The 1978 Cleveland Indians season was the 78th season for the franchise, the 64th as the Indians and the 47th season at Cleveland Stadium. They failed to improve upon their 71–90 campaign from the previous season, and missed the playoffs for the 24th consecutive season, finishing the season at 69–90.

Offseason December 5, 1977: Bruce Compton (minors) and Norm Churchill (minors) were traded by the Indians to the Chicago Cubs for Dave Rosello.Dave Rosello page at Baseball Reference February 28, 1978: Tom Buskey and John Lowenstein were traded by the Indians to the Texas Rangers for Willie Horton and David Clyde.David Clyde page at Baseball Reference March 15, 1978: Rico Carty was traded by the Indians to the Toronto Blue Jays for Dennis DeBarr.Rico Carty page at Baseball Reference March 30, 1978: Dennis Eckersley and Fred Kendall were traded by the Indians to the Boston Red Sox for Rick Wise, Mike Paxton, Ted Cox, and Bo Díaz.Dennis Eckersley page at Baseball Reference

Regular season On May 12, pitcher Nolan Ryan of the California Angels struck out Buddy Bell for the 2500th strikeout of his career.

Season standings

Record vs. opponents

Notable transactions June 14, 1978: Dennis Kinney was traded by the Indians to the San Diego Padres for Dan Spillner.Dan Spillner page at Baseball Reference June 15, 1978: Mike Vail was traded by the Indians to the Chicago Cubs for Joe Wallis.Joe Wallis page at Baseball Reference June 15, 1978: Joe Wallis was traded by the Indians to the Oakland Athletics for Gary Alexander. June 22, 1978: Bill Laxton was traded by the Indians to the San Diego Padres for Dave Freisleben.Bill Laxton page at Baseball Reference June 26, 1978: Dennis DeBarr was traded by the Indians to the Chicago Cubs for Paul Reuschel.Paul Reuschel page at Baseball Reference July 3, 1978: Willie Horton was released by the Indians.Willie Horton page at Baseball Reference

Opening Day Lineup +Opening Day Starters # Name Position00 Paul Dade RF18 Duane Kuiper 2B1 Johnny Grubb LF29 Andre Thornton 1B23 Willie Horton DH14 Larvell Blanks SS 25 Buddy Bell 3B28 Rick Manning CF13 Ron Pruitt C17 Wayne Garland P 1978 Opening Day Lineup at Baseball-Reference

Roster 1978 Cleveland Indians Roster Pitchers Catchers

Infielders Outfielders

Other batters Manager

Coaches

(Bullpen)

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; AVG = Batting average; SB = Stolen bases Player G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI AVG SB 90 324 39 76 14 3 17 62 .235 0 142 556 71 157 27 8 6 62 .282 1 70 193 19 49 10 0 2 20 .254 0 15 49 4 8 0 1 1 1 .163 0 36 98 11 24 6 1 4 13 .245 1 60 174 21 50 8 0 4 16 .287 1 82 227 14 53 7 0 1 19 .233 0 93 307 37 78 12 1 3 20 .254 12 44 127 12 30 4 0 2 11 .236 0 5 4 1 2 1 0 0 0 .500 0 113 378 54 100 16 6 14 61 .265 5 25 74 5 15 0 0 2 9 .203 2 50 169 15 42 7 0 5 22 .249 3 Jim Kern 3 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 0 149 547 52 155 18 6 0 43 .283 4 3 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 — 0 148 566 65 149 27 3 3 50 .263 12 113 315 41 89 14 5 2 27 .283 12 71 187 17 44 6 1 6 17 .235 2 70 106 13 24 4 1 0 4 .226 2 145 508 97 133 22 4 33 105 .262 4 14 34 2 8 2 1 0 2 .235 1 130 421 48 114 18 4 1 32 .271 1 Team totals 159 5365 639 1400 223 45 106 596 .261 64

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; BB = Walks allowed; K = Strikeouts Player W L ERA G GS SV IP H R ER BB K 8 11 4.28 28 25 0 153.1 166 80 73 60 83 0 1 6.28 7 0 0 14.1 19 10 10 7 5 1 4 7.11 12 10 0 44.1 52 37 35 31 19 2 3 7.89 6 6 0 29.2 43 27 26 16 13 5 6 4.48 36 19 0 154.2 166 82 77 77 73 10 10 3.08 58 0 13 99.1 77 36 34 58 95 0 2 4.42 18 0 5 38.2 37 21 19 14 19 0 0 3.86 6 0 0 9.1 6 4 4 3 7 4 3 2.76 48 2 6 84.2 71 36 26 51 54 12 11 3.86 33 27 1 191.0 179 89 82 63 96 2 4 3.11 18 6 0 89.2 95 33 31 22 24 3 1 3.67 36 0 3 56.1 54 26 23 21 48 13 15 3.20 34 33 0 230.1 206 97 82 86 97 9 19 4.34 33 31 0 211.2 226 116 102 59 106 Team totals 69 90 3.97 159 159 28 1407.1 1397 694 621 568 739

Awards and honors

All-Star Game

Farm system

Johnson, Lloyd, and Wolff, Miles, ed., The Encyclopedia of Minor League Baseball, 3rd edition. Durham, North Carolina: Baseball America, 2007

Notes

References 1978 Cleveland Indians team page at Baseball Reference 1978 Cleveland Indians team page at www.baseball-almanac.com