# 1978 Chicago White Sox season

The 1978 Chicago White Sox season was the team's 78th season in Major League Baseball, and its 79th overall. They finished with a record of 71–90, good enough for fifth place in the American League West, 20.5 games behind the first-place Kansas City Royals.

## Offseason

* November 28, 1977: Rich Hinton was signed as a free agent by the White Sox.
* December 5, 1977: Brian Downing, Chris Knapp, and Dave Frost were traded by the White Sox to the California Angels for Bobby Bonds, Thad Bosley and Richard Dotson.

## Regular season

* Larry Doby replaced Bob Lemon as manager of the White Sox in 1978. Doby was the second African-American to lead a major league club.

### Opening Day lineup

* Ralph Garr, LF
* Jorge Orta, 2B
* Lamar Johnson, 1B
* Bobby Bonds, RF
* Ron Blomberg, DH
* Chet Lemon, CF
* Eric Soderholm, 3B
* Wayne Nordhagen, C
* Don Kessinger, SS
* Steve Stone, P

### 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 1, 1978: Royle Stillman was released by the White Sox.
* April 1, 1978: Bob Coluccio was released by the White Sox.
* July 17, 1978: Guy Hoffman was signed as an amateur free agent by the White Sox.

#### Draft picks

* June 6, 1978: 1978 Major League Baseball Draft
** Britt Burns was drafted by the White Sox in the 3rd round.
** Bobby Meacham was drafted by the Chicago White Sox in the 14th round of the 1978 amateur draft, but did not sign.
** Gary Gaetti was drafted by the White Sox in the 3rd round of the secondary phase, but did not sign.

### Roster
## Player stats
### Batting

Note: G = Games played; AB = At bats; R = Runs scored; H = Hits; 2B = Doubles; 3B = Triples; HR = Home runs; RBI = Runs batted in; BB = Base on balls; SO = Strikeouts; AVG = Batting average; SB = Stolen bases
| Player | G | AB | R | H | 2B | 3B | HR | RBI | BB | SO | AVG | SB |
| Alan Bannister, DH, OF, SS,2B | 49 | 107 | 16 | 24 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 8 | 11 | 12 | .224 | 3 |
| Kevin Bell, 3B | 54 | 68 | 9 | 13 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 5 | 5 | 19 | .191 | 1 |
| Ron Blomberg, DH,1B | 61 | 156 | 16 | 36 | 7 | 0 | 5 | 22 | 11 | 17 | .231 | 0 |
| Bobby Bonds, RF, DH | 26 | 90 | 8 | 25 | 4 | 0 | 2 | 8 | 10 | 10 | .278 | 6 |
| Thad Bosley, OF | 66 | 219 | 25 | 59 | 5 | 1 | 2 | 13 | 13 | 32 | .269 | 12 |
| Jim Breazeale, 1B, DH | 25 | 72 | 8 | 15 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 13 | 8 | 10 | .208 | 0 |
| Harry Chappas, SS | 20 | 75 | 11 | 20 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 6 | 11 | .267 | 1 |
| Mike Colbern, C | 48 | 141 | 11 | 38 | 5 | 1 | 2 | 20 | 1 | 36 | .270 | 0 |
| Henry Cruz, OF | 53 | 77 | 13 | 17 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 10 | 8 | 11 | .221 | 0 |
| Mike Eden, SS,2B | 10 | 17 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0 | .118 | 0 |
| Marv Foley, C | 11 | 34 | 3 | 12 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 4 | 6 | .353 | 0 |
| Ralph Garr, LF, DH | 118 | 443 | 67 | 122 | 18 | 9 | 3 | 29 | 24 | 41 | .275 | 7 |
| Joe Gates, 2B | 8 | 24 | 6 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 4 | 6 | .250 | 1 |
| Lamar Johnson, 1B, DH | 148 | 498 | 52 | 136 | 23 | 2 | 8 | 72 | 43 | 46 | .273 | 6 |
| Larry Johnson, C, DH | 3 | 8 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 4 | .125 | 0 |
| Don Kessinger, SS,2B | 131 | 431 | 35 | 110 | 18 | 1 | 1 | 31 | 36 | 34 | .255 | 2 |
| Chet Lemon, CF, RF, DH | 105 | 357 | 51 | 107 | 24 | 6 | 13 | 55 | 39 | 46 | .300 | 5 |
| Bob Molinaro, OF, DH | 105 | 286 | 39 | 75 | 5 | 5 | 6 | 27 | 19 | 12 | .262 | 22 |
| Junior Moore, DH,3B, LF | 24 | 65 | 8 | 19 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 6 | 7 | .292 | 1 |
| Bill Nahorodny, C,1B, DH | 107 | 347 | 29 | 82 | 11 | 2 | 8 | 35 | 23 | 52 | .236 | 1 |
| Wayne Nordhagen, DH, RF, LF, C | 68 | 206 | 28 | 62 | 16 | 0 | 5 | 35 | 5 | 18 | .301 | 0 |
| Jorge Orta, 2B | 117 | 420 | 45 | 115 | 19 | 2 | 13 | 53 | 42 | 39 | .274 | 1 |
| Greg Pryor, 2B, SS,3B | 82 | 222 | 27 | 58 | 11 | 0 | 2 | 15 | 11 | 18 | .261 | 3 |
| Ron Schueler, PR | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .000 | 0 |
| Eric Soderholm, 3B, DH | 143 | 457 | 57 | 118 | 17 | 1 | 20 | 67 | 39 | 44 | .258 | 2 |
| Tom Spencer, OF | 29 | 65 | 3 | 12 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 2 | 9 | .185 | 0 |
| Mike Squires, 1B | 46 | 150 | 25 | 42 | 9 | 2 | 0 | 19 | 16 | 21 | .280 | 4 |
| Rusty Torres, OF | 16 | 44 | 7 | 14 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 6 | 6 | 7 | .318 | 0 |
| Claudell Washington, OF | 86 | 314 | 33 | 83 | 16 | 5 | 6 | 31 | 12 | 57 | .264 | 5 |
| Team Totals | 161 | 5393 | 634 | 1423 | 221 | 41 | 106 | 595 | 409 | 625 | .264 | 83 |

