1978 Texas Rangers season

1978 Texas Rangers
Major League affiliations
American League (since 1961)
Western Division (since 1972)
Location
Arlington Stadium (since 1972)
Arlington, Texas (since 1972)
Other information
Owner(s)	Bradford G. Corbett
General manager(s)	Dan O'Brien, Sr./Eddie Robinson
Manager(s)	Billy Hunter, Pat Corrales
Local television	KXAS-TV (Jon Miller, Frank Glieber)
Local radio	WBAP (Jon Miller, Bill Merrill)
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The 1978 Texas Rangers season involved the Rangers finishing 2nd in the American League West with a record of 87 wins and 75 losses.

Offseason

• October 25, 1977: Gorman Thomas was sent to the Rangers by the Milwaukee Brewers to complete an earlier deal (the Brewers sent a player to be named later to the Rangers for Ed Kirkpatrick) made on August 20.^[1]
• November 10, 1977: Darold Knowles was purchased from the Rangers by the Montreal Expos.^[2]
• December 8, 1977: Bert Blyleven was traded by the Rangers to the Pittsburgh Pirates, Adrian Devine, Tommy Boggs, and Eddie Miller, were traded by the Rangers to the Atlanta Braves, and Tom Grieve and a player to be named later were traded by the Rangers to the New York Mets as part of a 4-team trade. Al Oliver and Nelson Norman were traded by the Pirates to the Rangers, and Jon Matlack was traded by the Mets to the Rangers. John Milner was traded by the Mets to the Pirates. Willie Montañez was traded by the Braves to the Mets. The Rangers completed the deal by sending Ken Henderson to the Mets on March 15, 1978.^[3]
• January 25, 1978: Gaylord Perry was traded by the Rangers to the San Diego Padres for Dave Tomlin and $125,000.^[4]
• February 28, 1978: David Clyde and Willie Horton were traded by the Rangers to the Cleveland Indians for Tom Buskey and John Lowenstein.^[5]

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 Records 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	—

Notable transactions

• June 6, 1978: 1978 Major League Baseball Draft
  • Wayne Tolleson was drafted by the Rangers in the 8th round.^[6]
  • Charlie O'Brien was drafted by the Rangers in the 14th round, but did not sign.^[7]
  • Mike Richardt was drafted by the Rangers in the 1st round (10th pick) of the Secondary Phase.^[8]

Roster

1978 Texas Rangers roster
Roster
Pitchers 33 Doyle Alexander 39 Len Barker 26 Reggie Cleveland 28 Steve Comer 44 Danny Darwin 17 Dock Ellis 31 Ferguson Jenkins 25 Paul Lindblad 32 Jon Matlack 42 Doc Medich 16 Paul Mirabella 29 Roger Moret 40 Jim Umbarger		Catchers  9 John Ellis 43 Greg Mahlberg 10 Jim Sundberg Infielders  2 Sandy Alomar 13 Kurt Bevacqua 19 Bert Campaneris 21 Mike Hargrove 11 Toby Harrah 35 Mike Jorgensen 34 John Lowenstein  3 Jim Mason  4 Nelson Norman 18 Pat Putnam 15 La Rue Washington  1 Bump Wills		Outfielders 12 Juan Beníquez 24 Bobby Bonds  6 Johnny Grubb  0 Al Oliver  7 Billy Sample 20 Bobby Thompson 15 Claudell Washington 22 Richie Zisk Other batters 23 Gary Gray		Manager 45 Pat Corrales  5 Billy Hunter Coaches 45 Pat Corrales 41 Sid Hudson 47 Fred Koenig  8 Connie Ryan 40 Jimmie Schaffer

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	Sundberg, JimJim Sundberg	149	518	144	.278	6	58
LF	Oliver, AlAl Oliver	133	525	170	.324	14	89

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
Lowenstein, JohnJohn Lowenstein	77	176	39	.222	5	21
Gray, GaryGary Gray	17	50	12	.240	2	6
Norman, NelsonNelson Norman	23	34	9	.265	0	1

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
Matlack, JonJon Matlack	35	270	15	13	2.27	157
Alexander, DoyleDoyle Alexander	31	191	9	10	3.86	81

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

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
Barker, LenLen Barker	29	1	5	4	4.82	33

Awards and honors

• Jim Sundberg, Gold Glove, catcher

All-Stars

All-Star Game

Farm system

Level	Team	League	Manager
AAA	Tucson Toros	Pacific Coast League	Rich Donnelly
AA	Tulsa Drillers	Texas League	Marty Martínez
A	Asheville Tourists	Western Carolinas League	Wayne Terwilliger
Rookie	GCL Rangers	Gulf Coast League	Joe Klein

LEAGUE CHAMPIONS: GCL Rangers

Notes

1. Gorman Thomas page at Baseball Reference
2. Darold Knowles page at Baseball Reference
3. Bert Blyleven page at Baseball Reference
4. Gaylord Perry page at Baseball Reference
5. David Clyde page at Baseball Reference
6. Wayne Tolleson page at Baseball Reference
7. Charlie O'Brien page at Baseball Reference
8. Mike Richardt page at Baseball Reference

References

• Johnson, Lloyd; Wolff, Miles, eds. (2007). The Encyclopedia of Minor League Baseball (3rd ed.). Durham, North Carolina: Baseball America. ISBN 978-1-932391-17-6.

External links

• 1978 Texas Rangers team page at Baseball Reference
• 1978 Texas Rangers team page at www.baseball-almanac.com