1978 Minnesota Twins season

1978 Minnesota Twins
League	American League
Division	West
Ballpark	Metropolitan Stadium
City	Bloomington, Minnesota
Owners	Calvin Griffith (majority owner, with Thelma Griffith Haynes)
General managers	Calvin Griffith
Managers	Gene Mauch
Television	WTCN (Harmon Killebrew, Joe Boyle)
Radio	830 WCCO AM (Herb Carneal, Frank Quilici)
Seasons

The 1978 Minnesota Twins finished 73–89, fourth in the American League West.

Offseason

• October 3, 1977: Jim Hughes was released by the Twins.
• October 3, 1977: Steve Luebber was released by the Twins.
• October 25, 1977: Bombo Rivera was purchased by the Twins from the Montreal Expos.
• December 6, 1977: Jesús Vega was drafted by the Twins from the Milwaukee Brewers in the minor league draft.
• January 10, 1978: Jesse Orosco was drafted by the Twins in the 2nd round of the 1978 Major League Baseball draft.
• March 23, 1978: Don Carrithers was released by the Twins.

Regular season

On May 7, shortstop Roy Smalley Jr. set a Twins record by drawing five walks in a 15-9 win over the Baltimore Orioles. Smalley went 1 for 1 and scored three times.

Third baseman Mike Cubbage, on July 27, became the fifth Twin to hit for the cycle (following Rod Carew, 1970; César Tovar, 1972; Larry Hisle, 1976 and Lyman Bostock, 1976). Cubbage went double, homer, single, triple off Toronto Blue Jays' pitching. In subsequent years, five others will match the feat: Gary Ward, 1980; Kirby Puckett, 1986; Carlos Gómez, 2008; Jason Kubel, 2009; and Michael Cuddyer, 2009.

787,878 fans attended Twins games, the second lowest total in the American League. Only one Twins player made the All-Star Game: first baseman Rod Carew. In that game at San Diego Stadium, Carew—in his twelfth consecutive All-Star appearance—performed an All-Star first by hitting two triples in the game.

Carew won his seventh AL batting title with a .333 average, leading the team in hits and runs scored. Shortstop Roy Smalley hit 19 HR and collected 77 RBI. Dan Ford hit 11 HR and collected 82 RBI.

Reliever Mike Marshall was signed in May and replaced Tom Johnson and Bill Campbell as manager Gene Mauch's all-purpose reliever. Marshall went on to rack up 10 relief wins along with 21 saves. Three starters had double digit wins: Dave Goltz (15-10), Roger Erickson (14-13), and Geoff Zahn (14-14).

Season standings

AL West

Team	W	L	Pct.	GB	Home	Road
Kansas City Royals	92	70	.568	—	56‍–‍25	36‍–‍45
Texas Rangers	87	75	.537	5	52‍–‍30	35‍–‍45
California Angels	87	75	.537	5	50‍–‍31	37‍–‍44
Minnesota Twins	73	89	.451	19	38‍–‍43	35‍–‍46
Chicago White Sox	71	90	.441	20½	38‍–‍42	33‍–‍48
Oakland Athletics	69	93	.426	23	38‍–‍42	31‍–‍51
Seattle Mariners	56	104	.350	35	32‍–‍49	24‍–‍55