### Pitching

Note: W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; G = Games pitched; GS = Games started; SV = Saves; IP = Innings pitched; H = Hits allowed; R = Runs allowed; ER = Earned runs allowed; HR = Home runs allowed; BB = Walks allowed; K = Strikeouts
| Player | W | L | ERA | G | GS | SV | IP | H | R | ER | HR | BB | K |
| Francisco Barrios | 9 | 15 | 4.05 | 33 | 32 | 0 | 195.2 | 180 | 93 | 88 | 13 | 87 | 79 |
| Ross Baumgarten | 2 | 2 | 5.87 | 7 | 4 | 0 | 23.0 | 29 | 15 | 15 | 3 | 9 | 15 |
| Britt Burns | 0 | 2 | 12.91 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 7.2 | 14 | 12 | 11 | 2 | 3 | 3 |
| Rich Hinton | 2 | 6 | 4.02 | 29 | 4 | 1 | 80.2 | 78 | 38 | 36 | 5 | 30 | 48 |
| Ken Kravec | 11 | 16 | 4.08 | 30 | 30 | 0 | 203.0 | 188 | 104 | 92 | 22 | 96 | 154 |
| Jack Kucek | 2 | 3 | 3.29 | 10 | 5 | 1 | 52.0 | 42 | 23 | 19 | 5 | 29 | 30 |
| Lerrin LaGrow | 6 | 5 | 4.40 | 52 | 0 | 16 | 88.0 | 85 | 47 | 43 | 9 | 38 | 41 |
| Mike Proly | 5 | 2 | 2.74 | 16 | 6 | 1 | 65.2 | 63 | 24 | 20 | 4 | 12 | 19 |
| Ron Schueler | 3 | 5 | 4.30 | 30 | 7 | 0 | 81.2 | 76 | 50 | 39 | 10 | 41 | 39 |
| Steve Stone | 12 | 12 | 4.37 | 30 | 30 | 0 | 212.0 | 196 | 110 | 103 | 19 | 85 | 118 |
| Pablo Torrealba | 2 | 4 | 4.71 | 25 | 3 | 1 | 57.1 | 69 | 37 | 30 | 6 | 44 | 23 |
| Steve Trout | 3 | 0 | 4.03 | 4 | 3 | 0 | 22.1 | 19 | 10 | 10 | 0 | 11 | 11 |
| Jim Willoughby | 1 | 6 | 3.86 | 59 | 0 | 13 | 93.1 | 95 | 41 | 40 | 6 | 21 | 36 |
| Wilbur Wood | 10 | 10 | 5.20 | 28 | 27 | 0 | 168.0 | 187 | 103 | 97 | 23 | 75 | 69 |
| Rich Wortham | 3 | 2 | 3.05 | 8 | 8 | 0 | 59.0 | 59 | 24 | 20 | 1 | 23 | 25 |
| Team Totals | 71 | 90 | 4.21 | 161 | 161 | 33 | 1409.1 | 1380 | 731 | 660 | 128 | 604 | 710 |

## Farm system

| Level | Team | League | Manager |
| AAA | Iowa Oaks | American Association | Joe Sparks |
| AA | Knoxville Knox Sox | Southern League | Tony LaRussa and Joe Jones |
| A | Appleton Foxes | Midwest League | Gordon Lund |
LEAGUE CHAMPIONS: Knoxville, Appleton