| 1974 Cincinnati Reds | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| League | National League | |||
| Division | West | |||
| Ballpark | Riverfront Stadium | |||
| City | Cincinnati | |||
| Record | 98–64 (.605) | |||
| Divisional place | 2nd | |||
| Owners | Louis Nippert | |||
| General managers | Bob Howsam | |||
| Managers | Sparky Anderson | |||
| Television | WLWT (Charlie Jones,Woody Woodward) | |||
| Radio | WLW (Marty Brennaman,Joe Nuxhall) | |||
| ||||
The1974Cincinnati Reds season was the 105th season for the franchise inMajor League Baseball, and their 5th and 4th full season atRiverfront Stadium. The Reds finished in second place in theNational League West with a record of 98–64, four games behind the NL West andpennant-winningLos Angeles Dodgers. The Reds were managed bySparky Anderson and played their home games atRiverfront Stadium.
The Reds' 98 victories were second-best in all of Major League baseball to the Dodgers' 102 victories. The Dodgers had finished in second place from 1970 to 1973: in three of those years the Reds won the NL West, (except for 1971, when theSan Francisco Giants won). In the 1973-74 offseason, the Dodgers added center fielderJimmy Wynn in a trade from Houston and acquired futureCy Young Award winning relieverMike Marshall from Montreal. The Reds added a solid starter in 12-game winnerClay Kirby in the offseason.
Just as they had done the previous season, the Dodgers started hot and built a large lead on the Reds in the division, due largely to their head-to-head success against the Reds, winning nine of their first ten games against Cincinnati. After losing 6–3 to the Dodgers on August 5, the Reds trailed the Dodgers by7+1⁄2 games despite a solid 66–45 record. By August 15, the Reds had cut the lead to1+1⁄2 games after winning the first two of a three-game set at Dodger Stadium marking 9 losses in 11 games for Los Angeles. In the third game, Wynn hit a seventh-inning grand slam to break open a tight game as the Dodgers rallied to a 7–1 victory, which helped keep the Dodgers ahead in the NL West. The Reds would get no closer than two games the rest of the season.
Johnny Bench put up one of his best seasons (career-highs in 108 runs scored and 160 games played, 33 home runs, 129 RBI and 315 total bases) to finish fourth in the NL MVP voting to winnerSteve Garvey, runner-upLou Brock, and Marshall. Wynn was fifth.
The 1974 season also marked the first with future Hall of Fame broadcasterMarty Brennaman. Brennaman replaced another nationally known broadcaster,Al Michaels, who moved to San Francisco to take the same position with the Giants.
| Team | W | L | Pct. | GB | Home | Road |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Los Angeles Dodgers | 102 | 60 | .630 | — | 52–29 | 50–31 |
| Cincinnati Reds | 98 | 64 | .605 | 4 | 50–31 | 48–33 |
| Atlanta Braves | 88 | 74 | .543 | 14 | 46–35 | 42–39 |
| Houston Astros | 81 | 81 | .500 | 21 | 46–35 | 35–46 |
| San Francisco Giants | 72 | 90 | .444 | 30 | 37–44 | 35–46 |
