1978 Toronto Blue Jays season

The 1978 Toronto Blue Jays season was the franchise's second season of Major League Baseball. It resulted in the Blue Jays finishing seventh in the American League East with a record of 59 wins and 102 losses.

1 Offseason
2 Regular season
3 Player stats
- 3.1 Batting
  - 3.1.1 Starters by position
  - 3.1.2 Other batters
- 3.2 Pitching
4 Awards and honors
5 Farm system
6 Notes
7 References

Offseason

October 25, 1977: Phil Roof was released by the Blue Jays.^[1]
November 11, 1977: Luis Gomez was signed as a free agent by the Blue Jays.^[2]
January 10, 1978: Geno Petralli was drafted by the Blue Jays in the 3rd round of the 1978 Major League Baseball Draft.^[3]
March 15, 1978: Dennis DeBarr was traded by the Blue Jays to the Cleveland Indians for Rico Carty.^[4]
March 15, 1978: Tom Bruno and cash were traded by the Blue Jays to the St. Louis Cardinals for Rick Bosetti.^[5]

Regular season

Opening Day starters

Season standings

AL East	W	L	Pct.	GB
New York Yankees	100	63	.613	--
Boston Red Sox	99	64	.607	1
Milwaukee Brewers	93	69	.574	6.5
Baltimore Orioles	90	71	.559	9
Detroit Tigers	86	76	.531	13.5
Cleveland Indians	69	90	.434	29
Toronto Blue Jays	59	102	.366	40

Notable transactions

April 4, 1978: John Mayberry was purchased by the Blue Jays from the Kansas City Royals.^[6]
May 22, 1978: Joe Coleman was purchased by the Blue Jays from the Oakland Athletics.^[7]
June 6, 1978: 1978 Major League Baseball Draft
- Lloyd Moseby was drafted by the Blue Jays in the 1st round (2nd pick).^[8]
- Dave Stieb was drafted by the Blue Jays in the 5th round.^[9]
August 15, 1978: Rico Carty was traded by the Blue Jays to the Oakland Athletics for Willie Horton and Phil Huffman.^[4]

Roster

1978 Toronto Blue Jays

Roster

Pitchers

Catchers

Infielders

Outfielders

Other batters

Manager

7 Roy Hartsfield

Coaches

31 Bobby Doerr (Hitting)
43 Don Leppert (First Base)
15 Bob Miller (Pitching)
42 Jackie Moore (Third Base)
41 Harry Warner (Bullpen)

Game log

1978 Game Log 59–102 (Home 37–44, Away 22–58)

April 8–13 (Home 4–7, Away 4–6)

May 9–18 (Home 7–7, Away 2–11)

June 9–17 (Home 6–8, Away 3–9)

July 13–18 (Home 7–7, Away 6–11)

August 16–14 (Home 10–3, Away 6–11)

