Season summary

A week after the All-Star Game in July, the team was fourteen games behind Boston, but rallied to tie for first place. With a week to go, New York led by one game and won six straight,^[12] but lost the finale at home to struggling Cleveland on Sunday, October 1, while Boston won their final eight games.^[13][14][15] The Yankees traveled to Fenway Park and defeated the Red Sox 5–4 in the one-game playoff for the AL East title; the Monday afternoon game featured light-hitting shortstop Bucky Dent's famous three-run go-ahead home run in the seventh inning. Jackson's solo home run in the eighth was the winning margin.^[1][2][3]

For decades, some have mistakenly thought the Yankees trailed by 14½ games, but the maximum deficit was fourteen games, after the July 17 loss and until the July 20 win.^[16][17] New York's biggest lead was 3½ games, after another victory over Boston on Saturday, September 16.^[18][19] The previous weekend, the Yankees swept a four-game series at Fenway, dubbed "The Boston Massacre" by the sports press;^[20] it left the teams tied at 86–56 (.606) with three weeks remaining.^[21][22][23]

Game log

Season standings

Record vs. opponents

Notable transactions

• June 10: Ken Holtzman was traded by the Yankees to the Chicago Cubs for a player to be named later. Ron Davis was sent to the Yankees on June 12.^[24]
• June 14: Rawly Eastwick was traded by the Yankees to the Philadelphia Phillies for Bobby Brown and Jay Johnstone.^[25]
• June 15: Mickey Klutts, Dell Alston and $50,000 were traded by the Yankees to the Oakland Athletics for Gary Thomasson.^[26]

Roster

Notable events

The defending World Series champions got off to a slow start in 1978, prompting owner George Steinbrenner to put pressure on manager Billy Martin. Compounding the issue was the already-tumultuous relationship between Martin and Reggie Jackson, and Steinbrenner was pressuring him as well. On July 17, with the team at 47–42 (.528) and in fourth place in the American League East, it came to a head during a home contest with the Kansas City Royals on Monday, July 17. With the score tied in the bottom of the tenth inning and Thurman Munson on first, Martin sent Jackson to the plate with orders to lay down a sacrifice bunt. Jackson tried to bunt the first pitch, but failed. Martin then relayed to third-base coach Dick Howser for Jackson to swing and Howser passed it on, but Jackson ignored Howser and attempted another bunt. Howser called time and talked with Jackson, but to no avail. On his final bunt attempt, Jackson fouled out to the catcher. Martin then removed Jackson from the game and suspended him (owner Steinbrenner limited it to five days, Tuesday through Saturday), but Kansas City won in eleven innings and swept the three-game series. Tuesday was an open date; the Yankees traveled to Minnesota and Jackson went to California.^[29][30]

Jackson returned to the team in Chicago on Sunday, July 23; he did not take batting practice and remained on the bench as the Yankees swept the White Sox for their fifth consecutive win.^[31] Martin commented in a post-game interview at the Chicago airport that (referring to Jackson and Steinbrenner, respectively) 'one's a born liar, and the other's convicted.' The Steinbrenner reference was alluding to a past incident where the Yankee owner made illegal U.S. presidential campaign contributions. The next day in Kansas City, Martin appeared on live television and tearfully announced his resignation as Yankees manager,^{[32][33][34][35][36]} but most sources believed he was actually fired by Steinbrenner for the "convicted" comment.^[36][37] Howser was acting manager for one game on July 24, a 5–2 loss at Kansas City on ABC's Monday Night Baseball, then Bob Lemon arrived as manager for the rest of the season.

In his first appearance since the bunting incident ten days earlier, Jackson started in right field on Thursday, July 27, and went three-for-three, with a home run, a walk, and three RBI. In the nightcap of the doubleheader, he had two hits.^[38]

During the Old-Timer's Day ceremony at Yankee Stadium on Saturday, July 29, Yankee public address announcer Bob Sheppard introduced Martin to the crowd and announced that Martin would return as manager for the 1980 season.^[39][40] Martin returned ahead of schedule, in June 1979,^[41] and was fired again four months later, after a fight in a Minnesota hotel.^[42][43] He went west to Oakland in 1980, then owned by Charlie O. Finley.^[44][45][46] Martin returned to the Yankees and managed the team in 1983, 1985, and 1988.

Under Lemon in 1978, the Yankees were 47–20 (.701) for the rest of the 162-game season to tie for the division title, after having been fourteen games back on July 19. They won the division in a one-game playoff on the road,^[1][2][3] and went on to repeat as World Series champions.

On September 30, Ed Figueroa won his twentieth game of the season, which clinched a tie for the AL East title.^[47][48] As of 2018, Figueroa is the only native of Puerto Rico to win twenty games in a major league season.^[49]

Batting

Pitching

Postseason game log

ALCS

World Series

Franchise records

• Ron Guidry, Yankees single season record, most strikeouts in a season (248)

All-Stars

All-Star Game

• Guidry, Gossage, Reggie Jackson, Thurman Munson, and Graig Nettles represented the Yankees.

Other team leaders

• Stolen Bases – Willie Randolph, 36
• Walks – Willie Randolph, 82