The 1978 Detroit Tigers were in need of some rejuvenation. The six years since the franchise won the AL East in 1972 seemed like a lifetime ago. The Tigers were on four straight losing seasons. The organization called up four players who not only laid the groundwork for winning, but ultimately transformed the entire baseball […]
The Big Red Machine was the National League’s pre-eminent team in the 1970s, including World Series titles in 1975 and 1976. In ’77, they took a step back and came up short of the postseason. The 1978 Cincinnati Reds were another good team, but when they too came up short, the organization changed course and […]
The city of Pittsburgh owned the National League East in the early 1970s. They won five division titles between 1970-75, including a 1971 World Series title. But in the latter part of the decade, things changed. The Pirates continued to play good baseball, winning 90-plus games, even as they changed managers from Danny Murtaugh to […]
The city of Milwaukee got major league baseball back in 1970, after losing the Braves to Atlanta following the 1965 season. The first eight years with the Brewers were rough—no winning seasons, and seemingly little hope for the future, after losing 95 games in 1977. No one expected what was coming. The 1978 Milwaukee Brewers […]
The Boston Red Sox and New York Yankees are in the midst of another epic battle with each other and right on the 40th anniversary of their historic 1978 AL East title race, whose ending is defined by Yankee shortstop Bucky Dent getting a three-run homer over the Green Monster in a 5-4 win. New York […]
The 1978 World Series was a rerun, and one the networks were happy to carry, as the two biggest markets were again on center stage. The New York Yankees and Los Angeles Dodgers met in a rematch of the 1977 Fall Classic, and once again the Yankees brought home the title in six games, making a little history in the process.
The 1978 baseball season can be boiled down to a Monday afternoon in Fenway Park. The New York Yankees and the Boston Red Sox were the best two teams in baseball and their race for the AL East title would be settled with a one-game playoff.
The New York Yankees were coming off two straight pennants—they returned to the World Series in 1976 for the first time in thirteen years, and then won it in 1977. They made it three straight pennants and two straight championships, but it was anything but easy. The 1978 New York Yankees went through a tale of two seasons, a managerial change and finally won one of the most dramatic baseball games ever played
The 1978 Kansas City Royals are part of a franchise run that saw the team win four AL West titles in five seasons. The ’78 Royals are the last in the line of three straight KC teams that lost heartbreaking ALCS battles to the New York Yankees. But the 1978 edition was the weakest of those teams, as it took then a long time to close out what was a weak division.
The 1978 Philadelphia Phillies won the franchise’s third straight NL East title, but it didn’t come easy, as they held off a final push by the Pittsburgh Pirates before clinching and moving on to the National League Championship Series.
The 1978 NLCS was a rematch between the Los Angeles Dodgers and Philadelphia Phillies. Just as they had the year before, the Dodgers won the pennant in four games (of what was then a best-of-five round), jumping on Philadelphia quickly and then winning good Game 4 to clinch.
The New York Yankees and Kansas City Royals had waged epic battles in the American League Championship Series of 1976 and 1977, with the Yankees winning each in the ninth inning of the deciding fifth game (this round was best-of-five from 1969-84). The Yankees and Royals met for a third straight year in the 1978 ALCS. This one didn’t go down to the final inning—or even the final game. But it still had memorable games and a familiar result as the Yankees again advanced to the World Series.