# 1978 Texas Rangers season

The 1978 Texas Rangers season was the 18th of the Texas Rangers franchise overall, their 7th in Arlington as the Rangers, and the 7th season at Arlington Stadium. The Rangers finished second in the American League West with a record of 87 wins and 75 losses.

## Offseason

* October 25, 1977: Gorman Thomas was sent to the Rangers by the Milwaukee Brewers to complete an earlier deal (the Brewers sent a player to be named later to the Rangers for Ed Kirkpatrick) made on August 20.
* November 9, 1977: Mike Marshall was granted free agency. Richie Zisk signed a 10-year, $2.75 million contract as a free agent.
* November 10, 1977: Darold Knowles was purchased from the Rangers by the Montreal Expos.
* November 11, 1977: Doc Medich signed as a free agent.
* December 8, 1977: Bert Blyleven was traded by the Rangers to the Pittsburgh Pirates, Adrian Devine, Tommy Boggs, and Eddie Miller, were traded by the Rangers to the Atlanta Braves, and Tom Grieve and a player to be named later were traded by the Rangers to the New York Mets as part of a 4-team trade. Al Oliver and Nelson Norman were traded by the Pirates to the Rangers, and Jon Matlack was traded by the Mets to the Rangers. John Milner was traded by the Mets to the Pirates. Willie Montañez was traded by the Braves to the Mets. The Rangers completed the deal by sending Ken Henderson to the Mets on March 15, 1978.
* December 14, 1977: Ferguson Jenkins was traded by the Boston Red Sox to the Rangers for John Poloni and cash.
* January 21, 1978: Mike Jorgensen signed as a free agent.
* January 25, 1978: Gaylord Perry was traded by the Rangers to the San Diego Padres for Dave Tomlin and $125,000.
* February 8, 1978: Gorman Thomas was sold back to the Milwaukee Brewers.
* February 28, 1978: David Clyde and Willie Horton were traded by the Rangers to the Cleveland Indians for Tom Buskey and John Lowenstein.
* March 1, 1978: Jackie Brown and Rusty Torres were signed as free agents.
* March 28, 1978: Mark Mercer signed as a free agent. Dave Tomlin was sold to the Cincinnati Reds.
* April 1, 1978: Tom Buskey was released as a free agent.
* April 2, 1978: Jim Hughes signed as a free agent.

## Regular season
### Season standings

vteAL West :
| Team | W | L | Pct. | GB | Home | Road |
| Kansas City Royals | 92 | 70 | .568 | — | 56‍–‍25 | 36‍–‍45 |
| Texas Rangers | 87 | 75 | .537 | 5 | 52‍–‍30 | 35‍–‍45 |
| California Angels | 87 | 75 | .537 | 5 | 50‍–‍31 | 37‍–‍44 |
| Minnesota Twins | 73 | 89 | .451 | 19 | 38‍–‍43 | 35‍–‍46 |
| Chicago White Sox | 71 | 90 | .441 | 20½ | 38‍–‍42 | 33‍–‍48 |
| Oakland Athletics | 69 | 93 | .426 | 23 | 38‍–‍42 | 31‍–‍51 |
| Seattle Mariners | 56 | 104 | .350 | 35 | 32‍–‍49 | 24‍–‍55 |

