The Cubs responded to the disappointment of 1977 by
re-tooling their outfield. Opening-day outfielders Jose Cardenal and Jerry
Morales were traded away and the Cubs signed free-agent outfielder Dave
Kingman. Once a promising all-around prospect for the Giants, Kingman had
became the epitome of the low-average power-hitter. After being sold to the
Mets before the 1975 season Kingman connected for consecutive 36 and 37-homer
seasons, with batting averages of .231 and .238 and on-base percentages in the
.280s. He started the 1976 All-Star Game, but was traded to the San Diego
Padres in June 1977, beginning an odyssey that took him to the Angels and
Yankees before the season was over, making him the first player to play in all
four MLB divisions during a single season. The Cubs signed him on November 30,
1977, their first significant free-agent acquisition.
Opening Day Lineup
– 1978
De Jesus, ss
Clines, cf
Buckner, 1b
Murcer, rf
Kingman, lf
Ontiveros, 3b
Trillo, 2b
Rader, c
R. Reuschel, p
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It was their high-water mark. As late as June 21, they were still alone in
first place, but a double-header loss to the Phillies two days later dropped
them into a tie. The Phillies won the next two games to complete the series
sweep and the Cubs never led again. After reaching 24-17 on May 28, their
record for the rest of the season was 55-66.
Sutter was overworked. By August 7, he had 22 saves in 71
innings with a 1.77 ERA. However, after that point, his ERA was 6.83 to finish
at 3.19 with 27 saves. Reuschel pitched well again, though his 3.41 ERA yielded
only a 14-15 win-loss record. Another Cubs starter, Dennis Lamp, had even worse
luck, with a 7-15 record on a fine 3.30 ERA. Murcer never regained his power
stroke from the first five months of 1977; he hit only 9 home runs all year.
Buckner hit .323, but continued to be dogged by injuries. His batting average
would have been second in the NL if he had had enough at bats to qualify for
the batting title. He played only 117 games. De Jesus played well, hitting .278
with 41 steals. Even more impressively, he scored 104 runs, which led the NL,
despite the fact that De Jesus had only 34 extra-base hits and a
good-but-not-great .356 on-base percentage.
Kingman was everything the Cubs could have expected except
durable. He hit 28 home runs, which was over three times as many as anyone else on the team (Murcer’s 9 was the
second-highest total). Over one-third of the 72 home runs hit by the Cubs in
1978 belonged to Kingman. On May 14, he smacked three home runs at Los Angeles,
including the game-winner in the 15th, causing Dodger manager Tommy
Lasorda to launch into a profanity-laced tirade when a reporter at the postgame
press conference asked him his opinion of Kingman’s performance. Kingman even
hit .266, which was 39 points higher than his lifetime average coming into the
season. A .337 average after September 1 raised his batting mark from .245 to
its final figure. However, injuries caused “Kong” to miss the first three weeks
of July and he played only 119 games.
The Cubs’ 1978 was a less extreme copy of their 1977
disappointment. One again, the club had played well in the early going (though
not as well as in 1977) and held a division lead (though not as large nor as
late as in 1977), before collapsing. The ’78 Cubs finished at 79-83, two games
worse than the previous year.
1978 Cubs Batting
Leaders: R – Ivan De Jesus, 104; H – De Jesus, 172; HR –
Dave Kingman 28; RBI – Kingman, 79; BA –Bobby Murcer, .281; OBP – Ontiveros, .376; SP – Kingman, .542
1978 Cubs Pitching
Leaders: G – Donnie Moore, 71; IP
– Rick Reuschel, 242.2; W –
Reuschel, 14; SO – Reuschel, 115; ERA – Dennis Lamp, 3.30; SV – Bruce Sutter, 27
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