#	Date	Opponent	Score	Win	Loss	Save	Attendance	Record
106	August 1	Tigers	3–2	Slaton (11–8)	Clancy (7–9)		19,265	39–67
107	August 4	@ Royals	5–4	Cruz (3–0)	Hrabosky (4–5)		35,064	40–67
108	August 5	@ Royals	5–3	Gura (9–2)	Lemanczyk (4–13)	Mingori (6)	34,179	40–68
109	August 6	@ Royals	12–5	Gale (13–3)	Moore (5–3)		35,404	40–69
110	August 7	Orioles	2–1	Clancy (8–9)	Martínez (8–9)		19,184	41–69
111	August 8	Orioles	5–3	Underwood (6–10)	Flanagan (14–10)	Cruz (7)	19,052	42–69
112	August 9	White Sox	8–0	Jefferson (7–9)	Stone (9–8)		24,282	43–69
113	August 10	White Sox	7–3	Garvin (3–11)	Wood (10–10)	Cruz (8)	15,508	44–69
114	August 11	Royals	9–8 (10)	Hrabosky (5–5)	Cruz (3–1)		20,602	44–70
115	August 12	Royals	5–2	Clancy (9–9)	Splittorff (13–10)		23,132	45–70
116	August 13	Royals	3–2 (10)	Willis (2–5)	Hrabosky (5–6)		30,270	46–70
117	August 15	@ Brewers	9–1	Augustine (11–11)	Lemanczyk (4–14)			46–71
–	August 15	@ Brewers	Postponed (rain) Rescheduled for August 16
118	August 16	@ Brewers	8–1	Caldwell (15–7)	Jefferson (7–10)			46–72
119	August 16	@ Brewers	3–2	Rodríguez (4–5)	Moore (5–4)	McClure (8)	16,920	46–73
120	August 17	@ Brewers	6–0	Travers (8–7)	Clancy (9–10)		18,829	46–74
121	August 18	@ Twins	4–3 (10)	Holly (1–1)	Murphy (4–9)		4,599	46–75
122	August 19	@ Twins	5–0	Serum (7–5)	Garvin (3–12)		10,745	46–76
123	August 20	@ Twins	6–2	Kirkwood (2–1)	Perzanowski (2–5)	Murphy (7)	11,685	47–76
124	August 21	Rangers	8–6	Murphy (5–9)	Umbarger (4–8)		16,001	48–76
125	August 22	Rangers	3–1	Clancy (10–10)	Medich (7–7)	Cruz (9)	17,492	49–76
126	August 23	@ Tigers	4–3 (12)	Cruz (4–1)	Rozema (6–8)			50–76
127	August 23	@ Tigers	5–4	Garvin (4–12)	Sykes (6–6)	Willis (6)	26,631	51–76
128	August 24	@ Tigers	5–2	Wilcox (11–8)	Moore (5–5)		13,314	51–77
129	August 25	Twins	7–3	Kirkwood (3–1)	Serum (7–6)	Willis (7)	15,206	52–77
130	August 26	Twins	4–3 (10)	Cruz (5–1)	Zahn (9–13)		25,601	53–77
131	August 27	Twins	3–2 (11)	Marshall (7–11)	Willis (2–6)		22,023	53–78
132	August 28	@ Rangers	11–3	Comer (7–3)	Underwood (6–11)	Barker (4)	7,400	53–79
133	August 29	@ Rangers	4–1	Moore (6–5)	Matlack (12–11)		9,483	54–79
134	August 30	@ Red Sox	2–1	Eckersley (16–5)	Kirkwood (3–2)			54–80
135	August 30	@ Red Sox	7–6	Cruz (6–1)	Stanley (12–2)		32,825	55–80

September 4–21 (Home 3–12, Away 1–9)

#	Date	Opponent	Score	Win	Loss	Save	Attendance	Record
136	September 1	Angels	6–4	Hartzell (6–8)	Jefferson (7–11)	LaRoche (19)	16,757	55–81
137	September 2	Angels	2–0	Tanana (17–9)	Clancy (10–11)		21,099	55–82
138	September 3	Angels	3–1	Knapp (14–7)	Underwood (6–12)		20,054	55–83
139	September 4	Indians	5–4	Paxton (10–8)	Moore (6–6)		14,364	55–84
140	September 5	Indians	6–2	Waits (11–13)	Kirkwood (3–3)		11,060	55–85
141	September 6	Brewers	7–0	Sorensen (16–10)	Jefferson (7–12)		21,390	55–86
142	September 7	Brewers	5–4	Cruz (7–1)	McClure (2–5)		12,092	56–86
143	September 8	Orioles	5–4	Briles (4–4)	Underwood (6–13)	Stanhouse (22)	14,155	56–87
144	September 9	Orioles	4–0	McGregor (14–12)	Moore (6–7)		29,255	56–88
145	September 11	@ Indians	6–4	Waits (12–13)	Jefferson (7–13)			56–89
146	September 11	@ Indians	7–1	Kirkwood (4–3)	Wise (9–19)		3,356	57–89
–	September 12	@ Indians	Postponed (rain) Not rescheduled
147	September 15	@ Orioles	8–3	Palmer (19–12)	Cruz (7–2)		4,000	57–90
148	September 16	@ Orioles	11–1	Martínez (14–11)	Jefferson (7–14)		10,263	57–91
149	September 17	@ Orioles	5–0	Flanagan (18–13)	Kirkwood (4–4)		4,436	57–92
150	September 20	Yankees	8–1	Willis (3–6)	Guidry (22–3)			58–92
151	September 20	Yankees	3–2	Gossage (10–10)	Cruz (7–3)		38,080	58–93
152	September 21	Yankees	7–1	Hunter (11–5)	Moore (6–8)	Gossage (24)	28,653	58–94
153	September 22	Red Sox	5–4	Murphy (6–9)	Hassler (3–5)		22,172	59–94
154	September 23	Red Sox	3–1	Tiant (11–8)	Jefferson (7–15)		30,059	59–95
155	September 24	Red Sox	7–6 (14)	Drago (4–4)	Buskey (0–1)		33,618	59–96
156	September 26	@ Yankees	4–1	Figueroa (19–9)	Underwood (6–14)	Gossage (25)	20,535	59–97
157	September 27	@ Yankees	5–1	Hunter (12–5)	Willis (3–7)		20,052	59–98
158	September 28	@ Yankees	3–1	Guidry (24–3)	Moore (6–9)		30,480	59–99
159	September 29	@ Red Sox	11–0	Stanley (15–2)	Clancy (10–12)		29,626	59–100
160	September 30	@ Red Sox	5–1	Eckersley (20–8)	Jefferson (7–16)		32,659	59–101

