1978 Minnesota Twins

73-89 • .451 Win% • 4th in AL W

The 1978 Minnesota Twins went 73-89 (.451) finishing 4th in the AL W division. The club scored 666 runs, allowed 678, and played home games at Metropolitan Stadium. Team leaders included Roy Smalley (19 HR, 77 RBI) and Dave Goltz (15-10, 2.49 ERA).

W (Wins):
Games credited to a pitcher whose team took a lead it never surrendered while he was the pitcher of record.
L (Losses):
Games charged to the pitcher of record when the opposing team took a lead it never surrendered.
RS (Runs Scored (team)):
Total runs a team scored across the season.
RA (Runs Allowed):
Total runs a team allowed across the season.

Data updated

📊 Season Record

73 Wins
89 Losses
.451 Win %
4th Rank
666 R 678 RA
Diff -12

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⚡ Quick Stats

666 Runs Scored
678 Runs Allowed
-12 Run Diff
787K Attendance

📈 vs. 1978 AL Average

Batting Avg .266 2% above the 1978 league average (.261)
OBP .339 4% above the 1978 league average (.326)
SLG .375 3% below the 1978 league average (.384)
Team ERA 3.69 2% better than the 1978 league average (3.76)
Runs Scored 666 2% below the 1978 league average (679 R)

🏟️ Home Ballpark

🏟️
StadiumMetropolitan Stadium
📅
Home Games 81
👥
Total Attendance 787,880
📊
Avg per Game 9,726

⚾ Batting Leaders

Team HR Leaders — 1978

Batting Avg

1 Rod Carew 0.333 2 Jose Morales 0.314 3 Mike Cubbage 0.282 4 Dan Ford 0.274 5 Roy Smalley 0.273

Home Runs

1 Roy Smalley 19 2 Dan Ford 11 3 Willie Norwood 8 4 Glenn Adams 7 5 Mike Cubbage 7

RBI

1 Dan Ford 82 2 Roy Smalley 77 3 Rod Carew 70 4 Mike Cubbage 57 5 Willie Norwood 46
1978 Minnesota Twins — RBI
Player G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO SB AVG
Dan Ford 151 592 78 162 36 10 11 82 48 88 7 0.274
Roy Smalley 158 586 80 160 31 3 19 77 85 70 2 0.273
Rod Carew 152 564 85 188 26 10 5 70 78 62 27 0.333
Butch Wynegar 135 454 36 104 22 1 4 45 47 42 1 0.229
Willie Norwood 125 428 56 109 22 3 8 46 28 64 25 0.255
Mike Cubbage 125 394 40 111 12 7 7 57 40 44 3 0.282
Hosken Powell 121 381 55 94 20 2 3 31 45 31 11 0.247
Bob Randall 119 330 36 89 11 3 0 21 24 22 5 0.270
Glenn Adams 116 310 27 80 18 1 7 35 17 32 0 0.258
Bombo Rivera 101 251 35 68 8 2 3 23 35 47 5 0.271
Jose Morales 101 242 22 76 13 1 2 38 20 35 0 0.314
Larry Wolfe 88 235 25 55 10 1 3 25 36 27 0 0.234
Rob Wilfong 92 199 23 53 8 0 1 11 19 27 8 0.266
Rich Chiles 87 198 22 53 12 0 1 22 20 25 1 0.268
Craig Kusick 77 191 23 33 3 2 4 20 37 38 3 0.173
Glenn Borgmann 49 123 16 26 4 1 3 15 18 17 0 0.211
Dave Edwards 15 44 7 11 3 0 1 3 7 13 1 0.250
Roger Erickson 37 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0.000
Dave Goltz 29 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0.000
Roric Harrison 9 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0.000
Jeff Holly 15 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0.000
Darrell Jackson 19 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0.000
Dave Johnson 6 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0.000
Tom Johnson 18 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0.000
Mike Marshall 54 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0.000
Stan Perzanowski 13 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0.000
Pete Redfern 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0.000
Mac Scarce 17 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0.000
Gary Serum 34 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0.000
John Sutton 17 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0.000
Greg Thayer 20 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0.000
Paul Thormodsgard 12 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0.000
Geoff Zahn 35 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0.000