Record vs. opponents

1978 American League record Sources: [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] [8] [9] [10] [11] [12] [13] [14]
Team	BAL	BOS	CAL	CWS	CLE	DET	KC	MIL	MIN	NYY	OAK	SEA	TEX	TOR
Baltimore	—	7–8	4–6	8–1	9–6	7–8	2–8	7–8	5–5	6–9	11–0	9–1	7–4	8–7
Boston	8–7	—	9–2	7–3	7–8	12–3	4–6	10–5	9–2	7–9	5–5	7–3	3–7	11–4
California	6–4	2–9	—	8–7	6–4	4–7	9–6	5–5	12–3	5–5	9–6	9–6	5–10	7–3
Chicago	1–8	3–7	7–8	—	8–2	2–9	8–7	4–7	8–7	1–9	7–8	7–8	11–4	4–6
Cleveland	6–9	8–7	4–6	2–8	—	5–10	5–6	5–10	5–5	6–9	4–6	8–1	1–9	10–4
Detroit	8–7	3–12	7–4	9–2	10–5	—	4–6	7–8	4–6	4–11	6–4	8–2	7–3	9–6
Kansas City	8–2	6–4	6–9	7–8	6–5	6–4	—	6–4	7–8	6–5	10–5	12–3	7–8	5–5
Milwaukee	8–7	5–10	5–5	7–4	10–5	8–7	4–6	—	4–7	10–5	9–1	5–5	6–4	12–3
Minnesota	5–5	2–9	3–12	7–8	5–5	6–4	8–7	7–4	—	3–7	9–6	6–9	6–9	6–4
New York	9–6	9–7	5–5	9–1	9–6	11–4	5–6	5–10	7–3	—	8–2	6–5	6–4	11–4
Oakland	0–11	5–5	6–9	8–7	6–4	4–6	5–10	1–9	6–9	2–8	—	13–2	6–9	7–4
Seattle	1–9	3–7	6–9	8–7	1–8	2–8	3–12	5–5	9–6	5–6	2–13	—	3–12	8–2
Texas	4–7	7–3	10–5	4–11	9–1	3–7	8–7	4–6	9–6	4–6	9–6	12–3	—	4–7
Toronto	7–8	4–11	3–7	6–4	4–10	6–9	5–5	3–12	4–6	4–11	4–7	2–8	7–4	—

Opening Day starters

• Rod Carew
• Dan Ford
• Craig Kusick
• Willie Norwood
• Bob Randall
• Bombo Rivera
• Roy Smalley
• Larry Wolfe
• Butch Wynegar
• Geoff Zahn

Notable transactions

• May 15, 1978: Mike Marshall was signed as a free agent by the Twins.
• June 6, 1978: 1978 Major League Baseball draft
  • Lenny Faedo was drafted by the Twins in the 1st round (16th pick).
  • Kent Hrbek was drafted by the Twins in the 17th round.

Roster

1978 Minnesota Twins
Roster
Pitchers 19 Roger Erickson 30 Dave Goltz 37 Roric Harrison 21,36 Jeff Holly 31 Darrell Jackson 27 Dave Johnson 21 Tom Johnson 33,28 Mike Marshall 39 Stan Perzanowski 17 Pete Redfern 28 Mac Scarce 20 Gary Serum 40 John Sutton 18 Greg Thayer 23 Paul Thormodsgard 38 Geoff Zahn		Catchers 14 Glenn Borgmann 16 Butch Wynegar Infielders 29 Rod Carew 26 Mike Cubbage 22 Craig Kusick 34 José Morales 32 Bob Randall  5 Roy Smalley  7 Rob Wilfong  1 Larry Wolfe		Outfielders  8 Glenn Adams 12 Rich Chiles 33 Dave Edwards 15 Dan Ford 24 Willie Norwood 10 Hosken Powell  9 Bombo Rivera		Manager  4 Gene Mauch Coaches 41 Karl Kuehl  6 Tony Oliva 42 Camilo Pascual 43 Jerry Zimmerman

