# 1978 Baltimore Orioles season

The 1978 Baltimore Orioles season was the 78th season in Baltimore Orioles franchise history, the 25th in Baltimore, and the 25th at Memorial Stadium. The Orioles finished fourth in the American League East with a record of 90 wins and 71 losses.

## Offseason

* November 23, 1977: Elrod Hendricks was signed as a free agent by the Orioles.
* December 7, 1977: Bryn Smith, Rudy May, and Randy Miller were traded by the Orioles to the Montreal Expos for Don Stanhouse, Joe Kerrigan, and Gary Roenicke.
* January 6, 1978: Ken Rudolph was released by the Orioles.
* February 21, 1978: Tony Muser was released by the Orioles.

## Regular season
### Season standings

vteAL East :
| Team | W | L | Pct. | GB | Home | Road |
| New York Yankees | 100 | 63 | .613 | — | 55‍–‍26 | 45‍–‍37 |
| Boston Red Sox | 99 | 64 | .607 | 1 | 59‍–‍23 | 40‍–‍41 |
| Milwaukee Brewers | 93 | 69 | .574 | 6½ | 54‍–‍27 | 39‍–‍42 |
| Baltimore Orioles | 90 | 71 | .559 | 9 | 51‍–‍30 | 39‍–‍41 |
| Detroit Tigers | 86 | 76 | .531 | 13½ | 47‍–‍34 | 39‍–‍42 |
| Cleveland Indians | 69 | 90 | .434 | 29 | 42‍–‍36 | 27‍–‍54 |
| Toronto Blue Jays | 59 | 102 | .366 | 40 | 37‍–‍44 | 22‍–‍58 |

### 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 | — |

### Opening Day starters

* Mark Belanger
* Al Bumbry
* Doug DeCinces
* Rick Dempsey
* Larry Harlow
* Dennis Martínez
* Lee May
* Eddie Murray
* Ken Singleton
* Billy Smith

### Notable transactions

* June 6, 1978: 1978 Major League Baseball Draft
** Cal Ripken Jr. was drafted by the Orioles in the 2nd round, (46th overall). Player signed June 13, 1978.
** Bobby Bonner was drafted by the Orioles in the 3rd round.
** Mike Boddicker was drafted by the Orioles in the 6th round.

### 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 | Rick Dempsey | 146 | 441 | 114 | .259 | 6 | 32 |
| 1B | Eddie Murray | 161 | 610 | 174 | .285 | 27 | 95 |
| 2B | Rich Dauer | 133 | 459 | 121 | .264 | 6 | 46 |
| 3B | Doug DeCinces | 142 | 511 | 146 | .286 | 28 | 80 |
| SS | Mark Belanger | 135 | 348 | 74 | .213 | 0 | 16 |
| LF | Pat Kelly | 100 | 274 | 75 | .274 | 11 | 40 |
| CF | Larry Harlow | 147 | 460 | 112 | .243 | 8 | 26 |
| RF | Ken Singleton | 149 | 502 | 147 | .293 | 20 | 81 |
| DH | Lee May | 148 | 556 | 137 | .246 | 25 | 80 |

#### 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 |
| Billy Smith | 85 | 250 | 65 | .260 | 5 | 30 |
| Andrés Mora | 76 | 229 | 49 | .214 | 8 | 14 |
| Carlos López | 120 | 193 | 46 | .238 | 4 | 20 |
| Kiko Garcia | 79 | 186 | 49 | .263 | 0 | 13 |
| Al Bumbry | 33 | 114 | 27 | .237 | 2 | 6 |
| Terry Crowley | 62 | 95 | 24 | .253 | 0 | 12 |
| Dave Skaggs | 36 | 86 | 13 | .151 | 0 | 2 |
| Gary Roenicke | 27 | 58 | 15 | .259 | 3 | 15 |
| Mike Anderson | 53 | 32 | 3 | .094 | 0 | 3 |
| Elrod Hendricks | 13 | 18 | 6 | .333 | 1 | 1 |
| Mike Dimmel | 8 | 0 | 0 | ---- | 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 |
| Jim Palmer | 38 | 296.0 | 21 | 12 | 2.46 | 138 |
| Mike Flanagan | 40 | 281.1 | 19 | 15 | 4.03 | 167 |
| Dennis Martínez | 40 | 276.1 | 16 | 11 | 3.52 | 142 |
| Scott McGregor | 35 | 233.0 | 15 | 13 | 3.32 | 94 |
| Sammy Stewart | 2 | 11.1 | 1 | 1 | 3.18 | 11 |

#### 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 |
| Nelson Briles | 16 | 54.1 | 4 | 4 | 4.64 | 30 |
| Dave Ford | 2 | 15.0 | 1 | 0 | 0.00 | 5 |

#### 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 |
| Don Stanhouse | 56 | 6 | 9 | 24 | 2.89 | 42 |
| Tippy Martinez | 42 | 3 | 3 | 5 | 4.83 | 57 |
| Joe Kerrigan | 26 | 3 | 1 | 3 | 4.77 | 41 |
| John Flinn | 13 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 8.04 | 8 |
| Tim Stoddard | 8 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 6.00 | 14 |
| Earl Stephenson | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2.79 | 4 |
| Larry Harlow | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 67.50 | 1 |
| Elrod Hendricks | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.00 | 0 |

## Farm system

| Level | Team | League | Manager |
| AAA | Rochester Red Wings | International League | Ken Boyer, Al Widmar and Frank Robinson |
| AA | Charlotte O's | Southern League | Lance Nichols |
| A | Miami Orioles | Florida State League | Jimmy Williams |
| Rookie | Bluefield Orioles | Appalachian League | J. R. Miner |
LEAGUE CHAMPIONS: Miami