John Wathan played well as a backup first baseman and catchter in 1978. Wathan didn't have a lot of power, but he batted .300 for the season.
1978 Stats:
Regular Season: .300, 2 HR, 28 RBI in 67 games
AL Championship Series: .000 (0 for 3) in 1 game
1978 Highlights:
April 28: Appeared as a pinch hitter in the bottom of the 8th inning. He singled in a run and then scored the tying run in Kansas City's comeback 7-6 win over the Seattle Mariners.
July 9: Had 3 hits, including a double and a home run, as the Royals beat the Baltimore Orioles 10-4.
Mike Flanagan was an all-star for the only time in his career in 1978. It's a bit odd that he made the AL All Star team in 1978 but didn't make it in 1979 (his Cy Young year).
1978 Stats: 19-15, 4.05 ERA in 40 starts
1978 Highlights:
May 23 - Allowed two hits and shut out the Detroit Tigers 2-0.
June 13 - Went the distance and then some in an 11-inning 3-2 win over the Seattle Mariners. It was his fourth complete game victory in a row.
Mario Guerrero signed with the San Francisco Giants as a free agent in December 1977. But Mario never played for the Giants during the regular season. On April 7 he was sent to the Oakland A's as a player to be named later in the Vida Blue trade.
Guerrero had career highs in most categories in 1978. He was the starting shortstop for the A's for most of the season.
Mario was replaced as the starting shortstop by Rob Picciolo in 1979 and he split time with Picciolo in 1980.
1978 Stats: .275, 3 HR, 38 RBI in 143 games
1978 Highlights:
April 19 - Had four hits in Oakland's 6-5 win over the Minnesota Twins.
April 29 - Knocked in four of Oakland's five runs as the A's beat the Cleveland Indians 5-1.
Before the 1978 season Dave Heaverlo was traded to the Oakland A's in the big Vida Blue deal. The A's got six players and $300,000 for Blue.
Dave had career highs in appearances and innings pitched in 1978. He was second to Elias Sosa in saves on the team -- Sosa had 14 and Heaverlo had ten.
1978 Stats:
Oakland A's - 3-6, 3.25 ERA, 10 saves in 69 games
1978 Highlights:
April 8 - Earned his first save of the season in the second game of the season and Oakland's first victory of the season by pitching a scoreless 9th inning as the A's beat the California Angels 4-2.
Sept 2 - Earned his last save of the season by pitching 1 1/3 scoreless innings to preverve a 4-3 win over the Boston Red Sox. At the time the Red Sox appeared to be comfortably ahead of the New York Yankees in the AL East (5 1/2 game lead), but that was to change soon.
In 2016 Dave made a $250,000 contribution to Central Washington University's athletic program. The school was his alma mater.
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.
