- Before the 1978 season Tom Grieve was traded to the New York Mets as part of that huge 4-team, 10 player deal involving Bert Blyleven, Jon Matlack, Al Oliver, among others.
- Tom was used primarily as a pinch hitter by the Mets in 1978. He had 110 plate appearances in 54 games and played in the field in only 26 games.
- Grieve was headed toward the end of his playing career in 1978. After the season he was traded to the St. Louis Cardinals, where he played in only nine games in 1979. That was it for his playing career.
- 1978 Stats:
- New York Mets: .208, 2 HR, 8 RBI in 54 games (107 AB)
- 1978 Highlights:
- April 14 - Hit a solo home run in the top of the ninth inning to tie the game. The Mets beat the Montreal Expos 3-2 in 10 innings.
- April 22 - Appeared as a pinch hitter in the top of the 7th inning and singled in Tim Foli with the tying run. The Mets eventually beat the Chicaco Cubs 3-2.
- Hello again. I finally got access to a scanner so that I can scan the rest of my 78 cards and keep the blog going. I made posts without pics and saved them and now they get to see the light of day.
- Paul Lindblad started the season with the Texas Rangers. Lindblad made only one appearance between the beginning of the season and mid-May.
- On August 1, Lindblad was purchased by the New York Yankees for the stretch run. Paul made six appearances as a reliever and started one game for the Yankees in the last two months of the season. Lindblad wasn't used during the ALCS but he made an appearance in game 1 of the World Series.
- After the 1978 season Lindblad was sold to the Seattle Mariners. Paul didn't make the club in spring training and was cut before the 1979 season.
- 1978 Stats (regular season):
- Texas Rangers: 1-1, 2 saves, 3.63 ERA in 18 games
- New York Yankees: 0-0, 4.42 ERA in 7 games (1 start)
- 1978 Stats (post season)
- ALCS: not used
- World Series: 0-0, 11.57 ERA in 1 game (3 runs in 2.1 innings)
- 1978 Highlights:
- May 19 - Pitched 1 2/3 innings of scoreless ball and earned the save as the Rangers beat the Seattle Mariners 4-2.
- June 12 - Allowed 1 hit and no runs in two innings to earn the save in the Rangers' 6-5 win over the Kansas City Royals.
- Willie Horton moved around a lot in 1978. Before the season he was traded (with David Clyde) from Texas to the Cleveland Indians for Tom Buskey and John Lowenstein. On July 3 Willie was released. Horton was picked up by the Oakland A's on July 13. Then on August 15 Horton was traded (with Phil Huffman) to the Toronto Blue Jays for Rico Carty.
- Willie was aging, but he had one more good year left in him. Horton would win the Comeback Player of the Year award with the Seattle Mariners in 1979.
- 1978 Stats:
- Cleveland Indians - .249, 5 HR, 22 RBI in 50 games
- Oakland A's - .314, 3 HR, 19 RBI in 32 games
- Toronto Blue Jays - .205, 3 HR, 19 in 33 games
- TOTAL: .252, 11 HR, 60 RBI in 115 games
- 1978 Highlights:
- April 28 - Had three hits (including a home run) and two RBI in Cleveland's 6-2 win over the Oakland A's.
- May 3 - Went 3 for 3 with a home run and 5 RBI to help the Indians beat the Seattle Mariners 10-5.
- July 27 - Had three hits and scored three runs as the A's beat the Chicago White Sox 7-4.
- Bert Campaneris struggled through his worst season in 1978. It was the first year since his rookie season in 1964 that Bert didn't play in at least 130 games. Campaneris was rarely used in August and September.
- 1978 Stats: .186, 1 HR, 17 RBI in 98 games
- 1978 Highlights:
- June 12 - Went 2 for 3 with two runs scored to help the Rangers beat the Kansas City Royals 4-3.
- July 1 - Had three hits to get his average over the Mendoza Line for the first time all season as the Rangers beat the California Angels 6-3.
