Puneet Varma (Editor)

1978 San Diego Padres season

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Owner(s)
  
Ray Kroc

Manager(s)
  
Roger Craig

General manager(s)
  
Bob Fontaine

Local television
  
XETV (Jerry Gross, Al Schuff)

Local radio
  
KOGO (Jerry Coleman, Bob Chandler)

The 1978 San Diego Padres season was the tenth in franchise history. The team finished in fourth place in the National League West with a record of 84-78, 11 games behind the first-place Los Angeles Dodgers. This was the Padres' first winning season in franchise history.

Contents

Offseason

  • November 29, 1977: Oscar Gamble was signed as a free agent by the Padres.
  • January 10, 1978: Mike Martin was drafted by the Padres in the 1st round (6th pick) of the 1978 Major League Baseball Draft secondary phase.
  • January 25, 1978: Dave Tomlin was traded along with $125,000 by the Padres to the Texas Rangers for Gaylord Perry.
  • February 2, 1978: Mickey Lolich was signed as a free agent by the Padres.

    • Regular season

    In 1978, the Padres achieved their first winning season in team history, finishing 84-78 (.519), 6 games over .500. On June 9, the one-third point of the season, the team stood at 23-31 (.426). The last two-thirds of the season, they went 61-47 (.565), which included a 10-game winning streak from July 25 to August 4. The Padres were also extremely impressive at home that season, going 51-30 (.617).

    Notable contributing players:

    Gaylord Perry became the 2nd Padre in 3 seasons to win the National League Cy Young Award, leading the league in wins (21) and Winning Pct (.778). Rollie Fingers won the leagues Rolaids Relief Award, leading the league in saves (37). As for position players, OF Dave Winfield lead the team with his best offensive season to date (.308, 24 HR, 97 RBI, 21 SB, 151 OPS+). SS Ozzie Smith finished 2nd in the National League Rookie of the Year voting (40 SB). Along with their notable contributions, all 4 players have been inducted into the baseball Hall of Fame. Along with the 1979 season, this is the only time in franchise history that the Padres had 4 future Hall-of-Famers on their roster.

    Notable transactions

  • May 26, 1978: George Hendrick was traded by the Padres to the St. Louis Cardinals for Eric Rasmussen.
  • June 5, 1978: Steve Hamrick (minors) was traded by the Padres to the Kansas City Royals for a player to be named later. The Royals completed the deal by sending Gary Lance to the Padres on September 29.
  • June 6, 1978: 1978 Major League Baseball Draft
  • Andy Hawkins was drafted by the Padres in the 1st round (5th pick).
  • Doug Gwosdz was drafted by the Padres in the 2nd round.
  • Steve Fireovid was drafted by the Padres in the 7th round.
  • June 14, 1978: Dan Spillner was traded by the Padres to the Cleveland Indians for Dennis Kinney.

    • Starters by position

    Note: Pos = Position; G = Games played; AB = At bats; H = Hits; Avg. = Batting average; HR = Home runs; RBI = Runs batted in

    Other batters

    Note: G = Games played; AB = At bats; H = Hits; Avg. = Batting average; HR = Home runs; RBI = Runs batted in

    Starting pitchers

    Note: G = Games pitched; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts

    Other pitchers

    Note: G = Games pitched; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts

    Relief pitchers

    Note: G = Games pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; SV = Saves; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts

    Awards and honors

  • Gaylord Perry, Cy Young Award Winner

    • All-Stars

    1978 Major League Baseball All-Star Game

  • Rollie Fingers
  • Dave Winfield

    • References

    1978 San Diego Padres season Wikipedia
    (Text) CC BY-SA