October 0–1 (Home 0–0, Away 0–1)

Player stats

Batting

Starters by position

Note: Pos = position; G = Games played; AB = At Bats; R = Runs scored; H = Hits; 2B = Doubles; 3B = Triples; Avg = Batting average; HR = Home runs; RBI = Runs batted in; SB = Stolen bases

Pos	Player	G	AB	R	H	2B	3B	Avg.	HR	RBI	SB
C	Cerone, RickRick Cerone	88	282	25	63	8	2	.223	3	20	0
1B	Mayberry, JohnJohn Mayberry	152	515	51	129	15	2	.250	22	70	1
2B	McKay, DaveDave McKay	145	504	59	120	20	8	.238	7	45	4
3B	Howell, RoyRoy Howell	140	551	67	149	28	3	.270	8	61	0
SS	Gómez, LuisLuis Gómez	153	413	39	92	7	3	.223	0	32	2
LF	Woods, AlAl Woods	62	220	19	53	12	3	.241	3	25	1
CF	Bosetti, RickRick Bosetti	136	568	61	147	25	5	.259	5	42	6
RF	Bailor, BobBob Bailor	154	621	74	164	29	7	.264	1	52	5
DH	Carty, RicoRico Carty	104	387	51	110	16	0	.284	20	68	1

Other batters

Note: G = Games played; AB = At Bats; R = Runs scored; H = Hits; 2B = Doubles; 3B = Triples; HR = Home runs; RBI = Runs batted in; Avg = Batting average; SB = Stolen bases

Player	G	AB	R	H	2B	3B	Avg	HR	RBI	SB
Ashby, AlanAlan Ashby	81	264	27	69	15	0	.261	9	29	1
Vélez, OttoOtto Vélez	91	248	29	66	14	2	.266	9	38	1
Upshaw, WillieWillie Upshaw	95	224	26	53	8	2	.237	1	17	4
Hutton, TommyTommy Hutton	64	173	19	44	9	0	.254	2	9	1
Horton, WillieWillie Horton	33	122	12	25	6	0	.205	3	19	0
Ault, DougDoug Ault	54	104	10	25	1	1	.240	3	7	0
Johnson, TimTim Johnson	68	79	9	19	2	0	.241	0	3	0
Ewing, SamSam Ewing	40	56	3	10	0	0	.179	2	9	0
Iorg, GarthGarth Iorg	19	49	3	8	0	0	.163	0	3	0
Woods, GaryGary Woods	8	19	1	3	1	0	.158	0	0	1
Alberts, ButchButch Alberts	6	18	1	5	1	0	.278	0	0	0
Milner, BrianBrian Milner	2	9	3	4	0	1	.444	0	2	0
Whitt, ErnieErnie Whitt	2	4	0	0	0	0	.000	0	0	0
Nordbrook, TimTim Nordbrook	7	0	1	0	0	0	----	0	0	0

Pitching

Starting pitchers

Note: W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; G = Games pitched; GS = Games started; IP = Innings pitched; R = Runs allowed; ER = Earned runs allowed; BB = Walks allowed; K = Strikeouts

