1978 Kansas City Royals
American League West Champions
LeagueAmerican League
DivisionWest
BallparkRoyals Stadium
CityKansas City, Missouri
OwnersEwing Kauffman
General managersJoe Burke
ManagersWhitey Herzog (third full season)
TelevisionKBMA
(Steve Shannon)
RadioWIBW (AM)
(Denny Matthews, Fred White)
← 1977 Seasons 1979 →

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.

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

Draft picks

Roster

1978 Kansas City Royals
Roster
Pitchers Catchers

Infielders

Outfielders

Other batters

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 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

Notes

  1. ^ John Mayberry at Baseball Reference
  2. ^ Gary Lance at Baseball Reference
  3. ^ Jamie Quirk at Baseball Reference
  4. ^ Jeff Cornell at Baseball Reference
  5. ^ Frank Viola at Baseball Reference

References

External links

American League West champions
1978 MLB season by team
Kansas City Royals
Categories