1978 Philadelphia Phillies season

The 1978 Philadelphia Phillies season was the 96th season in the history of the franchise. The Phillies won their third straight National League East title with a record of 90-72, a game and a half over the Pittsburgh Pirates, as the Phillies defeated the Pirates in Pittsburgh on the next to last day of the season.^[1][2] For the third consecutive season, the Phillies came up short in the NLCS, as the Los Angeles Dodgers defeated them, three games to one, like they did the previous season. The Phils were managed by Danny Ozark, as they played their home games at Veterans Stadium.

Offseason

• March 7, 1978: George Bell was signed as an amateur free agent by the Phillies.^[3]
• March 24, 1978: Fred Andrews was traded by the Phillies to the New York Mets for Bud Harrelson.^[4]

Regular season

Season standings

Notable transactions

• April 23, 1978: Julio Franco was signed by the Phillies as an amateur free agent.^[5]
• June 14, 1978: Bobby Brown and Jay Johnstone were traded by the Phillies to the New York Yankees for Rawly Eastwick.^[6]
• June 30, 1978: Carmen Castillo was signed by the Phillies as an amateur free agent.^[7]
• September 2, 1978: Dan Warthen was traded by the Phillies to the Houston Astros for Dan Larson.^[8]
• September 14, 1978: Horacio Piña was purchased by the Phillies from the Rieleros de Aguascalientes.^[9]

Draft picks

• June 6, 1978: 1978 Major League Baseball Draft
  • Ed Hearn was drafted by the Phillies in the 4th round.^[10]
  • Ryne Sandberg was drafted by the Phillies in the 20th round. Player signed June 15, 1978.^[11]
  • Rick Leach was drafted by the Phillies in the 24th round, but did not sign.^[12]

Phillie Phanatic

The Phillie Phanatic debuted on April 25, 1978 at The Vet when the Phils played the Chicago Cubs. Since then, he was given the title "baseball's best mascot" by sports analyst Tim McCarver, who was the person who formally introduced the Phanatic on the "Captain Noah and His Magical Ark" show on WPVI-TV as he did promotional work for the team as a side from being the "designated catcher" for Steve Carlton, as well as ESPN's Chris Berman. The Phanatic was originally portrayed by Dave Raymond, who was working originally as an intern in the team's front office, for fifteen years, from 1978 to 1993. Raymond's father is retired college football hall of fame coach Harold "Tubby" Raymond at the University of Delaware. The elder Raymond was once quoted "I used to be known as the head football coach of the Fighting Blue Hens but now I will forever be known as the father of a green transvestite!" Also, the Phanatic was voted 'best mascot ever' by Sports Illustrated for Kids and Sports Illustrated.

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

Other batters

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

Pitching

Starting 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

1978 National League Championship Series

The Los Angeles Dodgers win the Series, 3 games to 1, over the Phillies.

Awards and honors

• Greg Luzinski, Roberto Clemente Award

Farm system

^[13]

Notes

References

• Baseball Reference: 1978 Philadelphia Phillies season

External links

• Fraley, Gerry (2009-04-01). "Bowa: '78 club 'best team we had'". Philadelphia Inquirer. http://www.philly.com/philly/sports/phillies/20090401_Bowa___78_club__best_team_we_had_.html. Retrieved 2009-04-01.