Player	G	GS	IP	W	L	ERA	R	ER	BB	K
Clancy, JimJim Clancy	31	30	193.2	10	12	4.09	96	88	91	106
Jefferson, JesseJesse Jefferson	31	30	211.2	7	16	4.38	109	103	86	97
Underwood, TomTom Underwood	31	30	197.2	6	14	4.10	105	90	87	139
Garvin, JerryJerry Garvin	26	22	144.2	4	12	5.54	92	89	48	67
Lemanczyk, DaveDave Lemanczyk	29	20	136.2	4	14	6.26	97	95	67	62

Other pitchers

Note: W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; G = Games pitched; GS = Games started; IP = Innings pitched; R = Runs allowed; ER = Earned runs allowed; BB = Walks allowed; K = Strikeouts

Player	G	GS	IP	W	L	ERA	R	ER	BB	K
Moore, BalorBalor Moore	37	18	144.1	6	9	4.93	85	79	54	75
Kirkwood, DonDon Kirkwood	16	9	68	4	5	4.24	36	32	25	29

Relief pitchers

Note: G = Games pitched; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; SV = Saves; ERA = Earned run average; R = Runs allowed; ER = Earned runs allowed; BB = Walks allowed; K = Strikeouts

Player	W	L	ERA	G	SV	IP	R	ER	BB	K
Murphy, TomTom Murphy	50	94	6	9	7	3.93	43	41	37	36
Willis, MikeMike Willis	44	100.2	3	7	7	4.56	55	51	39	52
Cruz, VíctorVíctor Cruz	32	47.1	7	3	9	1.71	10	9	35	51
Coleman, JoeJoe Coleman	31	60.2	2	0	0	4.60	34	31	30	28
Wallace, DaveDave Wallace	6	14	0	0	0	3.86	6	6	11	7
Buskey, TomTom Buskey	8	13.1	0	1	0	3.38	5	5	5	7
Wiley, MarkMark Wiley	2	2.2	0	0	0	6.75	2	2	1	2

Awards and honors

All-Star Game

Roy Howell, reserve^[10]

Farm system

Level	Team	League	Manager
AAA	Syracuse Chiefs	International League	Vern Benson
A	Dunedin Blue Jays	Florida State League	Denis Menke
Short-Season A	Utica Blue Jays	New York–Penn League	Duane Larson
Rookie	Medicine Hat Blue Jays	Pioneer League	John McLaren

^[11]

Notes

References

1978 Toronto Blue Jays team page at Baseball Reference
1978 Toronto Blue Jays team page at www.baseball-almanac.com

v t e 1978 MLB season by team

AL East	Baltimore Boston Cleveland Detroit Milwaukee New York Toronto

AL West	California Chicago Kansas City Minnesota Oakland Seattle Texas

NL East	Chicago Montréal New York Philadelphia Pittsburgh St. Louis

NL West	Atlanta Cincinnati Houston Los Angeles San Diego San Francisco

1978 Major League Baseball Draft 1978 All-Star Game 1978 World Series

Toronto Blue Jays

Based in Toronto, Ontario

The franchise

Ballparks

Exhibition Stadium
Rogers Centre
Spring training: Grant Field
Florida Auto Exchange Stadium

Culture

Rivalries

Pearson Cup

Retired numbers

Key personnel

Owner: Rogers Communications
President & CEO: Paul Beeston
General Manager: Alex Anthopoulos
Manager: John Gibbons

World Series championships (2)

1992
1993

American League pennants (2)

1992
1993

Division titles

Eastern:
- 1985
- 1989
- 1991
- 1992
- 1993
Wild Card: none

Minors

Seasons (38)

1970s	1977 • 1978 • 1979

1980s	1980 • 1981 • 1982 • 1983 • 1984 • 1985 • 1986 • 1987 • 1988 • 1989

1990s	1990 • 1991 • 1992 • 1993 • 1994 • 1995 • 1996 • 1997 • 1998 • 1999

2000s	2000 • 2001 • 2002 • 2003 • 2004 • 2005 • 2006 • 2007 • 2008 • 2009

2010s	2010 • 2011 • 2012 • 2013 • 2014

Preceded by 1977 Toronto Blue Jays season	1978 Toronto Blue Jays Season 1978	Succeeded by 1979 Toronto Blue Jays season

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1978 Toronto Blue Jays season