It was a tough year for Steve Busby as he tried to come back from rotator cuff surgery. Steve started the year with the Royals but was sent to AAA Omaha in late April after making four starts. Busby injured his back in July and missed more time. Steve was brought back to Kansas City in late August and made three September appearances.
1978 Stats:
Kansas City Royals: 1-0, 7.59 ERA in 7 games (5 starts)
Omaha Royals (AAA): 3-7, 5.45 ERA in 12 starts
1978 Highlights:
April 9: Started the third game of the season and got the win by pitching 5 1/3 scoreless innings as the Royals beat the Cleveland Indians 5-4.
Bucky Dent is a name that will live on in infamy for Boston Red Sox fans as he hit the home run that propelled the Yankees to the AL East title in the 1-game playoff at the end of the 1978 season.
Dent was a solid shortstop for several years. He was a three-time AL All Star and was second to Mike Hargrove in AL Rookie of the Year voting in 1974. Dent usually had a fielding percentage above league average but his range factors were slightly below league average.
1978 Stats:
Regular Season: .243, 5 HR, 40 RBI in 123 games
AL Championship Series: 3 for 15 (.200), 4 RBI in 4 games
World Series: 10 for 24 (.417), 3 runs scored, 7 RBI in 6 games
1978 Highlights:
Oct 2 - Hit a 3-run home run over the Green Monster off of Mike Torrez to put the Yankees ahead 3-2. The Yankees eventually won the game 5-4.
Oct 15 - Had three hits, two runs scored, and knocked in a run as the Yankees beat the Los Angeles Dodgers 12-2 in game 5 of the World Series.
Oct 17 - Had three hits and three RBI as the Yankees beat the Dodgers 7-2 in game 6 of the World Series. Dent was named the World Series MVP.
Bucky Dent's home run in game 163 of the 1978 season. He hit that one even choking up on the bat.
Bucky Dent and Mike Torrez reminisce about the home run:
This was John Stearns' second season as the starting catcher for the New York Mets. John had career highs in home runs, RBI, and runs scored in 1978.
John broke the NL record (held by Johnny Kling in 1902) for stolen bases by a catcher by stealing 25 bases.
John started 134 games behind the plate in 1978. Stearns spent most of April and the first part of May below the Mendoza line but he heated up in mid-May and ended up batting .264.
1978 Stats: .264, 15 HR, 73 RBI in 143 games
1978 Highlights:
May 27 - Appeared as a pinch hitter in the 8th inning and hit a 2-run game-tying double. He stayed in the game and had a sacrifice fly in the 9th inning to add an insurance runs in the Mets' 9-7 victory over the Houston Astros.
June 30 - The box score is nothing special, but this was the game where John broke Dave Parker's jaw in a home plate collision.
Aug 9 - Had three hits and scored three runs as the Mets beat the Montreal Expos 10-3.
Jim Todd was acquired by the Seattle Mariners in October 1977. Todd was mostly a long reliever for the Mariners in 1978.
The Mariners released Todd in February 1979 during a salary dispute. Here is an article detailing the issue. The difference between Jim and the Mariners was $20,000. I don't know how the case eventually came out.
Duane Kuiper was the starting second baseman for the Cleveland Indians in 1978. Duane didn't have power (he had only one career HR), but he usually had a pretty good batting average, put the ball in play most of the time, and was above average as a fielder.
A knee injury in June 1980 caused him to miss the rest of the season. Kuiper became a part-time player after the injury.
Duane was traded to the San Francisco Giants after the 1981 season. He played there from 1982-1985. He had his own radio show on KNBR while he was still a player. Kuiper has been an announcer for the Giants since 1986 except for a one year stint with the Colorado Rockies in 1993.
1978 Stats: .283, 0 HR, 43 RBI in 149 games
1978 Highlights:
April 23 - Had four hits, two RBI, and scored twice in Cleveland's 10-7 win over the Boston Red Sox. His single in the top of the 11th inning scored Larvell Blanks, broke a 7-7 tie, and proved to be the game winner. His batting average jumped from .182 to .240.
July 9 - Went 3 for 4 with two doubles, two runs scored, and a RBI as the Indians beat the Red Sox 7-1.
Sept 22 - Had two hits and scored the winning run in the bottom of the 10th inning as the Indians beat the New York Yankees 7-6.
Bob Watson repeated his .289 batting average from 1977, but he didn't hit for quite as much power. Watson spent two weeks on the DL in late August.
1978 Stats: .289, 14 HR, 79 RBI in 139 games
1978 Highlights:
April 21 - In the bottom of the 9th with Dodgers on 1st and 2nd base, Bob caught a liner off the bat of Ron Cey, stepped on first to double off Reggie Smith, then threw the ball to Roger Metzger to get Bill Russell. The triple play ended the game and the Astros won 8-6.
June 2 - Had four hits and scored two runs in Houston's 6-3 11-inning victory over the Cincinnati Reds
June 24 - Hit for the cycle and knocked in five runs as the Astros beat the San Francisco Giants 6-5 in 11 innings.
John Verhoeven was in the minor leagues for the entire season in 1978 and in 1979.
After his playing career ended in 1983 John started a pitching school in California. He went on to be a college coach, coaching for Biola University (La Mirada, CA). In 2013 John served as the pitching coach for Azusa Pacific University
1978 Stats:
Iowa Oaks (AAA): 6-7, 4.83 ERA, 9 saves in 44 games
