- Mike Vail split the 1978 season between the Cleveland Indians and the Chicago Cubs. Vail got off to a slow start (.143) in spring training and was sold to the Indians in late March. Mike started the season in AAA Portland, but he was soon back in the majors after batting .393 in 14 games. On June 15 Mike was traded to the Cubs for Joe Wallis. Vail got more playing time and hit well in Chicago.
- 1978 Stats:
- Portland Beavers (AAA): .393, 4 HR, 19 RBI in 14 games
- Cleveland Indians: .235 in 14 games
- Chicago Cubs: .333, 4 HR, 33 RBI in 74 games
- 1978 Highlights:
- April 24 - Had four hits and knocked in five runs in Portland's 18-4 win over the Vancouver Canadians.
- May 9 - Went 2 for 2 and knocked in the winning run in the bottom of the 9th in his first game back from the minors. The Indians beat the Seattle Mariners 5-4.
- July 3 - Went 2 for 5 with 2 RBI in Chicago's 6-2 victory over the St. Louis Cardinals.
- Steve Foucault started the 1978 season with the Tigers. On August 16 Steve was acquired on waivers by the Kansas City Royals. Foucault stayed with the Royals for two weeks and then was designated for assignment in late August.
- Foucault had saves in his first three appearances and pitched well for most of the season. Steve was used sparingly during the season. Perhaps he was having arm or shoulder problems.
- After leaving baseball Steve became a police officer. Foucault has been a pitching coach for various minor league teams since the 1990s.
- 1978 Stats:
- Detroit Tigers: 2-4, 4 saves, 3.13 ERA in 24 games
- Kansas City Royals: 0-0, 3.86 ERA in 3 games
- 1978 Highlights:
- April 15 - Pitched two scoreless innings against the Toronto Blue Jays to pick up his second save. The Tigers beat the Blue Jays 6-3.
- May 16 - Held the Seattle Mariners scoreless for three innings and got the win as the Tigers beat the Seattle Mariners 4-2 in 16 innings.
- 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.
- After a good year in 1977 good things were expected of the Chicago White Sox in 1978. Unfortunately several of the "South Side Hit Men" like Oscar Gamble and Richie Zisk left the team and their replacements didn't hit as well. The White Sox went from 90 game winners to 90 game losers. Manager Bob Lemon went from AL Manager of the Year in 1977 to being replaced by Larry Doby on June 30. The team went from being 4th in batting average and 2nd in home runs to 7th in batting average and 8th in home runs.
- Team Record: 71-90, .441, 5th in AL West, 20.5 games behind Kansas City
- Managers(s):
- Bob Lemon 34-40
- Larry Doby 37-50
- Attendance: 1,491,100 (8th in AL)
- Team Batting: .264 (7th in AL)
- Team Home Runs: 106 (8th in AL)
- Team Stolen Bases: 83 (10th in AL)
- Team ERA: 4.21 (12th in AL)
- Team Fielding: .977 (10th in AL)
- AL All Stars: Chet Lemon (OF)
- Award Winners: none
- League Leaders: none
- Batting Leader: Chet Lemon (.300)
- HR Leader: Eric Soderholm (20)
- RBI Leader: Lamar Johnson (72)
- Stolen Base Leader: Bob Molinaro (22)
- Victory Leader: Steve Stone (12)
- Losses Leader: Ken Kravec (16)
- Saves Leader: Lerrin LaGrow (16)
- Best ERA (starters): Ken Kravec (4.08)
- Best ERA (relievers): Jim Willoughby (3.86), Mike Proly (2.74). Proly had the better ERA but he made some starts along with his relief appearances.
- Players who could have had 1978 White Sox cards (over 100 AB for position players, over 40 innings pitched for pitchers):
- Claudell Washington - OF - (pictured with Oakland) .264, 6 HR, 31 RBI in 86 games
- Bob Molinaro - UT - (rookie card 1979) .262, 6 HR, 27 RBI in 105 games
- Greg Pryor - IF - (rookie card 1979) .261, 2 HR, 15 RBI in 82 games
- Thad Bosley - OF - (pictured with California) .269, 2 HR, 13 RBI in 66 games
- Mike Squires - 1B - (rooke card 1979) .280, 0 HR, 19 RBI in 46 games
- Mike Colbern - C - (rookie card 1979) .270, 2 HR, 20 RBI in 48 games
- Bobby Bonds (pictured with California) had 90 at bats (.278, 2 HR, 8 RBI) for the White Sox at the beginning of the 1978 season before being traded to the Texas Rangers
- Jim Willoughby (pictured with Boston) 1-6, 13 saves, 3.86 ERA in 59 games
- Rich Hinton (no card) 2-6, 1 save, 4.02 ERA in 29 games (4 starts)
- Mike Proly (rookie card 1979) 5-2, 1 save, 2.74 ERA in 14 games (6 starts)
- Rich Wortham (rookie card 1980) 3-2, 3.05 ERA in 8 starts
- Pablo Torrealba (pictured with Oakland) 2-4, 1 save, 4.71 ERA in 25 games (3 starts)
- Jack Kucek (no 1978 card) 2-3, 1 save, 3.29 ERA in 10 games (5 starts)
- Ken Singleton had surgery on his throwing elbow to remove bone chips before the 1978 season. Ken started the 1978 season hitting well for average (.341 at the end of April), but it took a while for him to hit with power. Singleton hit his first home run of the season on April 30 and had only three home runs at the end of May. Ken still had a good season, but not as good as 1977 (3rd in MVP voting) and 1979 (2nd in MVP voting).
- 1978 Stats: .293, 20 HR, 81 RBI
- 1978 Highlights:
- April 30 - Hit his first home run of the season and knocked in four runs in Baltimore's 8-7 win over the Chicago White Sox.
- June 4 - Went 3 for 4 with a home run and knocked in all four Oriole runs as Baltimore beat the Seattle Mariners 4-1.
- July 19 - Had four hits to help the Orioles beat the White Sox 10-3.
- Gene Pentz had his last year in the majors in 1978. Pentz appeared in ten games for the Astros in April and May. He made his last appearance on May 3 and didn't pitch for the rest of the year. Pentz was put on the disabled list due to a bad back and then was released after the season.
- Gene tried to come back with the Pittsburgh Pirates in 1979. Pentz pitched in the minors in the Pirates organization in 1979 and in 1980 and then pitched for the AAA Phoenix Giants in 1981, but he never made it back to the majors.
- 1978 Stats: 0-0, 6.00 ERA in 10 games
- 1978 Highlights:
- April 16 - Pitched the 10th and 11th innings without allowing a run in Houston's 4-3 win over the Cincinnati Reds.
- Topps did a nice job with these manager cards. It's interesting to see the pictures of these managers when they were players.
- Don Zimmer started managing in the minor leagues at the age of 36 in 1967. When Zimmer didn't have a managing job, he coached for several clubs. He currently works for the Tampa Bay Rays during spring training and during home games. Zimmer has boasted that every paycheck he has ever earned has come from baseball.
- Here is Don Zimmer's managerial record:
- Buffalo (AAA) / Knoxville (AA) - Cincinnati organization - 1967
- Indianapolis (AAA) - Cincinnati organization - 1968
- Key West (A) - Chicago Cubs organization - 1969
- Salt Lake City (AAA) - San Diego Padres organization - 1970
- San Diego Padres (1972-1973) 114-190, .375
- Boston Red Sox (1976-1980) 411-304, .575, one near-AL East title in 1978
- Texas Rangers (1981-1982) 95-106, .473
- Chicago Cubs (1988-1991) 265-258, .507, NL East title in 1989, NL Manager of the Year in 1989
