The 1978 Kansas City Royals season was their tenth in Major League Baseball. The Royals won their third consecutive American League West title with a record of 92–70. For the third postseason in a row, Kansas City lost to the New York Yankees, falling 3–1 in the ALCS.

Regular season

Season standings

Record vs. opponents

Notable transactions April 4, 1978: John Mayberry was purchased from the Royals by the Toronto Blue Jays.John Mayberry at Baseball Reference June 5, 1978: The Royals traded a player to be named later to the San Diego Padres for Steve Hamrick (minors). The Royals completed the deal by sending Gary Lance to the Padres on September 29.Gary Lance at Baseball Reference August 3, 1978: Gerry Ako (minors) and cash were traded by the Royals to the Milwaukee Brewers for Jamie Quirk.Jamie Quirk at Baseball Reference

Draft picks June 6, 1978: 1978 Major League Baseball draft Jeff Cornell was drafted by the Royals in the 8th round.Jeff Cornell at Baseball Reference Frank Viola was drafted by the Royals in the 16th round, but did not sign.Frank Viola at Baseball Reference

Roster 1978 Kansas City Royals Roster Pitchers Catchers

Infielders Outfielders

Other batters Manager

Coaches

Game log Regular season

|-style=background:#bbbfff | — || || 7:30p.m. CDT || colspan=9|49th All-Star Game in San Diego, CA

|- style="text-align:center;" | Legend:      = Royals win      = Royals loss      = Game postponed      = Clinched division     Bold = Royals team member

Postseason Game log

|-style="background:#fcc;" | 1 || || 7:30p.m. CDT || Yankees || L 1–7 || Beattie (1–0) || Leonard (0–1) || Clay (1) || 2:57 || 41,143 || NYY 1–0 || L1 |-style="background:#cfc;" | 2 || || 2:30p.m. CDT || Yankees || W 10–4 || Gura (1–0) || Figueroa (0–1) || — || 2:42 || 41,158 || Tied 1–1 || W1 |-style="background:#fcc;" | 3 || || 2:30p.m. CDT || @ Yankees || L 5–6 || Gossage (1–0) || Bird (0–1) || — || 2:13 || 55,445 || NYY 2–1 || L1 |-style="background:#fcc;" | 4 || || 7:30p.m. CDT || @ Yankees || L 1–2 || Guidry (1–0) || Leonard (0–2) || Gossage (1) || 2:20 || 56,356 || NYY 3–1 || L2

|- style="text-align:center;" | Legend:      = Win      = Loss     Bold = Royals team member

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 150 520 138 .265 18 78 1B 118 322 95 .295 5 48 2B 143 461 127 .275 7 50 3B 128 510 150 .294 9 62 SS 138 440 109 .248 2 46 LF 127 198 43 .217 0 16 CF 141 486 145 .298 22 96 RF 132 485 133 .274 5 63 DH 156 623 170 .273 16 72

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 133 417 110 .264 7 56 80 204 44 .216 4 30 67 190 57 .300 2 28 64 137 36 .263 0 14 73 133 27 .203 0 8 69 129 34 .264 0 9 60 127 32 .252 0 11 17 29 6 .207 0 2 13 16 2 .125 0 0 9 13 3 .231 1 2 7 13 2 .154 0 1 8 11 6 .545 0 3 3 8 0 .000 0 0 2 2 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 40 294.2 21 17 3.33 183 39 262.0 19 13 3.40 76 35 221.2 16 4 2.72 81 31 192.1 14 8 3.09 88 11 58.1 1 4 4.32 26

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 40 98.2 6 6 5.29 48 32 78.2 3 3 3.32 30 11 58.1 1 4 4.32 26 8 28.1 1 2 4.76 8 7 21.1 1 0 7.59 10

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 58 8 7 20 2.88 60 45 1 4 7 2.74 28 18 0 1 0 4.21 12 3 0 0 0 3.86 0 2 0 1 1 3.38 5 1 1 0 0 0.00 2

ALCS

Game 1 October 3: Royals Stadium Team123456789RHENew York0110200307160Kansas City000001000122W: Jim Beattie (1–0)  L: Dennis Leonard (0–1)  S: Ken Clay (1)HRs: NYY – Reggie Jackson (1)

Game 2 October 4: Royals Stadium Team123456789RHENew York0000002204121Kansas City14000032X10161W: Larry Gura (1–0)  L: Ed Figueroa (0–1)HRs: KCR – Freddie Patek (1)

Game 3 October 6: Yankee Stadium Team123456789RHEKansas City1010100205101New York01020102X6100W: Goose Gossage (1–0)  L: Doug Bird (0–1)HRs: KCR – George Brett 3 (3)   NYY – Reggie Jackson (2) Thurman Munson (1)

Game 4 October 7: Yankee Stadium Team123456789RHEKansas City100000000170New York01000100X240W: Ron Guidry (1–0)  L: Dennis Leonard (0–2)  S: Goose Gossage (1)HRs: NYY – Graig Nettles (1) Roy White (1)

Farm system

LEAGUE CHAMPIONS: Omaha

Notes

References

External links 1978 Kansas City Royals at Baseball Reference 1978 Kansas City Royals at Baseball Almanac