1978 Chicago White Sox season

The 1978 Chicago White Sox season was the team's 78th season in Major League Baseball, and its 79th overall. They finished with a record of 71–90, good enough for fifth place in the American League West, 20.5 games behind the first-place Kansas City Royals.

1978 Chicago White Sox
Major League affiliations
American League (since 1901) American League West (since 1969)
Location
Comiskey Park (since 1910) Chicago, Illinois (since 1900)
Other information
Owners	Bill Veeck
General managers	Roland Hemond
Managers	Bob Lemon, Larry Doby
Local television	WSNS-TV
Local radio	WMAQ (AM) (Harry Caray, Lorn Brown, Jimmy Piersall)
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Offseason

• November 28, 1977: Rich Hinton was signed as a free agent by the White Sox.^[1]
• December 5, 1977: Brian Downing, Chris Knapp, and Dave Frost were traded by the White Sox to the California Angels for Bobby Bonds, Thad Bosley and Richard Dotson.^[2]

Regular season

• Larry Doby replaced Bob Lemon as manager of the White Sox in 1978. Doby was the second African-American to lead a major league club.

Opening Day lineup

• Ralph Garr, LF
• Jorge Orta, 2B
• Lamar Johnson, 1B
• Bobby Bonds, RF
• Ron Blomberg, DH
• Chet Lemon, CF
• Eric Soderholm, 3B
• Wayne Nordhagen, C
• Don Kessinger, SS
• Steve Stone, P

Season standings

v t e 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 record v t e Sources: [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] [8] [9] [10] [11] [12] [13] [14]
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

• April 1, 1978: Royle Stillman was released by the White Sox.^[3]
• April 1, 1978: Bob Coluccio was released by the White Sox.^[4]
• July 17, 1978: Guy Hoffman was signed as an amateur free agent by the White Sox.^[5]

Draft picks

• June 6, 1978: 1978 Major League Baseball Draft
  • Britt Burns was drafted by the White Sox in the 3rd round.^[6]
  • Bobby Meacham was drafted by the Chicago White Sox in the 14th round of the 1978 amateur draft, but did not sign.^[7]
  • Gary Gaetti was drafted by the White Sox in the 3rd round of the secondary phase, but did not sign.^[8]

Roster

1978 Chicago White Sox
Roster
Pitchers 46 Francisco Barrios 41 Ross Baumgarten 40 Britt Burns 47 Rich Hinton 27 Ken Kravec 55 Jack Kucek 36 Lerrin LaGrow 24 Mike Proly 37 Ron Schueler 32 Steve Stone 35 Pablo Torrealba 33 Steve Trout 34 Jim Willoughby 28 Wilbur Wood 52 Rich Wortham		Catchers 30 Mike Colbern 42 Marv Foley  3 Larry Johnson 15 Bill Nahorodny Infielders  8 Kevin Bell 10 Ron Blomberg  3 Jim Breazeale  1 Harry Chappas 65 Mike Eden 31 Joe Gates 23 Lamar Johnson 11 Don Kessinger 17 Junior Moore  6 Jorge Orta 16 Greg Pryor 12 Eric Soderholm 19 Mike Squires		Outfielders  7 Alan Bannister 25 Bobby Bonds 22 Thad Bosley 38 Henry Cruz 48 Ralph Garr 44 Chet Lemon  5 Bob Molinaro 15 Wayne Nordhagen 25 Tom Spencer 21 Rusty Torres 18 Claudell Washington		Manager 14 Larry Doby 21 Bob Lemon Coaches 14 Larry Doby 57 Sam Hairston 29 Bobby Knoop -- Tony LaRussa  9 Minnie Miñoso 31 Stan Williams

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; BB = Base on balls; SO = Strikeouts; AVG = Batting average; SB = Stolen bases