### Record vs. opponents

1978 American League recordvte Sources: :
| Team | BAL | BOS | CAL | CWS | CLE | DET | KC | MIL | MIN | NYY | OAK | SEA | TEX | TOR |
| Baltimore | — | 7–8 | 4–6 | 8–1 | 9–6 | 7–8 | 2–8 | 7–8 | 5–5 | 6–9 | 11–0 | 9–1 | 7–4 | 8–7 |
| Boston | 8–7 | — | 9–2 | 7–3 | 7–8 | 12–3 | 4–6 | 10–5 | 9–2 | 7–9 | 5–5 | 7–3 | 3–7 | 11–4 |
| California | 6–4 | 2–9 | — | 8–7 | 6–4 | 4–7 | 9–6 | 5–5 | 12–3 | 5–5 | 9–6 | 9–6 | 5–10 | 7–3 |
| Chicago | 1–8 | 3–7 | 7–8 | — | 8–2 | 2–9 | 8–7 | 4–7 | 8–7 | 1–9 | 7–8 | 7–8 | 11–4 | 4–6 |
| Cleveland | 6–9 | 8–7 | 4–6 | 2–8 | — | 5–10 | 5–6 | 5–10 | 5–5 | 6–9 | 4–6 | 8–1 | 1–9 | 10–4 |
| Detroit | 8–7 | 3–12 | 7–4 | 9–2 | 10–5 | — | 4–6 | 7–8 | 4–6 | 4–11 | 6–4 | 8–2 | 7–3 | 9–6 |
| Kansas City | 8–2 | 6–4 | 6–9 | 7–8 | 6–5 | 6–4 | — | 6–4 | 7–8 | 6–5 | 10–5 | 12–3 | 7–8 | 5–5 |
| Milwaukee | 8–7 | 5–10 | 5–5 | 7–4 | 10–5 | 8–7 | 4–6 | — | 4–7 | 10–5 | 9–1 | 5–5 | 6–4 | 12–3 |
| Minnesota | 5–5 | 2–9 | 3–12 | 7–8 | 5–5 | 6–4 | 8–7 | 7–4 | — | 3–7 | 9–6 | 6–9 | 6–9 | 6–4 |
| New York | 9–6 | 9–7 | 5–5 | 9–1 | 9–6 | 11–4 | 5–6 | 5–10 | 7–3 | — | 8–2 | 6–5 | 6–4 | 11–4 |
| Oakland | 0–11 | 5–5 | 6–9 | 8–7 | 6–4 | 4–6 | 5–10 | 1–9 | 6–9 | 2–8 | — | 13–2 | 6–9 | 7–4 |
| Seattle | 1–9 | 3–7 | 6–9 | 8–7 | 1–8 | 2–8 | 3–12 | 5–5 | 9–6 | 5–6 | 2–13 | — | 3–12 | 8–2 |
| Texas | 4–7 | 7–3 | 10–5 | 4–11 | 9–1 | 3–7 | 8–7 | 4–6 | 9–6 | 4–6 | 9–6 | 12–3 | — | 4–7 |
| Toronto | 7–8 | 4–11 | 3–7 | 6–4 | 4–10 | 6–9 | 5–5 | 3–12 | 4–6 | 4–11 | 4–7 | 2–8 | 7–4 | — |

### Notable transactions

* April 18, 1978: Reggie Cleveland was purchased from the Boston Red Sox.
* May 16, 1978: Bobby Bonds was traded to the Rangers by the Chicago White Sox for Claudell Washington and Rusty Torres.
* May 17, 1978: Dave May was sold to the Milwaukee Brewers.
* June 6, 1978: 1978 Major League Baseball Draft
** Wayne Tolleson was drafted by the Rangers in the 8th round.
** Charlie O'Brien was drafted by the Rangers in the 14th round, but did not sign.
** Mike Richardt was drafted by the Rangers in the 1st round (10th pick) of the Secondary Phase.
* August 1, 1978: Paul Lindblad was sold to the New York Yankees.
* August 31, 1978 Johnny Grubb was traded to the Rangers by the Cleveland Indians for players to be named later. Bobby Cuellar and Dave Rivera (minor leaguer) were sent to Cleveland on October 3 to complete the trade.

### Roster
## Player stats
### Batting
#### Starters by position

Note: Pos = Position; G = Games played; AB = At bats; H = Hits; Avg. = Batting average; HR = Home runs; RBI = Runs batted in
| Pos | Player | G | AB | H | Avg. | HR | RBI |
| C | Jim Sundberg | 149 | 518 | 144 | .278 | 6 | 58 |
| 1B | Mike Hargrove | 146 | 494 | 124 | .251 | 7 | 40 |
| 2B | Bump Wills | 157 | 539 | 135 | .250 | 9 | 57 |
| SS | Bert Campaneris | 98 | 269 | 50 | .186 | 1 | 17 |
| 3B | Toby Harrah | 139 | 450 | 103 | .229 | 12 | 59 |
| LF | Al Oliver | 133 | 525 | 170 | .324 | 14 | 89 |
| CF | Juan Beníquez | 127 | 473 | 123 | .260 | 11 | 50 |
| RF | Bobby Bonds | 130 | 475 | 126 | .265 | 29 | 82 |
| DH | Richie Zisk | 140 | 511 | 134 | .262 | 22 | 85 |