Game log

Legend
	Twins win
	Twins loss
	Postponement
Bold	Twins team member

1978 game log: 73–89 (Home: 38–43; Away: 35–46)
April: 8–16 (Home: 3–8; Away: 5–8) # Date Opponent Score Win Loss Save Attendance Record Streak 1 April 5 @ Mariners 2–3 Abbott (1–0) Goltz (0–1) Romo (1) 45,235 0–1 L1 2 April 6 @ Mariners 5–4 Erickson (1–0) Pole (0–1) T. Johnson (1) 10,311 1–1 W1 3 April 7 @ Mariners 3–6 Honeycutt (1–0) Redfern (0–1) Romo (2) 11,530 1–2 L1 4 April 8 @ Mariners 8–2 Thormodsgard (1–0) Mitchell (0–1) 12,896 2–2 W1 5 April 9 @ Mariners 8–6 Serum (1–0) House (0–1) 11,803 3–2 W2 6 April 10 @ Angels 0–3 Brett (1–0) Goltz (0–2) 10,074 3–3 L1 7 April 11 @ Angels 8–1 Erickson (2–0) Aase (0–1) 12,217 4–3 W1 8 April 12 @ Angels 5–9 Tanana (2–0) Redfern (0–2) LaRoche (2) 12,295 4–4 L1 9 April 13 @ Angels 0–1 (11) LaRoche (1–0) T. Johnson (0–1) 11,702 4–5 L2 10 April 14 Mariners 14–5 Zahn (1–0) House (0–2) 17,425 5–5 W1 11 April 15 Mariners 6–5 (11) T. Johnson (1–1) Montague (0–1) 7,471 6–5 W2 12 April 16 Mariners 5–8 Pole (1–2) Erickson (2–1) Rawley (1) – 6–6 L1 13 April 16 Mariners 2–7 House (1–2) D. Johnson (0–1) 14,021 6–7 L2 14 April 17 Athletics 2–7 Broberg (2–0) Thormodsgard (1–1) 2,054 6–8 L3 15 April 19 Athletics 5–6 (11) Sosa (1–0) T. Johnson (1–2) 1,935 6–9 L4 16 April 21 Angels 2–3 Aase (1–1) Goltz (0–3) LaRoche (3) 4,516 6–10 L5 17 April 22 Angels 3–5 Tanana (4–0) Erickson (2–2) Hartzell (3) 6,566 6–11 L6 — April 24 @ Athletics Postponed (rain); Makeup: April 25 18 April 25 @ Athletics 3–5 Sosa (2–0) Thayer (0–1) – 6–12 L7 19 April 25 @ Athletics 3–4 (14) Coleman (1–0) T. Johnson (1–3) 4,808 6–13 L8 20 April 26 @ Athletics 8–9 (12) Coleman (2–0) T. Johnson (1–4) 4,127 6–14 L9 21 April 27 @ Athletics 6–1 Serum (2–0) Wirth (1–2) 4,645 7–14 W1 22 April 28 Yankees 1–3 Figueroa (3–1) Thormodsgard (1–2) 11,674 7–15 L1 23 April 29 Yankees 3–1 Zahn (2–0) Tidrow (1–2) 10,543 8–15 W1 24 April 30 Yankees 2–3 Gossage (1–3) Scarce (0–1) 13,929 8–16 L1
May: 11–12 (Home: 4–5; Away: 7–7) # Date Opponent Score Win Loss Save Attendance Record Streak 25 May 3 @ Red Sox 9–11 Burgmeier (1–0) D. Johnson (0–2) Stanley (2) 16,403 8–17 L2 26 May 4 @ Red Sox 1–8 Eckersley (1–1) Thormodsgard (1–3) 15,784 8–18 L3 27 May 5 @ Orioles 1–2 Flanagan (2–3) Zahn (2–1) 3,897 8–19 L4 28 May 6 @ Orioles 8–7 Thayer (1–1) Stanhouse (0–2) T. Johnson (2) 26,870 9–19 W1 29 May 7 @ Orioles 15–9 Scarce (1–1) Palmer (3–2) 8,923 10–19 W2 30 May 9 @ Yankees 1–3 Hunter (2–3) Thormodsgard (1–4) Lyle (5) 11,271 10–20 L1 31 May 10 @ White Sox 2–7 Wortham (1–1) Erickson (2–3) 8,338 10–21 L2 32 May 13 Red Sox 2–4 Torrez (5–1) Zahn (2–2) Burgmeier (2) 7,914 10–22 L3 33 May 14 Red Sox 2–6 Eckersley (3–1) Thormodsgard (1–5) Burgmeier (3) 7,008 10–23 L4 34 May 15 Orioles 9–6 (10) Marshall (1–0) Flinn (1–1) 3,847 11–23 W1 35 May 16 Orioles 8–1 Goltz (1–3) Palmer (3–4) T. Johnson (3) 4,893 12–23 W2 36 May 18 @ Royals 8–6 Zahn (3–2) Leonard (3–7) Marshall (1) 17,459 13–23 W3 37 May 19 @ Royals 5–3 Erickson (3–3) Pattin (1–1) Marshall (2) 31,574 14–23 W4 38 May 20 @ Royals 3–6 Gale (4–0) Thormodsgard (1–6) Hrabosky (5) 30,312 14–24 L1 39 May 21 @ Royals 3–2 Serum (3–0) Splittorff (4–4) Marshall (3) 29,079 15–24 W1 40 May 22 Rangers 2–0 Zahn (4–2) Matlack (4–5) Marshall (4) 6,108 16–24 W2 41 May 23 Rangers 5–2 Erickson (4–3) Umbarger (2–3) 6,791 17–24 W3 42 May 24 Rangers 2–3 (11) Lindblad (1–0) Marshall (1–1) Medich (1) 7,598 17–25 L1 43 May 25 Rangers 1–7 Jenkins (5–2) Serum (3–1) 7,644 17–26 L2 44 May 28 Royals 7–8 (12) Gura (3–1) Marshall (1–2) 22,266 17–27 L3 45 May 29 @ Rangers 1–7 D. Ellis (3–2) Serum (3–2) – 17–28 L4 46 May 29 @ Rangers 7–2 Erickson (5–3) Umbarger (2–4) Marshall (5) 28,317 18–28 W1 47 May 30 @ Rangers 2–0 Zahn (5–2) Jenkins (5–3) Marshall (6) 12,718 19–28 W2
June: 11–13 (Home: 4–5; Away: 7–8) # Date Opponent Score Win Loss Save Attendance Record Streak 48 June 1 @ Rangers 7–10 Comer (1–1) Marshall (1–3) 16,084 19–29 L1 49 June 2 @ Tigers 4–2 Erickson (6–3) Billingham (4–3) Marshall (7) 21,127 20–29 W1 50 June 3 @ Tigers 9–2 Goltz (2–3) Sykes (3–3) 21,227 21–29 W2 51 June 4 @ Tigers 4–6 Morris (1–1) Zahn (5–3) 36,575 21–30 L1 52 June 7 White Sox 3–8 Kravec (4–4) Erickson (6–4) 6,627 21–31 L2 53 June 8 White Sox 1–2 Wood (6–5) Goltz (2–4) Willoughby (5) 11,071 21–32 L3