- July 3 - Was ejected from the game after getting in a fight with pitcher Ken Brett. Brett had tagged Campaneris out at home plate. Bert objected to how he was tagged out and initiated the brawl.
- Juan Beniquez was the starting center fielder for the Texas Rangers in 1978. Beniquez had career highs in home runs (11), RBI (50), and runs (61).
- The writeup on the back of this card may have jinxed Beniquez. Juan won a Gold Glove in 1977, but after that his fielding percentage was below league average every year except one from 1978 until the end of his career in 1988.
- 1978 Stats: .260, 11 HR, 50 RBI in 127 games
- 1978 Highlights:
- May 12 - Went 4 for 4 with two doubles and three RBI in the Rangers' 9-3 win over the Baltimore Orioles
- May 18 - Had four hits and four RBI to help the Rangers beat the Oakland A's 6-4.
- Dock Ellis spent the entire 1978 season with the Texas Rangers. This was a much more stable year than 1977 (pitched for three teams) or 1979 (his final year - pitched for three teams). Ellis still wasn't happy about his 1977 trade from the New York Yankees during spring training in 1978.
- Dock's stats started to fall off late in his career because he wasn't striking out as many batters. His walks per nine innings stayed pretty constant throughout his career, but Dock struck out only three batters per nine innings in 1978.
- Dock clashed with Texas manager Billy Hunter during the 1978 season. Ellis disagreed with a team rule prohibiting players from drinking in the hotel bar on road trips. Dock also disagreed with an edict from Hunter saying that players couldn't bring bottles of alcohol in their suitcases on team flights.
- Ellis had a groin injury that kept him out for a month in July and August. It also hindered his effectiveness for the rest of the season. Hunter also told Dock not to bother making the last road trip in late September.
- Ellis died of liver disease on December 19, 2008.
- 1978 Stats: 9-7, 4.20 ERA in 22 starts
- 1978 Highlights:
- Mike Hargrove slipped to a career-low .251 average in 1978. He still got on base a lot -- Mike led the AL with 107 walks and had a .388 on base percentage.
- A few weeks after the 1978 season Hargrove was traded to the San Diego Padres in a deal that involved five players and about $300,000. The Rangers needed the money after losing over $2 million in 1978. Hargrove was unhappy about the trade.
- 1978 Stats: .251, 7 HR, 40 RBI in 146 games
- 1978 Highlights:
- June 25 - Had three hits and three RBI to help the Rangers beat the California Angels 9-5.
- July 9 - Scored the winning run in the bottom of the 13th as the Rangers beat the Detroit Tigers 4-3.
- Doyle Alexander's win total dropped from a career high of 17 in 1977 to only nine in 1978. Alexander allowed one more hit per nine innings in 1978 - the rest of his stats were virtually identical.
- It looks like Alexander had a stint on the 15 day disabled list in late August and early September. He started the game on August 16 and came out of the game after pitching 1 1/3 innings. Doyle didn't pitch again until September 2. He made three relief appearances before returning to the starting rotation on September 10.
- 1978 Stats: 9-10, 3.86 ERA in 31 games (28 starts)
- 1978 Highlights:
- Apr 26 - Earned his first win of the year by shutting out the Cleveland Indians 3-0.
- May 3 - Allowed one run in a 2-1 complete game win against the Baltimore Orioles.
- Aug 12 - Won his first game in six weeks as the Rangers beat the Indians 2-1. Alexander pitched the first seven innings and didn't allow a run.
- It is surprising that Bert Blyleven didn't get a "0" number in this set. He didn't even get a "5" number.
- Blyleven pitched for the Pittsburgh Pirates in 1978. Bert was sent to the Pirates as part of that big 4-team deal between the Rangers, the Pirates, the New York Mets, and the Atlanta Braves.
- Blyleven had a good year in 1978 and then had a couple of seasons with a relatively high ERA for the Pirates. He had a win in the 1979 NL Championship Series and a win in the 1979 World Series. Bert's lifetime postseason record was 5-1.
