1978 San Francisco Giants season
The 1978 San Francisco Giants season was the Giants' 96th season in Major League Baseball, their 21st season in San Francisco since their move from New York following the 1957 season, and their 19th at Candlestick Park. The team finished in third place in the National League West with an 89-73 record, 6 games behind the Los Angeles Dodgers.
1978 San Francisco Giants | |
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Owner(s) | Bob Lurie |
General manager(s) | Spec Richardson |
Manager(s) | Joe Altobelli |
Local television | KTVU (Lon Simmons, Gary Park) |
Local radio | KSFO (Lon Simmons, Joe Angel) |
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Offseason
- October 25, 1977: Frank Riccelli was traded by the Giants to the St. Louis Cardinals for a player to be named later. The Cardinals completed the deal by sending Jim Dwyer to the Giants on June 15, 1978.[1]
- March 15, 1978: Gary Alexander, Gary Thomasson, Dave Heaverlo, Alan Wirth, John Henry Johnson, Phil Huffman, a player to be named later, and $300,000 were traded by the Giants to the Oakland Athletics for Vida Blue. The Giants completed the trade by sending Mario Guerrero to the Athletics on April 7.[2]
- March 21, 1978: Alan Hargesheimer was signed as an amateur free agent by the Giants.[3]
- March 27, 1978: Randy Elliott was released by the Giants.[4]
Regular season
The Giants won 42 games by a one run margin, an MLB record.[5]
Season standings
NL West | W | L | Pct. | GB | Home | Road |
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Los Angeles Dodgers | 95 | 67 | 0.586 | — | 54–27 | 41–40 |
Cincinnati Reds | 92 | 69 | 0.571 | 2½ | 49–31 | 43–38 |
San Francisco Giants | 89 | 73 | 0.549 | 6 | 50–31 | 39–42 |
San Diego Padres | 84 | 78 | 0.519 | 11 | 50–31 | 34–47 |
Houston Astros | 74 | 88 | 0.457 | 21 | 50–31 | 24–57 |
Atlanta Braves | 69 | 93 | 0.426 | 26 | 39–42 | 30–51 |
Record vs. opponents
1978 National League Records Sources: | |||||||||||||||||
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Team | ATL | CHC | CIN | HOU | LAD | MON | NYM | PHI | PIT | SD | SF | STL | |||||
Atlanta | — | 5–7 | 6–12 | 8–10 | 5–13 | 5–7 | 6–6 | 8–4 | 2–10 | 8–10 | 11–7 | 5–7 | |||||
Chicago | 7–5 | — | 7–5 | 6–6 | 4–8 | 7–11 | 11–7 | 4–14 | 7–11 | 7–5 | 4–8 | 15–3 | |||||
Cincinnati | 12–6 | 5–7 | — | 11–7 | 9–9 | 8–4 | 7–5 | 7–5 | 4–7 | 9–9 | 12–6 | 8–4 | |||||
Houston | 10–8 | 6–6 | 7–11 | — | 7–11 | 6–6 | 7–5 | 6–6 | 4–8 | 8–10 | 6–12 | 7–5 | |||||
Los Angeles | 13–5 | 8–4 | 9–9 | 11–7 | — | 8–4 | 7–5 | 7–5 | 7–5 | 9–9 | 11–7 | 5–7 | |||||
Montreal | 7–5 | 11–7 | 4–8 | 6–6 | 4–8 | — | 8–10 | 9–9 | 7–11 | 6–6 | 5–7 | 9–9 | |||||
New York | 6–6 | 7–11 | 5–7 | 5–7 | 5–7 | 10–8 | — | 6–12 | 7–11 | 5–7 | 3–9 | 7–11 | |||||
Philadelphia | 4-8 | 14–4 | 5–7 | 6–6 | 5–7 | 9–9 | 12–6 | — | 11–7 | 8–4 | 6–6 | 10–8 | |||||
Pittsburgh | 10–2 | 11–7 | 7–4 | 8–4 | 5–7 | 11–7 | 11–7 | 7–11 | — | 5–7 | 4–8 | 9–9 | |||||
San Diego | 10–8 | 5–7 | 9–9 | 10–8 | 9–9 | 6–6 | 7–5 | 4–8 | 7–5 | — | 8–10 | 9–3 | |||||
San Francisco | 7–11 | 8–4 | 6–12 | 12–6 | 7–11 | 7–5 | 9–3 | 6–6 | 8–4 | 10–8 | — | 9–3 | |||||
St. Louis | 7–5 | 3–15 | 4–8 | 5–7 | 7–5 | 9–9 | 11–7 | 8–10 | 9–9 | 3–9 | 3–9 | — |
Opening Day starters
Notable transactions
- June 6, 1978: John Rabb was drafted by the Giants in the 11th round of the 1978 Major League Baseball draft.[7]
