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.

LeagueAmerican League

BallparkRoyals Stadium

Record92–70 (.568)

OwnersEwing Kauffman

Quick facts Kansas City Royals, League ...

1978 Kansas City Royals
American League West champions

League	American League
Division	West
Ballpark	Royals Stadium
City	Kansas City, Missouri
Record	92–70 (.568)
Divisional place	1st
Owners	Ewing Kauffman
General managers	Joe Burke
Managers	Whitey Herzog (third full season)
Television	KBMA–TV 41 (Denny Matthews, Steve Shannon, Fred White)
Radio	WIBW–AM 580 KMBZ–AM 980 (Denny Matthews, Fred White)
← 1977 Seasons 1979 →

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Regular season

Season standings

More information Team, W ...

v
t
e
AL West
Team	W	L	Pct.	GB	Home	Road
Kansas City Royals	92	70	.568	—	56‍–‍25	36‍–‍45
Texas Rangers	87	75	.537	5	52‍–‍30	35‍–‍45
California Angels	87	75	.537	5	50‍–‍31	37‍–‍44
Minnesota Twins	73	89	.451	19	38‍–‍43	35‍–‍46
Chicago White Sox	71	90	.441	20½	38‍–‍42	33‍–‍48
Oakland Athletics	69	93	.426	23	38‍–‍42	31‍–‍51
Seattle Mariners	56	104	.350	35	32‍–‍49	24‍–‍55

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Record vs. opponents

More information Team, BAL ...

1978 American League record v t e Sources:
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	—

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Notable transactions

April 4, 1978: John Mayberry was purchased from the Royals by the Toronto Blue Jays.^[1]
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.^[2]
August 3, 1978: Gerry Ako (minors) and cash were traded by the Royals to the Milwaukee Brewers for Jamie Quirk.^[3]

Draft picks

June 6, 1978: 1978 Major League Baseball draft
- Jeff Cornell was drafted by the Royals in the 8th round.^[4]
- Frank Viola was drafted by the Royals in the 16th round, but did not sign.^[5]

Roster

1978 Kansas City Royals

Roster

Pitchers

Catchers

Infielders

Outfielders

Other batters

7 Randy Bass

Manager

24 Whitey Herzog

Coaches

Game log

Postseason Game log

More information #, Date ...

1978 Postseason game log: 1–3 (Home: 1–1; Away: 0–2)

AL Championship Series: vs. New York Yankees 1–3 (Home: 1–1; Away: 0–2)

#	Date	Time (CT)	Opponent	Score	Win	Loss	Save	Time of Game	Attendance	Series	Box/ Streak
1	October 3	7:30 p.m. CDT	Yankees	L 1–7	Beattie (1–0)	Leonard (0–1)	Clay (1)	2:57	41,143	NYY 1–0	L1
2	October 4	2:30 p.m. CDT	Yankees	W 10–4	Gura (1–0)	Figueroa (0–1)	—	2:42	41,158	Tied 1–1	W1
3	October 6	2:30 p.m. CDT	@ Yankees	L 5–6	Gossage (1–0)	Bird (0–1)	—	2:13	55,445	NYY 2–1	L1
4	October 7	7:30 p.m. CDT	@ Yankees	L 1–2	Guidry (1–0)	Leonard (0–2)	Gossage (1)	2:20	56,356	NYY 3–1	L2

Legend: = Win = Loss
Bold = Royals team member

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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

More information Pos, Player ...

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

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Other batters

Note: G = Games played; AB = At bats; H = Hits; Avg. = Batting average; HR = Home runs; RBI = Runs batted in

More information Player, G ...

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

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Pitching

Starting pitchers

Note: G = Games pitched; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts

More information Player, G ...

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

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Other pitchers

Note: G = Games pitched; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts

More information Player, G ...

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

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Relief pitchers

Note: G = Games pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; SV = Saves; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts

More information Player, G ...

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

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ALCS

Game 1

October 3: Royals Stadium

More information Team, R ...

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)

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Game 2

October 4: Royals Stadium

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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)

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Game 3

October 6: Yankee Stadium

More information Team, R ...

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)

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Game 4

October 7: Yankee Stadium

More information Team, R ...

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)

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Farm system

More information Level, Team ...

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

1978 Kansas City Royals season

Regular season

Season standings

Record vs. opponents

Notable transactions

Draft picks

Roster

Game log

Postseason Game log

Player stats

Batting

Starters by position

Other batters

Pitching

Starting pitchers

Other pitchers

Relief pitchers

ALCS

Game 1

Game 2

Game 3

Game 4

Farm system

Notes

References

External links

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