Player	G	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	BB	SO	AVG	SB
Alan Bannister, DH,OF,SS,2B	49	107	16	24	3	2	0	8	11	12	.224	3
Kevin Bell, 3B	54	68	9	13	0	0	2	5	5	19	.191	1
Ron Blomberg, DH,1B	61	156	16	36	7	0	5	22	11	17	.231	0
Bobby Bonds, RF,DH	26	90	8	25	4	0	2	8	10	10	.278	6
Thad Bosley, OF	66	219	25	59	5	1	2	13	13	32	.269	12
Jim Breazeale, 1B,DH	25	72	8	15	3	0	3	13	8	10	.208	0
Harry Chappas, SS	20	75	11	20	1	0	0	6	6	11	.267	1
Mike Colbern, C	48	141	11	38	5	1	2	20	1	36	.270	0
Henry Cruz, OF	53	77	13	17	2	1	2	10	8	11	.221	0
Mike Eden, SS,2B	10	17	1	2	0	0	0	0	4	0	.118	0
Marv Foley, C	11	34	3	12	0	0	0	6	4	6	.353	0
Ralph Garr, LF,DH	118	443	67	122	18	9	3	29	24	41	.275	7
Joe Gates, 2B	8	24	6	6	0	0	0	1	4	6	.250	1
Lamar Johnson, 1B,DH	148	498	52	136	23	2	8	72	43	46	.273	6
Larry Johnson, C,DH	3	8	0	1	0	0	0	0	1	4	.125	0
Don Kessinger, SS,2B	131	431	35	110	18	1	1	31	36	34	.255	2
Chet Lemon, CF,RF,DH	105	357	51	107	24	6	13	55	39	46	.300	5
Bob Molinaro, OF,DH	105	286	39	75	5	5	6	27	19	12	.262	22
Junior Moore, DH,3B,LF	24	65	8	19	0	1	0	4	6	7	.292	1
Bill Nahorodny, C,1B,DH	107	347	29	82	11	2	8	35	23	52	.236	1
Wayne Nordhagen, DH,RF,LF,C	68	206	28	62	16	0	5	35	5	18	.301	0
Jorge Orta, 2B	117	420	45	115	19	2	13	53	42	39	.274	1
Greg Pryor, 2B,SS,3B	82	222	27	58	11	0	2	15	11	18	.261	3
Ron Schueler, PR	1	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.000	0
Eric Soderholm, 3B,DH	143	457	57	118	17	1	20	67	39	44	.258	2
Tom Spencer, OF	29	65	3	12	1	0	0	4	2	9	.185	0
Mike Squires, 1B	46	150	25	42	9	2	0	19	16	21	.280	4
Rusty Torres, OF	16	44	7	14	3	0	3	6	6	7	.318	0
Claudell Washington, OF	86	314	33	83	16	5	6	31	12	57	.264	5
Team Totals	161	5393	634	1423	221	41	106	595	409	625	.264	83

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; HR = Home runs allowed; BB = Walks allowed; K = Strikeouts

Player	W	L	ERA	G	GS	SV	IP	H	R	ER	HR	BB	K
Francisco Barrios	9	15	4.05	33	32	0	195.2	180	93	88	13	87	79
Ross Baumgarten	2	2	5.87	7	4	0	23.0	29	15	15	3	9	15
Britt Burns	0	2	12.91	2	2	0	7.2	14	12	11	2	3	3
Rich Hinton	2	6	4.02	29	4	1	80.2	78	38	36	5	30	48
Ken Kravec	11	16	4.08	30	30	0	203.0	188	104	92	22	96	154
Jack Kucek	2	3	3.29	10	5	1	52.0	42	23	19	5	29	30
Lerrin LaGrow	6	5	4.40	52	0	16	88.0	85	47	43	9	38	41
Mike Proly	5	2	2.74	16	6	1	65.2	63	24	20	4	12	19
Ron Schueler	3	5	4.30	30	7	0	81.2	76	50	39	10	41	39
Steve Stone	12	12	4.37	30	30	0	212.0	196	110	103	19	85	118
Pablo Torrealba	2	4	4.71	25	3	1	57.1	69	37	30	6	44	23
Steve Trout	3	0	4.03	4	3	0	22.1	19	10	10	0	11	11
Jim Willoughby	1	6	3.86	59	0	13	93.1	95	41	40	6	21	36
Wilbur Wood	10	10	5.20	28	27	0	168.0	187	103	97	23	75	69
Rich Wortham	3	2	3.05	8	8	0	59.0	59	24	20	1	23	25
Team Totals	71	90	4.21	161	161	33	1409.1	1380	731	660	128	604	710

Farm system

See also: Minor league baseball

Level	Team	League	Manager
AAA	Iowa Oaks	American Association	Joe Sparks
AA	Knoxville Knox Sox	Southern League	Tony LaRussa and Joe Jones
A	Appleton Foxes	Midwest League	Gordon Lund

LEAGUE CHAMPIONS: Knoxville, Appleton^[9]

Notes

1. Rich Hinton page at Baseball Reference
2. Richard Dotson page at Baseball Reference
3. Royle Stillman page at Baseball Reference
4. Bob Coluccio page at Baseball Reference^{[permanent dead link]}
5. Guy Hoffman page at Baseball Reference
6. "Britt Burns career stats". Baseball Reference. Retrieved June 8, 2010.
7. "Bobby Beacham: Career Statistics". Baseball Reference. Retrieved March 14, 2018.
8. Gary Gaetti page at Baseball Reference
9. Johnson, Lloyd, and Wolff, Miles, ed., The Encyclopedia of Minor League Baseball. Durham, N.C.: Baseball America, 1997

References

• 1978 Chicago White Sox at Baseball Reference