The following are the baseball events of the year 1978 throughout the world.  

Michael Richard Waits (born May 15, 1952 in Atlanta, Georgia) is a former professional baseball pitcher. Waits, who threw left-handed, played all or part of twelve seasons in Major League Baseball for the Texas Rangers (1973), Cleveland Indians (1975–83), and Milwaukee Brewers (1983–85). Waits currently serves as minor league pitching coordinator for the Seattle Mariners organization.

Waits, a starter in his prime, beat the New York Yankees in the final regular season game of 1978, forcing a one-game playoff between the Yankees and Boston Red Sox for the American League East division title. After the Indians-Yankees game ended, news of the Indians' victory was announced on Fenway Park's video screen (there, the Red Sox had defeated the Toronto Blue Jays 5–0 only moments earlier) with the words “THANK YOU, RICK WAITS – GAME TOMORROW.”

In 1987, Rick Waits joined the Rimini Pirates of the Italian Baseball League, leading them to two championships (1987 and 1988) and a European Cup Championship (1989). He led the league in ERA, serving the last two seasons (1988 and 1989) as a player-manager. He also managed the IBL's Parma Angels.

Giuseppe Paulo "Joe" DiMaggio (/dɨˈmɑːʒioʊ/ or /dɨˈmædʒioʊ/; November 25, 1914 – March 8, 1999), nicknamed "Joltin' Joe" and "The Yankee Clipper", was an American Major League Baseball center fielder who played his entire 13-year career for the New York Yankees. He is perhaps best known for his 56-game hitting streak (May 15 – July 16, 1941), a record that still stands. DiMaggio was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1955.

A three-time MVP winner and 13-time All-Star, DiMaggio is the only player to be selected for the All-Star Game in every season he played. During his thirteen years with the Yankees, the club won ten American League pennants and nine World Series championships.

At the time of his retirement, he ranked fifth in career home runs (361) and sixth in career slugging percentage (.579). He was voted the sport's greatest living player in a poll taken in the baseball centennial year of 1969.

His brothers Vince and Dom also became major league center fielders.

DiMaggio was born in Martinez, California, the eighth of nine children born to immigrants from Italy, Giuseppe (1872–1949) and Rosalia (Mercurio) DiMaggio (1878–1951). He was delivered by a midwife identified on his birth certificate as Mrs. J. Pico. He was named after his father; "Paolo" was in honor of Giuseppe's favorite saint, Saint Paul. The family moved to San Francisco, California, when Joe was a year old.