- 1978 Stats: 14-10, 3.03 ERA in 34 starts
- 1978 Highlights:
- April 26 - Pitched an 11-inning shutout against the New York Mets. The Pirates finally scored in the top of the 11th on a home run by Ed Ott.\
- May 20 - Shut out the Montreal Expos on three hits as the Pirates won 6-0.
- Aug 29 - Pitched his fourth shutout of the year against the Cincinnati Reds. Bert allowed four hits and struck out eight batters in the 5-0 Pittsburgh victory.
- Richie Zisk signed with the Texas Rangers as a free agent after the 1977 season. Topps airbrushed Zisk into a Rangers uniform.
- Zisk was an AL all star for the second straight year. He played in every game until July 14 and then sat out three games. Richie went on the disabled list in late July and missed three weeks.
- 1978 Stats: .262, 22 HR, 85 RBI
- 1978 Highlights:
- April 28 - Hit a 2-run home run off of closer Bill Campbell in the bottom of the 11th inning to lead the Rangers to a come from behind 5-4 victory over the Boston Red Sox. He also singled in two runs in the 6th inning.
- April 30 - Doubled in the tying run (again off of Campbell) in the bottom of the 9th inning. Bobby Thompson, pinch running for Zisk, scored the winning run later in the inning. The Rangers beat the Red Sox 2-1. It was the Rangers' 6th straight win.
- Aug 25 - Hit a grand slam as the Rangers beat the Kansas City Royals 7-1.
- Topps misspelled "prominent" on the back. I doubt I noticed it back in 1978.
- Adrian Devine was traded to the Atlanta Braves as part of that big 4-team trade after the 1977 season. Devine had a winning record (5-4) for a struggling team, but he had a high 5.42 ERA.
- Devine was moved into the starting rotation for the Braves in June. He made six starts in June and July and then found himself on the disabled list for two months. Devine was a reliever for the rest of his career once he came off of the DL in September.
- 1978 Stats: 5-4, 3 saves, 5.92 ERA in 31 games (6 starts)
- 1978 Highlights:
- Claudell Washington wasn't playing a whole lot for the Texas Rangers in 1978. Claudell had an ankle injury while playing basketball in the offseason and got off to a slow start. On May 16 Washington was traded (with Rusty Torres) to the Chicago White Sox for Bobby Bonds. Washington missed almost a month from mid-May to mid-June.
- 1978 Stats:
- Texas Rangers: .167 in 12 games
- Chicago White Sox: .264, 6 HR, 31 RBI in 86 games
- TOTAL: .253, 6 HR, 33 RBI in 98 games
- 1978 Highlights:
- June 24 - Tripled, homered, scored twice, and knocked in four runs to help the White Sox beat the Minnesota Twins 7-4.
- Aug 16 - Went 3 for 4 with three runs in Chicago's 6-2 win over Texas.
- This was a down year for Toby Harrah. Harrah started the season at third base, but he moved to shortstop in August when Bert Campaneris was unable to keep his batting average above the Mendoza line. Toby also had offensive struggles and had his lowest batting average as a regular player.
- After the 1978 season Harrah was traded to the Cleveland Indians for Buddy Bell.
- 1978 Stats: .229, 12 HR, 59 RBI in 139 games
- 1978 Highlights:
- June 1 - Hit a grand slam in the Rangers' 10-7 win over the Minnesota Twins
- July 13 - Went 3 for 5 with 2 HR, 3 runs scored, and 5 RBI as the Rangers beat the Boston Red Sox 12-7.
- Where did the name "Bump" come from? His name is actually Elliot Taylor Wills. Can someone shed some light on this?
- Bump's offense was down from his 1977 rookie season, but he did steal 52 bases. Wills was batting .229 on September 1 but had a hot month to raise his average to .250.
- 1978 Stats: .250, 9 HR, 57 RBI in 157 games.
- 1978 Highlights:
