- Dave Tomlin actually changed teams twice between the 1977 and 1978 seasons. In January 1978 Dave was traded (with $125,000) to the Texas Rangers for Gaylord Perry. In late March 1978 Tomlin was sold to the Cincinnati Reds.
- Tomlin had a great won-loss record, but the ERA probably got him a pretty brutal Strat-O-Matic card. Two outings basically wrecked his stats:
- On May 7 Dave got roughed up in a 19-5 loss to the Montreal Expos. Tomlin's line was 5 runs in one inning pitched. His ERA rose from 3.00 to 7.20 as a result.
- Dave was unable to get anyone out in an appearance against the Pittsburgh Pirates on June 9. Tomlin allowed four hits and four runs and saw his ERA go from 4.15 back up to 5.54.
- 1978 Stats: 9-1, 4 saves, 5.78 ERA in 57 games
- 1978 Highlights:
- April 6 - Earned the save in Cincinnati's 11-9 opening day win over the Houston Astros.
- July 15 - Pitched 2 1/3 innings of scoreless ball and improved his record to 5-1 as the Reds beat the New York Mets 7-5.
- Ron Fairly played for the California Angels in 1978. In December 1977 Fairly was traded from the Toronto Blue Jays to the Angels for Butch Alberts and Pat Kelly.
- Fairly still had a little bit of power, but he slipped to .217 as a part time first baseman and DH in his final season in the majors. Ron retired during spring training before the 1979 season. The Angels had acquired Rod Carew to play first base and owner Gene Autry offered Ron a three-year contract to broadcast games for the Angels.
- 1978 Stats: .217, 10 HR, 40 RBI in 91 games.
- 1978 Highlights:
- May 9 - Went 3 for 4 with 3 RBI in California's 7-5 win over the Detroit Tigers.
- June 20 - Had three hits, three RBI, and scored two runs as the Angels beat the Minnesota Twins 10-5.
- June 29 - Knocked in all three California runs in a 3-1 victory over the Kansas City Royals.
- I wonder if the first team to do the "several different uniforms during a season thing" was the Pittsburgh Pirates. It seems like they had at least 3-4 different uniforms in this set.
- Kent Tekulve had a very nice year as the main reliever for the Pirates in 1978. Kent finished fifth in NL Cy Young Award balloting and 13th in NL MVP voting. Tekulve led the NL in appearances with 91 and had a career-high 31 saves. Kent started the 1978 season as a middle reliever and he didn't get his first save until May 7.
- 1978 Stats: 8-7, 31 saves, 2.33 ERA in 91 games
- 1978 Highlights:
- June 14 - Had his longest outing of the season as he pitched 4 innings and earned the save. The Pirates beat the Houston Astros 6-4.
- Sept 1-3 - Pitched in four straight games (including both games in a doubleheader) and had two saves and a win during that span.
- Bob Montgomery was virtually nonexistent in the Boston lineup in 1978. Manager Don Zimmer wasn't keen on using his bench in 1978. Starting catcher Carlton Fisk started 150 games behind the plate in 1978, leaving only 13 starts for Montgomery and Fred Kendall.
- 1978 Stats: .241 in 10 games
- 1978 Highlights:
- May 21 - Went 4 for 5 and knocked in four runs as the Red Sox beat the Detroit Tigers 9-3. Bob got more than half of his seven hits for the year in this one game.
- Aug 30 - Had two hits in Boston's 8-7 loss to the Toronto Blue Jays
- Looks like Lynn McGlothen was the last card I needed to complete the team set for the Giants in 1978.
- The San Francisco Giants had a surprising run at the NL West title. They led the division for a good part of the season before fading in mid-August. The Giants mostly did it with pitching. Their pitching stats were near the top of the league, but their team hitting and fielding were nothing to write home about.
- Vida Blue was a key acquisition for the Giants. Blue was traded from Oakland to the Giants during spring training. Jack Clark became the hitting star of the Giants, and Bill Madlock also made a big contribution to the Giants offense. Blue (18-10) and Bob Knepper (17-11) were the two top pitchers.
- Record: 89-73, 3rd in NL West, 6 games behind Los Angeles
- Attendance: 1,740,477 (4th in NL)
- Team Batting: .248 (10th in NL)
- Team HR: 117 (6th in NL)
- Team Stolen Bases: 87 (11th in NL)
- Team ERA: 3.30 (3rd in NL)
- Team Fielding: .977 (9th in NL)
- Award Winners: Vida Blue (TSN NL Pitcher of the Year)
- All Stars: Vida Blue (starting pitcher), Jack Clark (OF)
- NL Leaders: Bob Knepper (shutouts, 6)
- Batting Leader: Bill Madlock (.309)
- HR Leader: Jack Clark (25)
- RBI Leader: Jack Clark (98)
- Stolen Base Leader: Bill Madlock (16)
- Victories Leader: Vida Blue (18)
- Losses Leader: Bob Knepper / Jim Barr (11)
- Saves Leader: Gary Lavelle (12)
- ERA Leader (Starters): Bob Knepper (2.63)
- ERA Leader (Relievers): Randy Moffitt (3.31)
- Players who could have had a 1978 Giants card (over 100 AB or over 40 IP):
- Hector Cruz (pictured with St. Louis) - OF - .223, 6 HR, 24 RBI in 79 games
- Jim Dwyer (pictured with St. Louis) - UT -.225, 5 HR, 22 HR in 73 games
- Vida Blue (pictured with Oakland) - 18-10, 2.79 ERA in 35 starts
- Pete Redfern spent most of the 1978 season in AAA. Pete started the season with the Twins but was sent to the minors after a rough start to the season.
- Redfern's career ended in 1983 after he was seriously injured in a diving accident. Pete was paralyzed and uses a wheelchair to this day.
- 1978 Stats:
- Toledo Mud Hens (AAA): 9-8, 3.73 ERA in 20 starts
- Minnesota Twins: 0-2, 6.52 ERA in 3 games (2 starts)
- Even though the Big Red Machine was on its way out, Cincinnati Reds cards were still great cards to have in 1978.
- Ken Griffey usually batted #2 in the order. Griffey didn't lead the club in any offensive categories, but he was a solid offensive player. Ken was batting .328 at the end of May but he tailed off in the last two months of the year to finish at .288.
- 1978 Stats: .288, 10 HR, 63 RBI in 158 games
- 1978 Highlights:
- April 12 - Doubled twice, tripled, and scored four runs in Cincinnati's 12-3 win over the San Francisco Giants.
- May 18 - Went 4 for 4, doubled in two runs in the 7th inning, and scored the eventual winning run as the Reds beat the Montreal Expos 3-2.
- May 27 - Went 4 for 4 and scored three runs to help the Reds beat the San Diego Padres 5-2.
