullivan	Kansas City Royals
Denver Bears	64	71	.471	2	Doc Edwards	Montreal Expos
Oklahoma City 89ers	62	74	.456	4½	Mike Ryan	Philadelphia Phillies
Wichita Aeros	58	77	.430	8	Harry Dunlop	Chicago Cubs

Championship Finals

Indianapolis vs. Omaha Date Away Home September 1 Omaha 3 Indianapolis 1 September 2 Omaha 3 Indianapolis 2 September 3 Omaha 2 Indianapolis 3 September 4 Indianapolis 2 Omaha 5 September 5 Indianapolis 1 Omaha 4 Omaha wins series 4-1

League Leaders

Batting

• Batting Average Dane Iorg, Springfield, .371
• Runs Scored Tony Bernazard, Denver, 107
• Hits Champ Summers, Indianapolis, 170
• Doubles Scot Thompson, Wichita, 33
• Triples Bob Pate, Denver, 11
• Home Runs Summers, 34
• Runs Batted In Summers, 124
• Stolen Bases Lonnie Smith, Oklahoma City, 60

Pitching

• Wins Sheldon Burnside, Evansville; Bill Paschall, Omaha, 14
• Earned Run Average Jack Kucek, Iowa, 2.48
• Complete Games Paschall, 13
• Shutouts Steve Baker, Evansville; Mike LaCoss, Indianapolis, 3
• Strikeouts Dan Warthen, Oklahoma City, 144
• Saves Doug Corbett, Indianapolis, 12

All-Star Team

• First Base Dane Iorg, Springfield
• Second Base Jerry Manuel, Evansville
• Shortstop Ron Oester, Indianapolis
• Third Base Harry Spilman, Indianapolis
• Outfield Champ Summers, Indianapolis; Kerry Dineen, Oklahoma City; Jim Lentine, Springfield
• Catcher Keith Moreland, Oklahoma City
• Utility Pete Mackanin, Denver; Arturo DeFreitas, Indianapolis
• Pitcher Jack Kucek, Iowa; Dan Warthen, Oklahoma City
• Manager Les Moss, Evansville

References

The Encyclopedia of Minor League Baseball. W. Lloyd Johnson and Miles Wolff, editors. Baseball America, 1993.

1979 Baseball Guide

External Links

1978 AA - The Baseball Cube