1978 Topps Baseball #327 - Rick Langford

.

• Rick Langford improved in 1978 after leading the AL with 19 losses in 1977. Rick was still below .500, but the team didn't give him a lot of support. 
• Langford went to the bullpen from mid-May until mid-June
• Langford continued to show steady improvement until his peak in 1980 and 1981. Then injuries diminished his effectiveness until he retired in 1986.
• Rick had the same mustache on all of his cards from 1977-1986 (except for a couple of mustache and beard cards in 1981).
• 1978 Stats: 7-13, 3.43 ERA in 37 games (24 starts)
• 1978 Highlights:
• August 1 - Pitched a three-hit shutout as the A's beat the California Angels 1-0. Langford struck out 11 batters and walked only one. With the win both teams had identical 56-51 records and were four games behind first place Kansas City.
• August 11 - Pitched his second three-hit shutout of the year as the A's beat the Minnesota Twins 2-0. At this time the A's were still hanging around the fringes of the AL West chase in third place (5 games behind Kansas City). The team went 8-37 (ouchie!!!) over the last several weeks and finished in 6th place. Here is an article about the strange season of the 1978 Oakland A's.