The 1978 San Francisco Giants season was the Giants' 96th season in Major League Baseball, their 21st season in San Francisco since their move from New York following the 1957 season, and their 19th at Candlestick Park. The team finished in third place in the National League West with an 89–73 record, 6 games behind the Los Angeles Dodgers.
Offseason October 25, 1977: Frank Riccelli was traded by the Giants to the St. Louis Cardinals for a player to be named later. The Cardinals completed the deal by sending Jim Dwyer to the Giants on June 15, 1978.Frank Riccelli at Baseball Reference March 15, 1978: Gary Alexander, Gary Thomasson, Dave Heaverlo, Alan Wirth, John Henry Johnson, Phil Huffman, a player to be named later, and $300,000 were traded by the Giants to the Oakland Athletics for Vida Blue. The Giants completed the trade by sending Mario Guerrero to the Athletics on April 7.Vida Blue at Baseball Reference March 21, 1978: Alan Hargesheimer was signed as an amateur free agent by the Giants.Alan Hargesheimer at Baseball Reference March 27, 1978: Randy Elliott was released by the Giants.Randy Elliott at Baseball Reference
Regular season The Giants won 42 games by a one run margin, an MLB record.
Season standings
Record vs. opponents
Opening Day starters Rob Andrews Jack Clark Darrell Evans Larry Herndon Marc Hill Johnnie LeMaster Willie McCovey John Montefusco Terry Whitfield
Notable transactions June 6, 1978: John Rabb was drafted by the Giants in the 11th round of the 1978 Major League Baseball draft.John Rabb at Baseball Reference July 18, 1978: The Giants traded a player to be named later to the St. Louis Cardinals for John Tamargo. The Giants completed the deal by sending Rob Dressler to the Cardinals on July 24.John Tamargo at Baseball Reference
Roster 1978 San Francisco Giants Roster Pitchers Catchers
Infielders Outfielders
Other batters Manager
Coaches
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 Marc Hill 117 358 87 .243 3 36 1B 108 351 80 .228 12 64 2B 122 447 138 .309 15 44 SS Johnny LeMaster 101 272 64 .235 1 14 3B 159 547 133 .243 20 78 LF Terry Whitfield 149 488 141 .289 10 32 CF 151 471 122 .259 1 72 RF 156 592 181 .306 25 98
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 Mike Ivie 117 318 98 .308 11 55 Roger Metzger 75 235 61 .260 0 17 79 197 44 .223 6 24 79 177 39 .220 1 11 73 173 39 .225 5 22 40 109 26 .239 2 9 53 100 15 .150 1 11 36 92 22 .239 1 8 Tom Heintzelman 27 35 8 .229 2 6 41 21 2 .095 0 3 7 3 0 .000 0 0 Dennis Littlejohn 2 0 0 ---- 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 36 260.0 17 11 2.63 147 35 258.0 18 10 2.79 171 John Montefusco 36 238.2 11 9 3.81 177 29 199.0 9 10 2.85 105 32 163.0 8 11 3.53 44
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 Lynn McGlothen 5 12.2 0 0 4.97 9 3 8.0 0 1 5.63 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 Gary Lavelle 67 13 10 14 3.32 63 Randy Moffitt 70 8 4 12 3.31 52 46 4 3 1 3.71 38 25 1 3 0 5.44 22 Greg Minton 11 0 1 0 8.04 6 5 0 0 0 4.05 1 1 0 0 0 0.00 0
Awards and honors
All-Star Game
Jack Clark Vida Blue
Sporting News National league Pitcher of the Year: Vida Blue
Major League Baseball National League Player of the Month: Jack Clark (May 1978)
Farm system
Johnson, Lloyd, and Wolff, Miles, ed., The Encyclopedia of Minor League Baseball, 2nd and 3rd editions. Durham, North Carolina: Baseball America, 1997 and 2007
References
External links 1978 San Francisco Giants at Baseball Reference 1978 San Francisco Giants at Baseball Almanac