1978 Minnesota Twins
LeagueAmerican League
DivisionWest
BallparkMetropolitan Stadium
CityBloomington, Minnesota
OwnersCalvin Griffith (majority owner, with Thelma Griffith Haynes)
General managersCalvin Griffith
ManagersGene Mauch
TelevisionWTCN
(Harmon Killebrew, Joe Boyle)
Radio830 WCCO AM
(Herb Carneal, Frank Quilici)
Seasons

The 1978 Minnesota Twins finished 73–89, fourth in the American League West.

Offseason

Regular season

On May 7, shortstop Roy Smalley Jr. set a Twins record by drawing five walks in a 15-9 win over the Baltimore Orioles. Smalley went 1 for 1 and scored three times.[7]

Third baseman Mike Cubbage, on July 27, became the fifth Twin to hit for the cycle (following Rod Carew, 1970; César Tovar, 1972; Larry Hisle, 1976 and Lyman Bostock, 1976). Cubbage went double, homer, single, triple off Toronto Blue Jays' pitching. In subsequent years, five others will match the feat: Gary Ward, 1980; Kirby Puckett, 1986; Carlos Gómez, 2008; Jason Kubel, 2009; and Michael Cuddyer, 2009.

787,878 fans attended Twins games, the second lowest total in the American League. Only one Twins player made the All-Star Game: first baseman Rod Carew. In that game at San Diego Stadium, Carew—in his twelfth consecutive All-Star appearance—performed an All-Star first by hitting two triples in the game.

Carew won his seventh AL batting title[8] with a .333 average, leading the team in hits and runs scored. Shortstop Roy Smalley hit 19 HR and collected 77 RBI. Dan Ford hit 11 HR and collected 82 RBI.

Reliever Mike Marshall was signed in May and replaced Tom Johnson and Bill Campbell as manager Gene Mauch's all-purpose reliever. Marshall went on to rack up 10 relief wins along with 21 saves. Three starters had double digit wins: Dave Goltz (15-10), Roger Erickson (14-13), and Geoff Zahn (14-14).

Season standings

AL West W L Pct. GB Home Road
Kansas City Royals 9270 0.568 — 56–25 36–45
Texas Rangers 8775 0.537 5 52–30 35–45
California Angels 8775 0.537 5 50–31 37–44
Minnesota Twins 7389 0.451 19 38–43 35–46
Chicago White Sox 7190 0.441 20½ 38–42 33–48
Oakland Athletics 6993 0.426 23 38–42 31–51
Seattle Mariners 56104 0.350 35 32–49 24–55

Record vs. opponents

1978 American League record

Sources:
Team BAL BOS CAL CWS CLE DET KC MIL MIN NYY OAK SEA TEX TOR
Baltimore —7–84–68–19–67–82–87–85–56–911–09–17–48–7
Boston 8–7—9–27–37–812–34–610–59–27–95–57–33–711–4
California 6–42–9—8–76–44–79–65–512–35–59–69–65–107–3
Chicago 1–83–77–8—8–22–98–74–78–71–97–87–811–44–6
Cleveland 6–98–74–62–8—5–105–65–105–56–94–68–11–910–4
Detroit 8–73–127–49–210–5—4–67–84–64–116–48–27–39–6
Kansas City 8–26–46–97–86–56–4—6–47–86–510–512–37–85–5
Milwaukee 8–75–105–57–410–58–74–6—4–710–59–15–56–412–3
Minnesota 5–52–93–127–85–56–48–77–4—3–79–66–96–96–4
New York 9–69–75–59–19–611–45–65–107–3—8–26–56–411–4
Oakland 0–115–56–98–76–44–65–101–96–92–8—13–26–97–4
Seattle 1–93–76–98–71–82–83–125–59–65–62–13—3–128–2
Texas 4–77–310–54–119–13–78–74–69–64–69–612–3—4–7
Toronto 7–84–113–76–44–106–95–53–124–64–114–72–87–4—

Opening Day starters

Notable transactions

Roster

1978 Minnesota Twins
Roster
Pitchers Catchers

Infielders

 Outfielders 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
CButch Wynegar135454104.229445
1BRod Carew152564188.333570
2BBob Randall11933089.270021
SSRoy Smalley158586160.2731977
3BMike Cubbage125394111.282757
LFWillie Norwood125428109.255846
CFDan Ford151592162.2741182
RFHosken Powell12138194.247331
DHGlenn Adams11631080.258735

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
Bombo Rivera10125168.271323
José Morales10124276.314238
Larry Wolfe8823555.234325
Rob Wilfong9219953.266111
Rich Chiles8719853.268122
Craig Kusick7719133.173420
Glenn Borgmann4912326.211315
Dave Edwards154411.25013

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
Roger Erickson37265.214133.96121
Geoff Zahn35252.114143.03106
Dave Goltz29220.115102.49116
Darrell Jackson1992.1464.4854
Paul Thormodsgard1266.0165.0523

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
Gary Serum34184.1994.1080
Stan Perzanowski1356.2275.2431
Dave Johnson612.0027.507
Pete Redfern39.2026.524

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
Mike Marshall541012212.4556
Greg Thayer201103.8030
Tom Johnson181435.5121
John Sutton170003.4518
Mac Scarce171103.9417
Jeff Holly151103.5712
Roric Harrison90107.507

Farm system

Level Team League Manager
AAA Toledo Mud Hens International League Cal Ermer
AA Orlando Twins Southern League Johnny Goryl
A Visalia Oaks California League Roy McMillan
A Wisconsin Rapids Twins Midwest League Rick Stelmaszek
Rookie Elizabethton Twins Appalachian League Fred Waters

LEAGUE CHAMPIONS: Visalia, Elizabethton

Notes

  1. ↑ Jim Hughes at Baseball Reference
  2. ↑ Steve Luebber at Baseball Reference
  3. ↑ Bombo Rivera at Baseball Reference
  4. ↑ Jesús Vega at Baseball Reference
  5. ↑ Jesse Orosco at Baseball Reference
  6. ↑ Don Carrithers at Baseball Reference
  7. ↑ "Smalley Draws 5 Walks". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved January 29, 2016.
  8. ↑ Great Baseball Feats, Facts and Figures, 2008 Edition, p. 107, David Nemec and Scott Flatow, A Signet Book, Penguin Group, New York, ISBN 978-0-451-22363-0
  9. ↑ "1978 Minnesota Twins Roster by Baseball Almanac".
  10. ↑ Mike Marshall at Baseball Reference
  11. ↑ Lenny Faedo at Baseball Reference
  12. ↑ Kent Hrbek at Baseball Reference

References

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