1978 Cleveland Indians season

March 2026 November 2013 Cleveland Indians 1978 American League East Cleveland Municipal Stadium Cleveland, Ohio Ted Bonda, Steve O'Neill Phil Seghi Jeff Torborg WJKW WWWE The 1978 Cleveland Indians season was the 78th season for the franchise, the 64th as the Indians and the 47th season at Cleveland Stadium. They failed to improve upon their 71–90 campaign from the previous season, and missed the playoffs for the 24th consecutive season, finishing the season at 69–90. Offseason December 5, 1977: Bruce Compton (minors) and Norm Churchill (minors) were traded by the Indians to the Chicago Cubs for Dave Rosello.Dave Rosello page at Baseball Reference February 28, 1978: Tom Buskey and John Lowenstein were traded by the Indians to the Texas Rangers for Willie Horton and David Clyde.David Clyde page at Baseball Reference March 15, 1978: Rico Carty was traded by the Indians to the Toronto Blue Jays for Dennis DeBarr.Rico Carty page at Baseball Reference March 30, 1978: Dennis Eckersley and Fred Kendall were traded by the Indians to the Boston Red Sox for Rick Wise, Mike Paxton, Ted Cox, and Bo Díaz.Dennis Eckersley page at Baseball Reference Regular season On May 12, pitcher Nolan Ryan of the California Angels struck out Buddy Bell for the 2500th strikeout of his career. http://www.smackbomb.com/nolanryan/strikeouts.html The Nolan Ryan Express The Strikeout King smackbomb.com/nolanryan July 28, 2008 https://web.archive.org/web/20110716092407/http://www.smackbomb.com/nolanryan/strikeouts.html July 16, 2011 dead mdy-all Season standings Record vs. opponents CLE Notable transactions June 14, 1978: Dennis Kinney was traded by the Indians to the San Diego Padres for Dan Spillner.Dan Spillner page at Baseball Reference June 15, 1978: Mike Vail was traded by the Indians to the Chicago Cubs for Joe Wallis.Joe Wallis page at Baseball Reference June 15, 1978: Joe Wallis was traded by the Indians to the Oakland Athletics for Gary Alexander. June 22, 1978: Bill Laxton was traded by the Indians to the San Diego Padres for Dave Freisleben.Bill Laxton page at Baseball Reference June 26, 1978: Dennis DeBarr was traded by the Indians to the Chicago Cubs for Paul Reuschel.Paul Reuschel page at Baseball Reference July 3, 1978: Willie Horton was released by the Indians.Willie Horton page at Baseball Reference Opening Day Lineup +Opening Day Starters # Name Position00 Paul Dade RF18 Duane Kuiper 2B1 Johnny Grubb LF29 Andre Thornton 1B23 Willie Horton DH14 Larvell Blanks SS 25 Buddy Bell 3B28 Rick Manning CF13 Ron Pruitt C17 Wayne Garland P 1978 Opening Day Lineup at Baseball-Reference Roster 1978 Cleveland Indians Roster Pitchers 32 David Clyde 39 Al Fitzmorris 38 Dave Freisleben 17 Wayne Garland 44 Don Hood 34 Jim Kern 51 Dennis Kinney 46 Rick Kreuger 43 Sid Monge 48 Mike Paxton 41 Paul Reuschel 37 Dan Spillner 36 Rick Waits 40 Rick Wise Catchers 35 Gary Alexander 16 Bo Díaz  9 Ron Hassey 7,13 Ron Pruitt Infielders 25 Buddy Bell 14 Larvell Blanks 31 Wayne Cage  8 Alfredo Griffin 18 Duane Kuiper 29 Andre Thornton 21 Tom Veryzer Outfielders 23 Dan Briggs  7 Bernie Carbo 22 Ted Cox 00 Paul Dade  1 Johnny Grubb 28 Rick Manning 27 Jim Norris 20 Horace Speed 