#### Other batters

Note: G = Games played; AB = At bats; H = Hits; Avg. = Batting average; HR = Home runs; RBI = Runs batted in
| Player | G | AB | H | Avg. | HR | RBI |
| Kurt Bevacqua | 90 | 248 | 55 | .222 | 6 | 30 |
| John Lowenstein | 77 | 176 | 39 | .222 | 5 | 21 |
| Bobby Thompson | 64 | 120 | 27 | .225 | 2 | 12 |
| Jim Mason | 55 | 105 | 20 | .190 | 0 | 3 |
| Mike Jorgensen | 96 | 97 | 19 | .196 | 1 | 9 |
| John Ellis | 34 | 94 | 23 | .245 | 3 | 17 |
| Gary Gray | 17 | 50 | 12 | .240 | 2 | 6 |
| Pat Putnam | 20 | 46 | 7 | .152 | 1 | 2 |
| Claudell Washington | 12 | 42 | 7 | .167 | 0 | 2 |
| Nelson Norman | 23 | 34 | 9 | .265 | 0 | 1 |
| Johnny Grubb | 12 | 33 | 13 | .394 | 1 | 6 |
| Sandy Alomar Sr. | 24 | 29 | 6 | .207 | 0 | 1 |
| Billy Sample | 8 | 15 | 7 | .467 | 0 | 3 |
| La Rue Washington | 3 | 3 | 0 | .000 | 0 | 0 |
| Greg Mahlberg | 1 | 1 | 0 | .000 | 0 | 0 |

### Pitching
#### Starting pitchers

Note: G = Games pitched; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts
| Player | G | IP | W | L | ERA | SO |
| Jon Matlack | 35 | 270.0 | 15 | 13 | 2.27 | 157 |
| Ferguson Jenkins | 34 | 249.0 | 18 | 8 | 3.04 | 157 |
| Doyle Alexander | 31 | 191.0 | 9 | 10 | 3.86 | 81 |
| Doc Medich | 28 | 171.0 | 9 | 8 | 3.74 | 71 |
| Doc Ellis | 22 | 141.1 | 9 | 7 | 4.20 | 45 |

#### Other pitchers

Note: G = Games pitched; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts
| Player | G | IP | W | L | ERA | SO |
| Steve Comer | 30 | 117.1 | 11 | 5 | 2.30 | 65 |
| Jim Umbarger | 32 | 97.2 | 5 | 8 | 4.88 | 60 |
| Paul Mirabella | 10 | 28.0 | 3 | 2 | 5.79 | 23 |
| Roger Moret | 7 | 14.2 | 0 | 1 | 4.91 | 5 |
| Danny Darwin | 3 | 8.2 | 1 | 0 | 4.15 | 8 |

#### Relief pitchers

Note: G = Games pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; SV = Saves; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts
| Player | G | W | L | SV | ERA | SO |
| Reggie Cleveland | 53 | 5 | 7 | 12 | 3.09 | 46 |
| Len Barker | 29 | 1 | 5 | 4 | 4.82 | 33 |
| Paul Lindblad | 18 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 3.63 | 25 |

## Awards and honors

* Jim Sundberg, Gold Glove, catcher

### All-Stars

All-Star Game

## Farm system

| Level | Team | League | Manager |
| AAA | Tucson Toros | Pacific Coast League | Rich Donnelly |
| AA | Tulsa Drillers | Texas League | Marty Martínez |
| A | Asheville Tourists | Western Carolinas League | Wayne Terwilliger |
| Rookie | GCL Rangers | Gulf Coast League | Joe Klein |
LEAGUE CHAMPIONS: GCL Rangers