Offseason

* December 5, 1977: Bruce Compton (minors) and Norm Churchill (minors) were traded by the Indians to the Chicago Cubs for Dave Rosello. * February 28, 1978:

Tom Buskey Thomas William Buskey (February 20, 1947 – June 7, 1998) was an American Major League Baseball middle relief pitcher. Listed at 6' 3", 200 lb., he batted and threw right handed. Career Born in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, Buskey attended Harris ...

and

John Lowenstein John Lee Lowenstein (born January 27, 1947) is an American former professional baseball outfielder and designated hitter, who played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Cleveland Indians, Texas Rangers, and Baltimore Orioles. Playing caree ...

were traded by the Indians to the Texas Rangers for

Willie Horton William R. Horton (born August 12, 1951), commonly referred to as "Willie Horton", is an American convicted felon who became notorious for committing violent crimes while on furlough from prison, where he was serving a life sentence without the ...

and

David Clyde David Eugene Clyde (born April 22, 1955) is a former left-handed Major League Baseball pitcher who played for five seasons with the Texas Rangers (1973–1975) and Cleveland Indians (1978–1979). He is noted for his once promising baseball ca ...

. * March 15, 1978:

Rico Carty Ricardo Adolfo Jacobo Carty (born September 1, 1939), nicknamed "Beeg Boy", is a Dominican former professional baseball player. He played in Major League Baseball as an outfielder from 1963 to 1979, most prominently as a member of the Atlanta Br ...

was traded by the Indians to the

Toronto Blue Jays The Toronto Blue Jays are a Canadian professional baseball team based in Toronto. The Blue Jays compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East division. Since 1989, the team has played its home games ...

for Dennis DeBarr. * March 30, 1978:

Dennis Eckersley Dennis Lee Eckersley (born October 3, 1954), nicknamed "Eck", is an American professional baseball pitcher and former color commentator. Between 1975 and 1998, he pitched in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Cleveland Indians, Boston Red Sox, ...

and

Fred Kendall Fred Lyn Kendall (born January 31, 1949) is an American former professional baseball player and coach who appeared in 877 games, primarily as a catcher, in Major League Baseball from to for the San Diego Padres, Cleveland Indians and Boston Red ...

were traded by the Indians to the

Boston Red Sox The Boston Red Sox are an American professional baseball team based in Boston. The Red Sox compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East division. Founded in as one of the American League's eigh ...

for

Rick Wise Richard Charles Wise (born September 13, 1945) is an American former professional baseball player and coach. He played in Major League Baseball as a right-handed pitcher between and for the Philadelphia Phillies, St. Louis Cardinals, Boston Re ...

, Mike Paxton, Ted Cox, and

Bo Díaz Baudilio José Díaz Seijas (March 23, 1953 – November 23, 1990) was a Venezuelan professional baseball player. He played in Major League Baseball as a catcher from to , most prominently with the Cleveland Indians where he rose to prominence ...

Regular season

On May 12,

pitcher In baseball, the pitcher is the player who throws ("pitches") the baseball from the pitcher's mound toward the catcher to begin each play, with the goal of retiring a batter, who attempts to either make contact with the pitched ball or draw ...

Nolan Ryan Lynn Nolan Ryan Jr. (born January 31, 1947), nicknamed "the Ryan Express", is an American former professional baseball pitcher and sports executive. Over a record 27-year playing career in Major League Baseball (MLB) spanning four decades, Ryan ...

of the California Angels struck out

Buddy Bell David Gus "Buddy" Bell (born August 27, 1951) is an American former third baseman and manager in Major League Baseball (MLB) currently serving as vice president and senior advisor to the general manager for the Cincinnati Reds. After an 18-year ...

for the 2500th strikeout of his career.

Season standings

Record vs. opponents

Notable transactions

* June 14, 1978:

Dennis Kinney Dennis Paul Kinney (born February 26, 1952) is a former Major League Baseball pitcher. He played all or parts of five seasons in the majors, from until . Kinney was selected by the Cleveland Indians in the 10th round of the 1970 Major League Ba ...

was traded by the Indians to the

San Diego Padres The San Diego Padres are an American professional baseball team based in San Diego. The Padres compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) West division. Founded in 1969, the club has won two NL penn ...

for

Dan Spillner Daniel Ray Spillner (born November 27, 1951) is an American former professional baseball player. He was a pitcher in Major League Baseball from 1974 to 1985. He played for the San Diego Padres, Cleveland Indians and Chicago White Sox. He led the P ...

. * June 15, 1978:

Mike Vail Michael Lewis Vail (born November 10, 1951) is a former Major League Baseball outfielder. St. Louis Cardinals farm system Vail was original drafted by the Los Angeles Dodgers in the seventeenth round of the 1970 Major League Baseball draft as a ...

was traded by the Indians to the Chicago Cubs for Joe Wallis.Joe Wallis page at Baseball Reference
/ref> * June 15, 1978: Joe Wallis was traded by the Indians to the Oakland Athletics for Gary Alexander. * June 22, 1978:

Bill Laxton William Harry Laxton (born January 5, 1948) is a former Major League Baseball pitcher. Laxton pitched in all or part of five seasons in the majors between 1970 and 1977. Early career Laxton grew up in Audubon, New Jersey and attended Audubon H ...

was traded by the Indians to the San Diego Padres for Dave Freisleben. * June 26, 1978: Dennis DeBarr was traded by the Indians to the Chicago Cubs for

Paul Reuschel Paul Richard Reuschel (born January 12, 1947) is a former professional baseball pitcher. He played all or part of five seasons in Major League Baseball from 1975 to 1979. Reuschel began his professional career when he was drafted by the Chicago C ...

. * July 3, 1978: Willie Horton was released by the Indians.

Opening Day Lineup

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; AVG = Batting average; SB = Stolen bases''

Pitching

''Note: W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; G = Games pitched; GS = Games started; SV = Saves; IP = Innings pitched; R = Runs allowed; ER = Earned runs allowed; BB = Walks allowed; K = Strikeouts''

Awards and honors

All-Star Game An all-star game is an exhibition game that purports to showcase the best players (the "stars") of a sports league. The exhibition is between two teams organized solely for the event, usually representing the league's teams based on region or d ...

Farm system

Johnson, Lloyd, and Wolff, Miles, ed., ''The Encyclopedia of Minor League Baseball, 3rd edition''. Durham, North Carolina: Baseball America, 2007

Notes

References

1978 Cleveland Indians team page at Baseball Reference1978 Cleveland Indians team page at www.baseball-almanac.com
{{Cleveland Guardians Cleveland Guardians seasons Cleveland Indians season Cincinnati Indians