- After being the regular catcher in 1977, Charlie Moore split time with Buck Martinez behind the plate in 1978. Moore was the better offensive player and was right at league average defensively, but his defense started to slip in 1979 and by 1982 Charlie was an outfielder.
- 1978 Stats:.269, 5 HR, 31 RBI in 96 games
- 1978 Highlights:
- July 20 - Went 2 for 4 with a home run and 3 RBI to help the Brewers beat the Boston Red Sox 8-6.
- Aug 16 - Had three hits and scored three runs as the Brewers beat the Toronto Blue Jays 8-1.
- Rick Reuschel was the ace of the Chicago Cubs in 1978. Rick was the only pitcher to win 10 or more games for the Cubs.
- 1978 Stats: 14-15, 3.41 ERA in 35 starts
- 1978 Highlights:
- Don Baylor's second year with the California Angels was a lot better than his first year. Baylor signed with the Angels as a free agent before the 1977 season and many fans gave him a hard time when he and the other big money free agents (Joe Rudi, Bob Grich) didn't meet expectations. Baylor set career highs in home runs and RBI in 1978 and finished seventh in AL MVP voting. Don would do even better in 1979 when he won the MVP and led the club to the AL West title.
- 1978 Stats: .255, 34 HR, 99 RBI, 103 runs in 158 games
- 1978 Highlights:
- April 16 - Scored both California runs as the Angels beat the Oakland A's 2-1 in 11 innings.
- May 7 - Went 4 for 4 with three runs scored and a three-run home run in California's 16-3 hammering of the Cleveland Indians.
- During spring training in 1978 Jack Billingham was traded to the Detroit Tigers for two minor leaguers. Jack had a good year for the Tigers, winning 15 games in 30 starts. It was a good comeback from his off year in 1977.
- 1978 Stats: 15-8, 3.88 ERA in 30 starts
- 1978 Highlights:
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- Al Cowens had a drop-off in 1978 after finishing second in AL MVP voting in 1977. Cowens missed a month of the season because of strained ligaments. The rest did Al some good. Cowens was batting .249 before the injury -- his hitting picked up after he came back in late July and he ended up at .274.
- 1978 Stats:
- Regular Season: .274, 5 HR, 63 RBI in 132 games
- AL Championship Series: .133 (2 for 15) in 4 games
- 1978 Highlights:
- Apr 10 - Had two triples and knocked in three runs to lead the Royals to a 4-2 victory over the Baltimore Orioles.
- Aug 22 - Had three hits, including a 3-run home run, as the Royals beat the Chicago White Sox 6-3.
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- Today is Steve Garvey's 65th birthday. In honor of this, GCRL has a little contest going. One lucky winner (who has to do a Garvey post today) will receive a 1952 Topps card. I don't have any 1952 Topps cards, so I figured I'd jump in.
- Steve had the fifth of eight straight All Star appearances in 1978. Garvey led the NL with 202 hits and was second to Dave Parker in MVP voting. Garvey also had an awesome NL Championship Series (he was the MVP). Steve started the 1978 season with a 21 game hitting streak and had at least one hit in every game in April.
- 1978 Stats:
- Regular season: .316, 21 HR, 113 RBI in 162 games
- NL Championship Series: .389 (7 for 18), 4 HR, 7 RBI in 4 games
- World Series: .208 (6 for 25) in 6 games
- Highlights:
- April 9 - Had three hits, three runs scored, three RBI, and a home run in LA's 7-4 win over the Atlanta Braves.
- Aug 8 - Homered twice and knocked in all three Dodger runs as the Dodgers beat the San Diego Padres 3-2.
- Oct 4 - Went 3 for 5 with two home runs and three runs scored as the Dodgers beat the Philadelphia Phillies 9-5 in Game 1 of the NL Championship Series.
- Mark Fidrych started the 1978 season strong with wins in his first two starts. He made his third start of the season and came out of the game after four innings. Except for a rehab assignment with Class A Lakeland, that was it for Mark's 1978 season.
- 1978 Stats:
- Lakeland Tigers (Class A): 1-1, 3.46 ERA in 4 starts
- Detroit Tigers: 2-0, 2.45 ERA in 3 starts
- 1978 Highlights:
- April 7 - Pitched a complete game victory on opening day as the Tigers beat the Toronto Blue Jays 6-2.
- April 12 - Pitched another complete game and got the win in Detroit's 3-2 win over the Texas Rangers.
- April 17 - Made the start and allowed two runs in four innings. It was Mark's last game with the Tigers in 1978.