🎯 Pitching Leaders

Team K Leaders — 1978

ERA

1 Mike Marshall 2.45 2 Dave Goltz 2.49 3 Geoff Zahn 3.03 4 John Sutton 3.45 5 Jeff Holly 3.57

Wins

1 Dave Goltz 15 2 Roger Erickson 14 3 Geoff Zahn 14 4 Mike Marshall 10 5 Gary Serum 9

Strikeouts

1 Roger Erickson 121 2 Dave Goltz 116 3 Geoff Zahn 106 4 Gary Serum 80 5 Mike Marshall 56
1978 Minnesota Twins — Strikeouts
Player W L ERA G GS SV IP H ER BB SO
Roger Erickson 14 13 3.96 37 37 0 265.2 268 117 79 121
Geoff Zahn 14 14 3.03 35 35 0 252.1 260 85 81 106
Dave Goltz 15 10 2.49 29 29 0 220.1 209 61 67 116
Gary Serum 9 9 4.10 34 23 1 184.1 188 84 44 80
Mike Marshall 10 12 2.45 54 0 21 99.0 80 27 37 56
Darrell Jackson 4 6 4.48 19 15 0 92.1 89 46 48 54
Paul Thormodsgard 1 6 5.05 12 12 0 66.0 81 37 17 23
Stan Perzanowski 2 7 5.24 13 7 1 56.2 59 33 26 31
Greg Thayer 1 1 3.80 20 0 0 45.0 40 19 30 30
John Sutton 0 0 3.45 17 0 0 44.1 46 17 15 18
Jeff Holly 1 1 3.57 15 1 0 35.1 28 14 18 12
Tom Johnson 1 4 5.51 18 0 3 32.2 42 20 17 21
Mac Scarce 1 1 3.94 17 0 0 32.0 35 14 15 17
Roric Harrison 0 1 7.50 9 0 0 12.0 18 10 11 7
Dave Johnson 0 2 7.50 6 1 0 12.0 15 10 9 7
Pete Redfern 0 2 6.52 3 2 0 9.2 10 7 6 4

👥 Roster (33)

Glenn Adams Glenn Borgmann Rod Carew Rich Chiles Mike Cubbage Dave Edwards Roger Erickson Dan Ford Dave Goltz Roric Harrison Jeff Holly Darrell Jackson +21 more

33 players

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The 1978 Minnesota Twins in brief

The record for the 1978 Minnesota Twins reads 73 wins and 89 losses, good for 4th in the AL West. Runs came in at 666 scored against 678 allowed (-12). The team batting average of .266 was 2% above the 1978 league mark of .261. The Minnesota Twins staff finished with a 3.69 ERA; the league as a whole was at 3.76. League clubs averaged 679 runs that year, so the Minnesota Twins scored 2% fewer.

Attendance at Metropolitan Stadium totaled 787,880 for the year. Roy Smalley led the club in home runs with 19. Dan Ford drove in a team-high 82 runs. Dave Goltz was the top winner, with 15 victories. Roger Erickson struck out 121, the most on the club. Mike Marshall closed out 21 saves.

Frequently Asked Questions about the 1978 Minnesota Twins

What was the 1978 Minnesota Twins record?
The 1978 Minnesota Twins finished 73-89 (.451 win pct).
Who led the 1978 Minnesota Twins in home runs?
Roy Smalley led the 1978 Minnesota Twins with 19 home runs.
What was the 1978 Minnesota Twins team ERA?
The 1978 Minnesota Twins posted a team ERA of 3.69.
Did the 1978 Minnesota Twins win the World Series?
No. The 1978 Minnesota Twins did not win the World Series.
Where did the 1978 Minnesota Twins play?
The 1978 Minnesota Twins played home games at Metropolitan Stadium.
Who led the 1978 Minnesota Twins in hitting and pitching?
Team leaders were Roy Smalley (19 HR, 77 RBI) and Dave Goltz (15-10, 2.49 ERA).
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