The 1978 Texas Rangers season was the 18th of the Texas Rangers franchise overall, their 7th in Arlington as the Rangers, and the 7th season at Arlington Stadium. The Rangers finished second in the American League West with a record of 87 wins and 75 losses.

Offseason October 25, 1977: Gorman Thomas was sent to the Rangers by the Milwaukee Brewers to complete an earlier deal (the Brewers sent a player to be named later to the Rangers for Ed Kirkpatrick) made on August 20.Gorman Thomas page at Baseball Reference November 9, 1977: Mike Marshall was granted free agency. Mike Marshall page at Baseball Reference Richie Zisk signed a 10-year, $2.75 million contract as a free agent. Richie Zisk page at Baseball Reference November 10, 1977: Darold Knowles was purchased from the Rangers by the Montreal Expos.Darold Knowles page at Baseball Reference November 11, 1977: Doc Medich signed as a free agent. Doc Medich page at Baseball Reference December 8, 1977: Bert Blyleven was traded by the Rangers to the Pittsburgh Pirates, Adrian Devine, Tommy Boggs, and Eddie Miller, were traded by the Rangers to the Atlanta Braves, and Tom Grieve and a player to be named later were traded by the Rangers to the New York Mets as part of a 4-team trade. Al Oliver and Nelson Norman were traded by the Pirates to the Rangers, and Jon Matlack was traded by the Mets to the Rangers. John Milner was traded by the Mets to the Pirates. Willie Montañez was traded by the Braves to the Mets. The Rangers completed the deal by sending Ken Henderson to the Mets on March 15, 1978.Bert Blyleven page at Baseball Reference December 14, 1977: Ferguson Jenkins was traded by the Boston Red Sox to the Rangers for John Poloni and cash.Ferguson Jenkins page at Baseball Reference January 21, 1978: Mike Jorgensen signed as a free agent. Mike Jorgensen page at Baseball Reference January 25, 1978: Gaylord Perry was traded by the Rangers to the San Diego Padres for Dave Tomlin and $125,000.Gaylord Perry page at Baseball Reference February 8, 1978: Gorman Thomas was sold back to the Milwaukee Brewers. Gorman Thomas page at Baseball Reference February 28, 1978: David Clyde and Willie Horton were traded by the Rangers to the Cleveland Indians for Tom Buskey and John Lowenstein.David Clyde page at Baseball Reference March 1, 1978: Jackie Brown and Rusty Torres were signed as free agents.1978 Transactions page at Baseball Reference March 28, 1978: Mark Mercer signed as a free agent. Dave Tomlin was sold to the Cincinnati Reds.1978 Transactions page at Baseball Reference April 1, 1978: Tom Buskey was released as a free agent.1978 Transactions page at Baseball Reference April 2, 1978: Jim Hughes signed as a free agent.1978 Transactions page at Baseball Reference

Regular season

Season standings

Record vs. opponents

Notable transactions April 18, 1978: Reggie Cleveland was purchased from the Boston Red Sox.Reggie Cleveland page at Baseball Reference May 16, 1978: Bobby Bonds was traded to the Rangers by the Chicago White Sox for Claudell Washington and Rusty Torres.Bobby Bonds page at Baseball Reference May 17, 1978: Dave May was sold to the Milwaukee Brewers.Dave May page at Baseball Reference June 6, 1978: 1978 Major League Baseball draft Wayne Tolleson was drafted by the Rangers in the 8th round.Wayne Tolleson page at Baseball Reference Charlie O'Brien was drafted by the Rangers in the 14th round, but did not sign.Charlie O'Brien page at Baseball Reference Mike Richardt was drafted by the Rangers in the 1st round (10th pick) of the Secondary Phase.Mike Richardt page at Baseball Reference August 1, 1978: Paul Lindblad was sold to the New York Yankees.Paul Lindblad page at Baseball Reference August 31, 1978 Johnny Grubb was traded to the Rangers by the Cleveland Indians for players to be named later. Bobby Cuellar and Dave Rivera (minor leaguer) were sent to Cleveland on October 3 to complete the trade.Johnny Grubb page at Baseball Reference

Roster 1978 Texas Rangers roster Roster Pitchers Catchers

Infielders Outfielders

Other batters Manager

Coaches

Player stats

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 149 518 144 .278 6 58 1B Mike Hargrove 146 494 124 .251 7 40 2B Bump Wills 157 539 135 .250 9 57 SS Bert Campaneris 98 269 50 .186 1 17 3B Toby Harrah 139 450 103 .229 12 59 LF 133 525 170 .324 14 89 CF Juan Beníquez 127 473 123 .260 11 50 RF Bobby Bonds 130 475 126 .265 29 82 DH Richie Zisk 140 511 134 .262 22 85

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 Kurt Bevacqua 90 248 55 .222 6 30 77 176 39 .222 5 21 Bobby Thompson 64 120 27 .225 2 12 Jim Mason 55 105 20 .190 0 3 Mike Jorgensen 96 97 19 .196 1 9 John Ellis 34 94 23 .245 3 17 17 50 12 .240 2 6 Pat Putnam 20 46 7 .152 1 2 Claudell Washington 12 42 7 .167 0 2 23 34 9 .265 0 1 Johnny Grubb 12 33 13 .394 1 6 Sandy Alomar Sr. 24 29 6 .207 0 1 Billy Sample 8 15 7 .467 0 3 La Rue Washington 3 3 0 .000 0 0 Greg Mahlberg 1 1 0 .000 0 0

Pitching

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 35 270.0 15 13 2.27 157 Ferguson Jenkins 34 249.0 18 8 3.04 157 31 191.0 9 10 3.86 81 Doc Medich 28 171.0 9 8 3.74 71 Doc Ellis 22 141.1 9 7 4.20 45

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 Steve Comer 30 117.1 11 5 2.30 65 Jim Umbarger 32 97.2 5 8 4.88 60 Paul Mirabella 10 28.0 3 2 5.79 23 Roger Moret 7 14.2 0 1 4.91 5 Danny Darwin 3 8.2 1 0 4.15 8

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 Reggie Cleveland 53 5 7 12 3.09 46 29 1 5 4 4.82 33 Paul Lindblad 18 1 1 2 3.63 25

Awards and honors Jim Sundberg, Gold Glove, catcher

All-Stars All-Star Game

Farm system

LEAGUE CHAMPIONS: GCL Rangers

Notes

References

External links 1978 Texas Rangers team page at Baseball Reference 1978 Texas Rangers team page at www.baseball-almanac.com