1978 New York Yankees season

From Infogalactic: the planetary knowledge core
Jump to: navigation, search
1978 New York Yankees
1978 AL East Champions
1978 AL Champions
1978 World Series Champions
Major League affiliations
Location
  • New York City (since 1903)
Other information
Owner(s) George Steinbrenner
General manager(s) Cedric Tallis
Manager(s) Billy Martin, Dick Howser, Bob Lemon
Local television WPIX (Phil Rizzuto, Frank Messer, Bill White)
Local radio WINS (AM)
(Frank Messer, Phil Rizzuto, Bill White, Fran Healy)
 < Previous season     Next season  >

The 1978 New York Yankees season was the 76th season for the Yankees. The team finished with a record of 100-63, finishing one game ahead of the Boston Red Sox to win their third American League East title. The two teams were tied after 162 games, leading to a one-game playoff, which the Yankees won.

In the ALCS, they defeated the Kansas City Royals in 4 games. In the World Series, they defeated the Los Angeles Dodgers in 6 games in a rematch of the 1977 World Series. New York was managed by Billy Martin, Dick Howser and Bob Lemon. The Yankees played at Yankee Stadium.

The season was tumultuous for the Yankees, as Jackson was suspended in a midseason showdown with Billy Martin, which later resulted in Martin resigning mid-season.

Offseason

Regular season

During the season, Ron Guidry became the last pitcher to win at least 25 games in one season for the Yankees in the 20th century.[5] Guidry won the Cy Young Award by unanimous vote. In 273 2/3 innings, he compiled a record of 25-3, with 248 strikeouts, 1.74 ERA, and 9 shutouts.

Relief pitcher Goose Gossage won Rolaids Relief Man of the Year Award, leading the American League with 27 saves.

Season summary

In July, the team was ​14 12 games behind the Boston Red Sox, but rallied in the second half of the season to finish tied for first place. The Yankees were victorious over the Red Sox in the one-game playoff for the AL East title. This game featured Bucky Dent's famous 3-run go-ahead home run in the 7th inning.

Game log

AL East tie-breaker game

<templatestyles src="Module:Hatnote/styles.css"></templatestyles>

October 2, 1978 at Fenway Park, Boston, Massachusetts
Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
New York Yankees 0 0 0 0 0 0 4 1 0 5 8 0
Boston Red Sox 0 1 0 0 1 0 0 2 0 4 11 0
WP: Ron Guidry (25-3)   LP: Mike Torrez (16-13)   Sv: Goose Gossage (27)
Home runs:
NYY: Bucky Dent, Reggie Jackson
BOS: Carl Yastrzemski

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 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 Records

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 New York Yankees
Roster
Pitchers Catchers

Infielders

Outfielders

Other batters

Manager

Coaches

Player stats

= Indicates team leader

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 Thurman Munson 154 617 183 .297 6 71
1B Chris Chambliss 162 625 171 .274 12 90
2B Willie Randolph 134 499 139 .279 3 42
3B Graig Nettles 159 587 162 .276 27 93
SS Bucky Dent 123 379 92 .243 5 40
LF Lou Piniella 130 472 148 .314 6 69
RF Reggie Jackson 139 511 140 .274 27 97

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
Jim Spencer 71 150 34 .227 7 24
Brian Doyle 39 52 10 .192 0 0
Dennis Sherrill 2 1 0 .000 0 0
Fran Healy 1 1 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
Ron Guidry 35 273.2 25 3 1.74 248
Ed Figueroa 35 253 20 9 2.99 92
Dick Tidrow 31 185 7 11 3.84 73
Jim Beattie 25 128 6 9 3.73 65
Catfish Hunter 21 118 12 6 3.58 56

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
Ken Clay 28 75.2 3 4 4.28 32
Ken Holtzman 5 17.2 1 0 4.08 3

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
Goose Gossage 63 10 11 27 2.01 122
Sparky Lyle 59 9 3 9 3.47 33
Rawly Eastwick 8 2 1 0 3.28 13
Bob Kammeyer 7 0 0 0 5.82 11
Ron Davis 4 0 0 0 11.57 0

Postseason

ALCS

<templatestyles src="Module:Hatnote/styles.css"></templatestyles>

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: NYYReggie 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: KCRFreddie 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: KCRGeorge Brett 3 (3)   NYYReggie 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: NYYGraig Nettles (1) Roy White (1)

World Series

<templatestyles src="Module:Hatnote/styles.css"></templatestyles>

AL New York Yankees (4) vs. NL Los Angeles Dodgers (2)

Game Score Date Location Attendance Time of Game
1 Yankees – 5, Dodgers – 11 October 10 Dodger Stadium 55,997 2:48
2 Yankees – 3, Dodgers – 4 October 11 Dodger Stadium 55,982 2:37
3 Dodgers – 1, Yankees – 5 October 13 Yankee Stadium 56,447 2:27
4 Dodgers – 3, Yankees – 4 (10 inns) October 14 Yankee Stadium 56,445 3:17
5 Dodgers – 2, Yankees – 12 October 15 Yankee Stadium 56,448 2:56
6 Yankees – 7, Dodgers – 2 October 17 Dodger Stadium 55,985 2:34

Awards and honors

Franchise records

  • Ron Guidry, Yankees single season record, most strikeouts in a season (248)

All-Stars

All-Star Game

Other team leaders

  • Stolen Bases – Willie Randolph, 36
  • Walks – Willie Randolph, 82

Farm system

<templatestyles src="Module:Hatnote/styles.css"></templatestyles>

Level Team League Manager
AAA Tacoma Yankees Pacific Coast League Mike Ferraro
AA West Haven Yankees Eastern League Stump Merrill
A Fort Lauderdale Yankees Florida State League Doug Holmquist
A-Short Season Oneonta Yankees New York–Penn League Art Mazmanian

LEAGUE CO-CHAMPION: Tacoma[11]

Notes

  1. Goose Gossage page at Baseball Reference
  2. Jesús Figueroa page at Baseball Reference
  3. Sergio Ferrer page at Baseball Reference
  4. Stan Thomas page at Baseball Reference
  5. Great Baseball Feats, Facts and Figures, 2008 Edition, p. 99, David Nemec and Scott Flatow, A Signet Book, Penguin Group, New York, ISBN 978-0-451-22363-0
  6. Ken Holtzman page at Baseball Reference
  7. Bobby Brown page at Baseball Reference
  8. Mickey Klutts page at Baseball Reference
  9. Rex Hudler page at Baseball Reference
  10. Steve Balboni page at Baseball Reference
  11. Johnson, Lloyd, and Wolff, Miles, ed., The Encyclopedia of Minor League Baseball, 2nd and 3rd editions. Durham, North Carolina: Baseball America, 1997 and 2007

References