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 ALCS.

1978 Kansas City Royals
American League West Champions
League	American League
Division	West
Ballpark	Royals Stadium
City	Kansas City, Missouri
Owners	Ewing Kauffman
General managers	Joe Burke
Managers	Whitey Herzog (third full season)
Television	KBMA (Steve Shannon)
Radio	WIBW (AM) (Denny Matthews, Fred White)
Seasons

Regular season

Season standings

AL West	W	L	Pct.	GB	Home	Road
Kansas City Royals	92	70	0.568	—	56–25	36–45
Texas Rangers	87	75	0.537	5	52–30	35–45
California Angels	87	75	0.537	5	50–31	37–44
Minnesota Twins	73	89	0.451	19	38–43	35–46
Chicago White Sox	71	90	0.441	20½	38–42	33–48
Oakland Athletics	69	93	0.426	23	38–42	31–51
Seattle Mariners	56	104	0.350	35	32–49	24–55

Record vs. opponents

1978 American League record Sources: [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] [8] [9] [10] [11] [12] [13] [14]
Team	BAL	BOS	CAL	CWS	CLE	DET	KC	MIL	MIN	NYY	OAK	SEA	TEX	TOR
Baltimore	—	7–8	4–6	8–1	9–6	7–8	2–8	7–8	5–5	6–9	11–0	9–1	7–4	8–7
Boston	8–7	—	9–2	7–3	7–8	12–3	4–6	10–5	9–2	7–9	5–5	7–3	3–7	11–4
California	6–4	2–9	—	8–7	6–4	4–7	9–6	5–5	12–3	5–5	9–6	9–6	5–10	7–3
Chicago	1–8	3–7	7–8	—	8–2	2–9	8–7	4–7	8–7	1–9	7–8	7–8	11–4	4–6
Cleveland	6–9	8–7	4–6	2–8	—	5–10	5–6	5–10	5–5	6–9	4–6	8–1	1–9	10–4
Detroit	8–7	3–12	7–4	9–2	10–5	—	4–6	7–8	4–6	4–11	6–4	8–2	7–3	9–6
Kansas City	8–2	6–4	6–9	7–8	6–5	6–4	—	6–4	7–8	6–5	10–5	12–3	7–8	5–5
Milwaukee	8–7	5–10	5–5	7–4	10–5	8–7	4–6	—	4–7	10–5	9–1	5–5	6–4	12–3
Minnesota	5–5	2–9	3–12	7–8	5–5	6–4	8–7	7–4	—	3–7	9–6	6–9	6–9	6–4
New York	9–6	9–7	5–5	9–1	9–6	11–4	5–6	5–10	7–3	—	8–2	6–5	6–4	11–4
Oakland	0–11	5–5	6–9	8–7	6–4	4–6	5–10	1–9	6–9	2–8	—	13–2	6–9	7–4
Seattle	1–9	3–7	6–9	8–7	1–8	2–8	3–12	5–5	9–6	5–6	2–13	—	3–12	8–2
Texas	4–7	7–3	10–5	4–11	9–1	3–7	8–7	4–6	9–6	4–6	9–6	12–3	—	4–7
Toronto	7–8	4–11	3–7	6–4	4–10	6–9	5–5	3–12	4–6	4–11	4–7	2–8	7–4	—

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 29 Doug Bird 40 Steve Busby 48 Jim Colborn 16 Steve Foucault 38 Rich Gale 37 Larry Gura 16 Andy Hassler 39 Al Hrabosky 22 Dennis Leonard 28,31 Randy McGilberry 23 Steve Mingori 43 Bill Paschall 33 Marty Pattin 34 Paul Splittorff 35 George Throop		Catchers 37 Jim Gaudet 21 Art Kusnyer 15 Darrell Porter Infielders  5 George Brett 31 Dave Cripe  8 Pete LaCock  2 Fred Patek 10 Jamie Quirk  1 Jerry Terrell 30 U L Washington 12 John Wathan 20 Frank White		Outfielders  3 Steve Braun 18 Al Cowens  9 Clint Hurdle 10 Joe Lahoud 11 Hal McRae 26 Amos Otis 25 Tom Poquette 17 Luis Silverio  6 Willie Wilson 19 Joe Zdeb Other batters  7 Randy Bass		Manager 24 Whitey Herzog Coaches 14 Steve Boros 36 Galen Cisco  4 Chuck Hiller 27 Charley Lau

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	Darrell Porter	150	520	138	.265	18	78
1B	Pete LaCock	118	322	95	.295	5	48
2B	Frank White	143	461	127	.275	7	50
3B	George Brett	128	510	150	.294	9	62
SS	Freddie Patek	138	440	109	.248	2	46
LF	Willie Wilson	127	198	43	.217	0	16
CF	Amos Otis	141	486	145	.298	22	96
RF	Al Cowens	132	485	133	.274	5	63
DH	Hal McRae	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
Clint Hurdle	133	417	110	.264	7	56
Tom Poquette	80	204	44	.216	4	30
John Wathan	67	190	57	.300	2	28
Steve Braun	64	137	36	.263	0	14
Jerry Terrell	73	133	27	.203	0	8
U L Washington	69	129	34	.264	0	9
Joe Zdeb	60	127	32	.252	0	11
Jamie Quirk	17	29	6	.207	0	2
Joe Lahoud	13	16	2	.125	0	0
Art Kusnyer	9	13	3	.231	1	2
Dave Cripe	7	13	2	.154	0	1
Luis Silverio	8	11	6	.545	0	3
Jim Gaudet	3	8	0	.000	0	0
Randy Bass	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
Dennis Leonard	40	294.2	21	17	3.33	183
Paul Splittorff	39	262.0	19	13	3.40	76
Larry Gura	35	221.2	16	4	2.72	81
Rich Gale	31	192.1	14	8	3.09	88
Andy Hassler	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
Doug Bird	40	98.2	6	6	5.29	48
Marty Pattin	32	78.2	3	3	3.32	30
Andy Hassler	11	58.1	1	4	4.32	26
Jim Colborn	8	28.1	1	2	4.76	8
Steve Busby	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
Al Hrabosky	58	8	7	20	2.88	60
Steve Mingori	45	1	4	7	2.74	28
Randy McGilberry	18	0	1	0	4.21	12
Steve Foucault	3	0	0	0	3.86	0
Bill Paschall	2	0	1	1	3.38	5
George Throop	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

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

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.

External links

• 1978 Kansas City Royals at Baseball Reference
• 1978 Kansas City Royals at Baseball Almanac