1978 Baltimore Orioles
LeagueAmerican League
DivisionEast
BallparkMemorial Stadium
CityBaltimore, Maryland
Record90–71 (.559)
Divisional place4th
OwnersJerold Hoffberger
General managersHank Peters
ManagersEarl Weaver
TelevisionWJZ-TV
(Chuck Thompson, Bill O'Donnell, Brooks Robinson)[1]
RadioWBAL (AM)
(Chuck Thompson, Bill O'Donnell)
← 1977 Seasons 1979 →

The 1978 Baltimore Orioles season was a season in American baseball. It involved the Orioles finishing fourth in the American League East with a record of 90 wins and 71 losses.

Offseason

Regular season

Season standings

AL East 		W L Pct. GB Home Road
New York Yankees 100 63 0.613 — 55–26 45–37
Boston Red Sox 99 64 0.607 1 59–23 40–41
Milwaukee Brewers 93 69 0.574 6½ 54–27 39–42
Baltimore Orioles 90 71 0.559 9 51–30 39–41
Detroit Tigers 86 76 0.531 13½ 47–34 39–42
Cleveland Indians 69 90 0.434 29 42–36 27–54
Toronto Blue Jays 59 102 0.366 40 37–44 22–58

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 —


Opening Day starters

Notable transactions

Roster

1978 Baltimore Orioles
Roster
Pitchers Catchers

Infielders

Outfielders Manager

Coaches

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 Rick Dempsey 146 441 114 .259 6 32
1B Eddie Murray 161 610 174 .285 27 95
2B Rich Dauer 133 459 121 .264 6 46
3B Doug DeCinces 142 511 146 .286 28 80
SS Mark Belanger 135 348 74 .213 0 16
LF Pat Kelly 100 274 75 .274 11 40
CF Larry Harlow 147 460 112 .243 8 26
RF Ken Singleton 149 502 147 .293 20 81
DH Lee May 148 556 137 .246 25 80

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
Billy Smith 85 250 65 .260 5 30
Andrés Mora 76 229 49 .214 8 14
Carlos López 120 193 46 .238 4 20
Kiko Garcia 79 186 49 .263 0 13
Al Bumbry 33 114 27 .237 2 6
Terry Crowley 62 95 24 .253 0 12
Dave Skaggs 36 86 13 .151 0 2
Gary Roenicke 27 58 15 .259 3 15
Mike Anderson 53 32 3 .094 0 3
Elrod Hendricks 13 18 6 .333 1 1
Mike Dimmel 8 0 0 ---- 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
Jim Palmer 38 296.0 21 12 2.46 138
Mike Flanagan 40 281.1 19 15 4.03 167
Dennis Martínez 40 276.1 16 11 3.52 142
Scott McGregor 35 233.0 15 13 3.32 94
Sammy Stewart 2 11.1 1 1 3.18 11

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
Nelson Briles 16 54.1 4 4 4.64 30
Dave Ford 2 15.0 1 0 0.00 5

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
Don Stanhouse 56 6 9 24 2.89 42
Tippy Martinez 42 3 3 5 4.83 57
Joe Kerrigan 26 3 1 3 4.77 41
John Flinn 13 1 1 0 8.04 8
Tim Stoddard 8 0 1 0 6.00 14
Earl Stephenson 2 0 0 0 2.79 4
Larry Harlow 1 0 0 0 67.50 1
Elrod Hendricks 1 0 0 0 0.00 0

Farm system

See also: Minor League Baseball
Level Team League Manager
AAA Rochester Red Wings International League Ken Boyer, Al Widmar and Frank Robinson
AA Charlotte O's Southern League Lance Nichols
A Miami Orioles Florida State League Jimmy Williams
Rookie Bluefield Orioles Appalachian League J. R. Miner

LEAGUE CHAMPIONS: Miami

Notes

  1. ^ 1978 Media Guide (PDF). Baltimore Orioles. p. 48. Retrieved May 4, 2020.
  2. ^ Elrod Hendricks page at Baseball Reference
  3. ^ Bryn Smith page at Baseball Reference
  4. ^ Ken Rudolph page at Baseball Reference
  5. ^ Tony Muser page at Baseball Reference
  6. ^ 1978 Baltimore Orioles Roster by Baseball Almanac
  7. ^ 100 Things Orioles Fans Should Know and Do Before They Die, Dan Connolly, Triumph Books, Chicago, 2015, ISBN 978-1-62937-041-5, p.11
  8. ^ Cal Ripken page at Baseball Reference
  9. ^ Bobby Bonner page at Baseball Reference
  10. ^ Mike Boddicker page at Baseball Reference[permanent dead link]

References

Categories