- July 18, 1978: The Giants traded a player to be named later to the St. Louis Cardinals for John Tamargo. The Giants completed the deal by sending Rob Dressler to the Cardinals on July 24.[8]
Roster
1978 San Francisco Giants | |||||||||
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Pitchers
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Catchers
Infielders
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Outfielders
Other batters
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Coaches
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Player stats
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 |
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1B | Willie McCovey | 108 | 351 | 80 | .228 | 12 | 64 |
2B | Bill Madlock | 122 | 447 | 138 | .309 | 15 | 44 |
3B | Darrell Evans | 159 | 547 | 133 | .243 | 20 | 78 |
CF | Larry Herndon | 151 | 471 | 122 | .259 | 1 | 72 |
RF | Jack Clark | 156 | 592 | 181 | .306 | 25 | 98 |
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 |
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Héctor Cruz | 79 | 197 | 44 | .223 | 6 | 24 |
Jim Dwyer | 73 | 173 | 39 | .225 | 5 | 22 |
Rob Andrews | 79 | 177 | 39 | .220 | 1 | 11 |
Mike Sadek | 40 | 109 | 26 | .239 | 2 | 9 |
Vic Harris | 53 | 100 | 15 | .150 | 1 | 11 |
John Tamargo | 36 | 92 | 22 | .239 | 1 | 8 |
Skip James | 41 | 21 | 2 | .095 | 0 | 3 |
Art Gardner | 7 | 3 | 0 | .000 | 0 | 0 |
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 |
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Bob Knepper | 36 | 260 | 17 | 11 | 2.63 | 147 |
Vida Blue | 35 | 258 | 18 | 10 | 2.79 | 171 |
Ed Halicki | 29 | 199 | 9 | 10 | 2.85 | 105 |
Jim Barr | 32 | 163 | 8 | 11 | 3.53 | 44 |
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 |
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Philip Nastu | 3 | 8 | 0 | 1 | 5.63 | 5 |
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 |
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John Curtis | 46 | 4 | 3 | 1 | 3.71 | 38 |
Charlie Williams | 25 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 5.44 | 22 |
Ed Plank | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4.05 | 1 |
Terry Cornutt | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.00 | 0 |
Awards and honors
- Jack Clark
- Vida Blue
- National league Pitcher of the Year: Vida Blue
- National League Player of the Month: Jack Clark (May 1978)
Farm system
Level | Team | League | Manager |
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AAA | Phoenix Giants | Pacific Coast League | Rocky Bridges |
AA | Waterbury Giants | Eastern League | Andy Gilbert |
A | Fresno Giants | California League | John VanOrnum |
A | Cedar Rapids Giants | Midwest League | Jack Mull |
Rookie | Great Falls Giants | Pioneer League | Ernie Rodriguez |
References
- Frank Riccelli at Baseball Reference
- Vida Blue at Baseball Reference
- Alan Hargesheimer at Baseball Reference
- Randy Elliott at Baseball Reference
- "Team Pitching Game Finder, From 1913 to 2017, (requiring run_diff=1)". Baseball Reference. Retrieved August 1, 2017.
- http://www.baseball-almanac.com/teamstats/roster.php?y=1978&t=SFN
- John Rabb at Baseball Reference
- John Tamargo at Baseball Reference
- Johnson, Lloyd, and Wolff, Miles, ed., The Encyclopedia of Minor League Baseball, 2nd and 3rd editions. Durham, North Carolina: Baseball America, 1997 and 2007
External links
- 1978 San Francisco Giants at Baseball Reference
- 1978 San Francisco Giants at Baseball Almanac