35 Mike Vail Other batters 23 Willie Horton 30 Larry Lintz Manager 10 Jeff Torborg Coaches  6 Rocky Colavito (Hitting/First Base)  4 Dave Duncan (Bullpen)  2 Harvey Haddix (Pitching)  7 Joe Moeller (Bullpen) 24 Joe Nossek (Third Base) Player stats Batting 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 HR RBI AVG SB Gary Alexander Gary Alexander (baseball) 90 324 39 76 14 3 17 62 .235 0 Buddy Bell 142 556 71 157 27 8 6 62 .282 1 Larvell Blanks 70 193 19 49 10 0 2 20 .254 0 Dan Briggs Dan Briggs (baseball) 15 49 4 8 0 1 1 1 .163 0 Wayne Cage 36 98 11 24 6 1 4 13 .245 1 Bernie Carbo 60 174 21 50 8 0 4 16 .287 1 Ted Cox Ted Cox (baseball) 82 227 14 53 7 0 1 19 .233 0 Paul Dade 93 307 37 78 12 1 3 20 .254 12 Bo Diaz 44 127 12 30 4 0 2 11 .236 0 Alfredo Griffin 5 4 1 2 1 0 0 0 .500 0 Johnny Grubb 113 378 54 100 16 6 14 61 .265 5 Ron Hassey 25 74 5 15 0 0 2 9 .203 2 Willie Horton Willie Horton (baseball) 50 169 15 42 7 0 5 22 .249 3 Jim Kern 3 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 0 Duane Kuiper 149 547 52 155 18 6 0 43 .283 4 Larry Lintz 3 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 — 0 Rick Manning 148 566 65 149 27 3 3 50 .263 12 Jim Norris 113 315 41 89 14 5 2 27 .283 12 Ron Pruitt 71 187 17 44 6 1 6 17 .235 2 Horace Speed Horace Speed (baseball) 70 106 13 24 4 1 0 4 .226 2 Andre Thornton 145 508 97 133 22 4 33 105 .262 4 Mike Vail 14 34 2 8 2 1 0 2 .235 1 Tom Veryzer 130 421 48 114 18 4 1 32 .271 1 Team totals 159 5365 639 1400 223 45 106 596 .261 64 Pitching Note: W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; G = Games pitched; GS = Games started; SV = Saves; IP = Innings pitched; H = Hits allowed; R = Runs allowed; ER = Earned runs allowed; BB = Walks allowed; K = Strikeouts Player W L ERA G GS SV IP H R ER BB K David Clyde 8 11 4.28 28 25 0 153.1 166 80 73 60 83 Al Fitzmorris 0 1 6.28 7 0 0 14.1 19 10 10 7 5 Dave Freisleben 1 4 7.11 12 10 0 44.1 52 37 35 31 19 Wayne Garland 2 3 7.89 6 6 0 29.2 43 27 26 16 13 Don Hood 5 6 4.48 36 19 0 154.2 166 82 77 77 73 Jim Kern 10 10 3.08 58 0 13 99.1 77 36 34 58 95 Dennis Kinney 0 2 4.42 18 0 5 38.2 37 21 19 14 19 Rick Kreuger 0 0 3.86 6 0 0 9.1 6 4 4 3 7 Sid Monge 4 3 2.76 48 2 6 84.2 71 36 26 51 54 Mike Paxton 12 11 3.86 33 27 1 191.0 179 89 82 63 96 Paul Reuschel 2 4 3.11 18 6 0 89.2 95 33 31 22 24 Dan Spillner 3 1 3.67 36 0 3 56.1 54 26 23 21 48 Rick Waits 13 15 3.20 34 33 0 230.1 206 97 82 86 97 Rick Wise 9 19 4.34 33 31 0 211.2 226 116 102 59 106 Team totals 69 90 3.97 159 159 28 1407.1 1397 694 621 568 739 Awards and honors All-Star Game Farm system Minor League Baseball AAA Portland Beavers Pacific Coast League Gene Dusan AA Chattanooga Lookouts Southern League John Orsino and Jim Bragan A Waterloo Indians Midwest League Woody Smith A-Short Season Batavia Trojans New York–Penn League Luis IsaacJohnson, Lloyd, and Wolff, Miles, ed., The Encyclopedia of Minor League Baseball, 3rd edition. Durham, North Carolina: Baseball America, 2007 Notes 2 References 1978 Cleveland Indians team page at Baseball Reference 1978 Cleveland Indians team page at www.baseball-almanac.com Category:Cleveland Guardians seasons Cleveland Indians season Cincinnati Indians Category:1970s in Cleveland