1978 San Diego Padres season

March 2026 November 2013 San Diego Padres 1978 National League West San Diego Stadium San Diego, California 84 78 y 4th Ray Kroc Bob Fontaine Roger Craig XETV(Jerry Gross, Al Schuff) KOGO(Jerry Coleman, Bob Chandler) thumb|170px|Pitcher Randy Jones in 1978 The 1978 San Diego Padres season was the tenth in franchise history. They finished in fourth place in the National League West with a record of 84–78, eleven games behind the first-place Los Angeles Dodgers. This was the Padres' first-ever winning season. Offseason November 29, 1977: Oscar Gamble was signed as a free agent by the Padres.Oscar Gamble page at Baseball Reference January 10, 1978: Mike Martin was selected in the 1st round (6th pick) of the 1978 draft secondary phase.Mike Martin page at Baseball Reference January 25, 1978: Dave Tomlin was traded along with $125,000 by the Padres to the Texas Rangers for Gaylord Perry.Gaylord Perry page at Baseball Reference February 2, 1978: Mickey Lolich was signed as a free agent by the Padres.Mickey Lolich page at Baseball Reference Regular season In 1978, the Padres achieved their first winning season in team history, finishing 84 78 y, six games over .500. On June 9, the one-third point of the season, the team stood at 23 31 y. The last two-thirds of the season, they went 61 47 y, which included a ten-game winning streak from July 25 to August 4. The Padres were also extremely impressive at home that season, going 51 30 y. Notable contributing players: Gaylord Perry became the second Padre in three seasons to win the National League Cy Young Award, leading the league in wins (21) and winning percentage (.778). Rollie Fingers won the league's Rolaids Relief Award, leading the league in saves (37). As for position players, OF Dave Winfield lead the team with his best offensive season to date (.308, 24 HR, 97 RBI, 21 SB, 151 OPS+). SS Ozzie Smith finished 2nd in the National League Rookie of the Year voting (40 SB). Along with their notable contributions, all 4 players have been inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame. Along with the 1979 season, this is the only time in franchise history that the Padres had 4 future Hall-of-Famers on their roster. Opening Day lineup Season standings Record vs. opponents SD Notable transactions May 26, 1978: George Hendrick was traded to the St. Louis Cardinals for Eric Rasmussen.Eric Rasmussen page at Baseball Reference June 5, 1978: Steve Hamrick (minors) was traded to the Kansas City Royals for a player to be named later. The Royals completed the deal by sending Gary Lance to the Padres on September 29.Gary Lance page at Baseball Reference June 6, 1978: 1978 Major League Baseball draft Andy Hawkins was selected in the first round (fifth overall).Andy Hawkins page at Baseball Reference Doug Gwosdz was selected in the second round.Doug Gwosdz page at Baseball Reference Steve Fireovid was selected in the seventh round.Steve Fireovid page at Baseball Reference June 14, 1978: Dan Spillner was traded to the Cleveland Indians for Dennis Kinney.Dan Spillner page at Baseball Reference Roster 1978 San Diego Padres Roster Pitchers 16 John D'Acquisto 33 Juan Eichelberger 34 Rollie Fingers 14 Dave Freisleben 35 Randy Jones 48 Dennis Kinney 42 Mark Lee 29 Mickey Lolich 59 Steve Mura 44 Bob Owchinko 36 Gaylord Perry 41 Eric Rasmussen 32 Bob Shirley 48 Dan Spillner 24 Dave Wehrmeister 27 Mark Wiley Catchers 27 Tony Castillo  7 Bob Davis  3 Dave Roberts  2 Rick Sweet Infielders  6 Bill Almon 12 Tucker Ashford 21 Chuck Baker 10 Mike Champion  8 Barry Evans 8,13 Fernando González 15 Broderick Perkins  1 Ozzie Smith 18 Gene Tenace Outfielders 14 Jim Beswick 17 Oscar Gamble 25 George Hendrick 26 Don Reynolds 19 Gene Richards 30 Derrel Thomas 20 Jerry Turner 25 Jim Wilhelm 31 Dave Winfield Manager 38 Roger Craig Coaches 23 Chuck Estrada 22 Billy Herman -- Doug Rader  4 Phil Roof  9 Whitey Wietelmann 28 Don Williams 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 C Rick Sweet 88 226 50 .221 1 11 1B Gene Tenace 142 401 90 .224 16 61 2B Fernando González Fernando González (baseball) 101 320 80 .250 2 29 SS Ozzie Smith 159 590 152 .258 1 46 3B Bill Almon 138 405 102 .252 0 21 LF Gene Richards 154 555 171 .308 4 45 CF Derrel Thomas 128 352 80 .227 3 26 RF Dave Winfield 158 587 181 .308 24 97 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 Oscar Gamble 126 375 103 .275 7 47 Jerry Turner 106 225 63 .280 8 37 Broderick Perkins 62 217 52 .240 2 33 Tucker Ashford 75 155 38 .245 3 26 George Hendrick 36 111 27 .243 3 8 Dave Roberts Dave Roberts (third baseman) 54 97 21 .216 1 7 Barry Evans Barry Evans (baseball) 24 90 24 .267 0 4 Don Reynolds 57 87 22 .253 0 10 Chuck Baker 44 58 12 .207 0 3 Mike Champion Mike Champion (baseball) 32 53 12 .226 0 4 Bob Davis Bob Davis (catcher) 19 40 8 .200 0 2 Jim Beswick 17 20 1 .050 0 0 Jim Wilhelm 10 19 7 .368 0 4 Tony Castillo Tony Castillo (catcher) 5 8 1 .125 0 1 Pitching = Indicates league leader 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 Gaylord Perry 37 260.2 21 6 2.73 154 Randy Jones 37 253.0 13 14 2.88 71 Bob Owchinko 36 202.1 10 13 3.56 94 Eric Rasmussen baseball 27 146.1 12 10 4.06 59 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 Bob Shirley 50 166.0 8 11 3.69 102 Dave Freisleben 12 26.2 0 3 6.08 16 Mark Wiley Mark Wiley (baseball) 4 7.2 1 0 5.87 1 Steve Mura 5 7.2 0 2 11.74 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 Rollie Fingers 67 6 13 37 2.52 72 John D'Acquisto 45 4 3 10 2.13 104 Mark Lee Mark Lee (right-handed pitcher) 56 5 1 2 3.28 31 Mickey Lolich 20 2 1 1 1.56 13 Dan Spillner 17 1 0 0 4.56 16 Dennis Kinney 7 0 1 0 6.43 2 Dave Wehrmeister 4 1 0 0 6.14 2 Juan Eichelberger 3 0 0 0 10.80 2 Awards and honors Gaylord Perry, Cy Young Award Winner All-Stars 1978 Major League Baseball All-Star Game Rollie Fingers Dave Winfield Farm system Minor League Baseball AAA Hawaii Islanders Pacific Coast League Dick Phillips AA Amarillo Gold Sox Texas League Glenn Ezell A Reno Silver Sox California League Eddie Watt A-Short Season Walla Walla Padres Northwest League Cliff DittoJohnson, Lloyd, and Wolff, Miles, ed., The Encyclopedia of Minor League Baseball, 2nd and 3rd editions. Durham, North Carolina: Baseball America, 1997 and 2007 References 2 External links 1978 San Diego Padres team page at Baseball Reference 1978 San Diego Padres team page at Baseball Almanac Category:San Diego Padres seasons Category:1970s in San Diego San Diego Padres season San Diego Padres