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.

Offseason November 28, 1977: Rich Hinton was signed as a free agent by the White Sox. 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.

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

Record vs. opponents

Notable transactions April 1, 1978: Royle Stillman was released by the White Sox. April 1, 1978: Bob Coluccio was released by the White Sox. July 17, 1978: Guy Hoffman was signed as an amateur free agent by the White Sox.

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

Roster 1978 Chicago White Sox Roster Pitchers Catchers

Infielders Outfielders Manager

Coaches

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 5 161 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 71 90 4.21 161 161 33 1409.1 1380 731 660 128 604 710

Farm system

LEAGUE CHAMPIONS: Knoxville, Appleton

Notes

References 1978 Chicago White Sox at Baseball Reference