1978 American League Most Valuable Player Award

The winner of the 1978 American League Most Valuable Player Award was Jim Rice of the Boston Red Sox.

Award Voting

† indicates playoff team

Player	Team	Points	Points Share (Max Points)	First Votes		AB	R	H	HR	RBI	SB	BB	SO	AVG	OBP	SLG		W - L	SV	IP	H	HR	BB	SO	ERA
Jim Rice	Boston Red Sox	352	0.898 (392)	20		677	121	213	46	139	7	58	126	0.315	0.370	0.600		Did not pitch
Ron Guidry	New York Yankees †	291	0.742 (392)	8		0	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	-.---	-.---	-.---		25 - 3	0	273.2	187	13	72	248	1.74
Larry Hisle	Milwaukee Brewers	201	0.513 (392)	0		520	96	151	34	115	10	67	90	0.290	0.374	0.533		Did not pitch
Amos Otis	Kansas City Royals †	90	0.230 (392)	0		486	74	145	22	96	32	66	54	0.298	0.380	0.525		Did not pitch
Rusty Staub	Detroit Tigers	88	0.224 (392)	0		642	75	175	24	121	3	76	35	0.273	0.347	0.435		Did not pitch
Graig Nettles	New York Yankees †	86	0.219 (392)	0		587	81	162	27	93	1	59	69	0.276	0.343	0.460		Did not pitch
Don Baylor	California Angels	51	0.130 (392)	0		591	103	151	34	99	22	56	71	0.255	0.332	0.472		Did not pitch
Eddie Murray	Baltimore Orioles	50	0.128 (392)	0		610	85	174	27	95	6	70	97	0.285	0.356	0.480		Did not pitch
Carlton Fisk	Boston Red Sox	49	0.125 (392)	0		571	94	162	20	88	7	71	83	0.284	0.366	0.475		Did not pitch
Darrell Porter	Kansas City Royals †	48	0.122 (392)	0		520	77	138	18	78	0	75	75	0.265	0.358	0.444		Did not pitch
Rod Carew	Minnesota Twins	46	0.117 (392)	0		564	85	188	5	70	27	78	62	0.333	0.411	0.441		Did not pitch
Mike Caldwell	Milwaukee Brewers	41	0.105 (392)	0		0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	-.---	-.---	-.---		22 - 9	1	293.1	258	14	54	131	2.36
Rich Gossage	New York Yankees †	39	0.099 (392)	0		0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	-.---	-.---	-.---		10 - 11	27	134.1	87	9	59	122	2.01
Al Oliver	Texas Rangers	26.5	0.068 (392)	0		525	65	170	14	89	8	31	41	0.324	0.358	0.490		Did not pitch
Jim Sundberg	Texas Rangers	24	0.061 (392)	0		518	54	144	6	58	2	64	70	0.278	0.358	0.380		Did not pitch
Ron LeFlore	Detroit Tigers	21	0.054 (392)	0		666	126	198	12	62	68	65	104	0.297	0.361	0.405		Did not pitch
Reggie Jackson	New York Yankees †	18	0.046 (392)	0		511	82	140	27	97	14	58	133	0.274	0.356	0.477		Did not pitch
Carl Yastrzemski	Boston Red Sox	17	0.043 (392)	0		523	70	145	17	81	4	76	44	0.277	0.367	0.423		Did not pitch
George Brett	Kansas City Royals †	14	0.036 (392)	0		510	79	150	9	62	23	39	35	0.294	0.342	0.467		Did not pitch
Andre Thornton	Cleveland Indians	12.5	0.032 (392)	0		508	97	133	33	105	4	93	72	0.262	0.377	0.516		Did not pitch
Lou Piniella	New York Yankees †	11	0.028 (392)	0		472	67	148	6	69	3	34	36	0.314	0.361	0.445		Did not pitch
Thurman Munson	New York Yankees †	9	0.023 (392)	0		617	73	183	6	71	2	35	70	0.297	0.332	0.373		Did not pitch
Larry Gura	Kansas City Royals †	8	0.020 (392)	0		0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	-.---	-.---	-.---		16 - 4	0	221.2	183	13	60	81	2.72
Lyman Bostock	California Angels	8	0.020 (392)	0		568	74	168	5	71	15	59	36	0.296	0.362	0.379		Did not pitch
Bob Stanley	Boston Red Sox	6	0.015 (392)	0		0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	-.---	-.---	-.---		15 - 2	10	141.2	142	5	34	38	2.60
Dave LaRoche	California Angels	6	0.015 (392)	0		0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	-.---	-.---	-.---		10 - 9	25	95.2	73	7	48	70	2.82
Mickey Rivers	New York Yankees †	6	0.015 (392)	0		559	78	148	11	48	25	29	51	0.265	0.302	0.397		Did not pitch
Fred Lynn	Boston Red Sox	6	0.015 (392)	0		541	75	161	22	82	3	75	50	0.298	0.380	0.492		Did not pitch
Willie Randolph	New York Yankees †	5	0.013 (392)	0		499	87	139	3	42	36	82	51	0.279	0.381	0.357		Did not pitch
Don Money	Milwaukee Brewers	5	0.013 (392)	0		518	88	152	14	54	3	48	70	0.293	0.361	0.440		Did not pitch
Dennis Eckersley	Boston Red Sox	4	0.010 (392)	0		0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	-.---	-.---	-.---		20 - 8	0	268.1	258	30	71	162	2.99
Hal McRae	Kansas City Royals †	4	0.010 (392)	0		623	90	170	16	72	17	51	62	0.273	0.329	0.429		Did not pitch
Leon Roberts	Seattle Mariners	3	0.008 (392)	0		472	78	142	22	92	6	41	52	0.301	0.364	0.515		Did not pitch
Rich Gale	Kansas City Royals †	2	0.005 (392)	0		0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	-.---	-.---	-.---		14 - 8	0	192.1	171	10	100	88	3.09
Ken Singleton	Baltimore Orioles	2	0.005 (392)	0		502	67	147	20	81	0	98	94	0.293	0.409	0.462		Did not pitch
Frank Tanana	California Angels	1	0.003 (392)	0		0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	-.---	-.---	-.---		18 - 12	0	239.0	239	26	60	137	3.65
Rick Burleson	Boston Red Sox	1	0.003 (392)	0		626	75	155	5	49	8	40	71	0.248	0.295	0.339		Did not pitch

Preceded by 1977

Most Valuable Player Award National 1978

Succeeded by 1979