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	Butch Wynegar	135	454	104	.229	4	45
1B	Rod Carew	152	564	188	.333	5	70
2B	Bob Randall	119	330	89	.270	0	21
SS	Roy Smalley	158	586	160	.273	19	77
3B	Mike Cubbage	125	394	111	.282	7	57
LF	Willie Norwood	125	428	109	.255	8	46
CF	Dan Ford	151	592	162	.274	11	82
RF	Hosken Powell	121	381	94	.247	3	31
DH	Glenn Adams	116	310	80	.258	7	35

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
Bombo Rivera	101	251	68	.271	3	23
José Morales	101	242	76	.314	2	38
Larry Wolfe	88	235	55	.234	3	25
Rob Wilfong	92	199	53	.266	1	11
Rich Chiles	87	198	53	.268	1	22
Craig Kusick	77	191	33	.173	4	20
Glenn Borgmann	49	123	26	.211	3	15
Dave Edwards	15	44	11	.250	1	3

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
Roger Erickson	37	265.2	14	13	3.96	121
Geoff Zahn	35	252.1	14	14	3.03	106
Dave Goltz	29	220.1	15	10	2.49	116
Darrell Jackson	19	92.1	4	6	4.48	54
Paul Thormodsgard	12	66.0	1	6	5.05	23

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
Gary Serum	34	184.1	9	9	4.10	80
Stan Perzanowski	13	56.2	2	7	5.24	31
Dave Johnson	6	12.0	0	2	7.50	7
Pete Redfern	3	9.2	0	2	6.52	4

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
Mike Marshall	54	10	12	21	2.45	56
Greg Thayer	20	1	1	0	3.80	30
Tom Johnson	18	1	4	3	5.51	21
John Sutton	17	0	0	0	3.45	18
Mac Scarce	17	1	1	0	3.94	17
Jeff Holly	15	1	1	0	3.57	12
Roric Harrison	9	0	1	0	7.50	7

Farm system

See also: Minor League Baseball

Level	Team	League	Manager
AAA	Toledo Mud Hens	International League	Cal Ermer
AA	Orlando Twins	Southern League	Johnny Goryl
A	Visalia Oaks	California League	Roy McMillan
A	Wisconsin Rapids Twins	Midwest League	Rick Stelmaszek
Rookie	Elizabethton Twins	Appalachian League	Fred Waters

LEAGUE CHAMPIONS: Visalia, Elizabethton

References

• Player stats from www.baseball-reference.com
• Team info from www.baseball-almanac.com
• Johnson, Lloyd; Wolff, Miles, eds. (1997). The Encyclopedia of Minor League Baseball (2nd ed.). Durham, North Carolina: Baseball America. ISBN 978-0-9637189-8-3.