| San Diego Padres | 60 | 102 | .370 | 42 | 36–45 | 24–57 |
Sources:[1][2][3][4][5][6][7][8][9][10][11][12] | |||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Team | ATL | CHC | CIN | HOU | LAD | MON | NYM | PHI | PIT | SD | SF | STL | |||||
| Atlanta | — | 4–8 | 7–11–1 | 6–12 | 8–10 | 9–3 | 8–4 | 8–4 | 4–8 | 17–1 | 8–10 | 9–3 | |||||
| Chicago | 8–4 | — | 5–7 | 4–8 | 2–10 | 5–13 | 8–10 | 8–10 | 9–9 | 6–6 | 6–6 | 5–13 | |||||
| Cincinnati | 11–7–1 | 7–5 | — | 14–4 | 6–12 | 6–6 | 9–3 | 8–4 | 8–4 | 12–6 | 11–7 | 6–6 | |||||
| Houston | 12–6 | 8–4 | 4–14 | — | 5–13 | 6–6 | 6–6 | 6–6 | 5–7 | 7–11 | 10–8 | 8–4 | |||||
| Los Angeles | 10–8 | 10–2 | 12–6 | 13–5 | — | 8–4 | 5–7 | 6–6 | 4–8 | 16–2 | 12–6 | 6–6 | |||||
| Montreal | 3–9 | 13–5 | 6–6 | 6–6 | 4–8 | — | 9–9 | 11–7 | 9–9 | 6–6 | 4–8 | 8–9 | |||||
| New York | 4–8 | 10–8 | 3–9 | 6–6 | 7–5 | 9–9 | — | 7–11 | 7–11 | 6–6 | 6–6 | 6–12 | |||||
| Philadelphia | 4-8 | 10–8 | 4–8 | 6–6 | 6–6 | 7–11 | 11–7 | — | 10–8 | 5–7 | 8–4 | 9–9 | |||||
| Pittsburgh | 8–4 | 9–9 | 4–8 | 7–5 | 8–4 | 9–9 | 11–7 | 8–10 | — | 9–3 | 8–4 | 7–11 | |||||
| San Diego | 1–17 | 6–6 | 6–12 | 7–11 | 2–16 | 6–6 | 6–6 | 7–5 | 3–9 | — | 11–7 | 5–7 | |||||
| San Francisco | 10–8 | 6–6 | 7–11 | 8–10 | 6–12 | 8–4 | 6–6 | 4–8 | 4–8 | 7–11 | — | 6–6 | |||||
| St. Louis | 3–9 | 13–5 | 6–6 | 4–8 | 6–6 | 9–8 | 12–6 | 9–9 | 11–7 | 7–5 | 6–6 | — | |||||
| 1974 Cincinnati Reds | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Roster | |||||||||
| Pitchers | Catchers Infielders | Outfielders | Manager Coaches | ||||||
| = Indicates team leader |
Note: Pos = Position; G = Games played; AB = At bats; H = Hits; Avg. = Batting average; HR = Home runs; RBI = Runs batted in
| Pos | Player | G | AB | H | Avg. | HR | RBI |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| C | Johnny Bench | 160 | 621 | 174 | .280 | 33 | 129 |
| 1B | Tony Pérez | 158 | 596 | 158 | .265 | 28 | 101 |
| 2B | Joe Morgan | 149 | 512 | 150 | .293 | 22 | 67 |
| SS | Dave Concepción | 160 | 594 | 167 | .281 | 14 | 82 |
| 3B | Dan Driessen | 150 | 470 | 132 | .281 | 7 | 56 |
| LF | Pete Rose | 163 | 652 | 185 | .284 | 3 | 51 |
| CF | César Gerónimo | 150 | 474 | 133 | .281 | 7 | 54 |
| RF | Ken Griffey | 88 | 227 | 57 | .251 | 2 | 19 |
Note: G = Games played; AB = At bats; H = Hits; Avg. = Batting average; HR = Home runs; RBI = Runs batted in
| Player | G | AB | H | Avg. | HR | RBI |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| George Foster | 106 | 276 | 73 | .264 | 7 | 41 |
| Merv Rettenmund | 80 | 208 | 45 | .216 | 6 | 28 |
| Darrel Chaney | 117 | 135 | 27 | .200 | 2 | 16 |
| Terry Crowley | 84 | 125 | 30 | .240 | 1 | 20 |
| Bill Plummer | 50 | 120 | 27 | .225 | 2 | 10 |
| Andy Kosco | 33 | 37 | 7 | .189 | 0 | 5 |
| Phil Gagliano | 46 | 31 | 2 | .065 | 0 | 0 |
| Junior Kennedy | 22 | 19 | 3 | .158 | 0 | 0 |
| Hal King | 20 | 17 | 3 | .176 | 0 | 3 |
| Ray Knight | 14 | 11 | 2 | .182 | 0 | 2 |
| Ed Armbrister | 9 | 7 | 2 | .286 | 0 | 0 |
| Roger Freed | 6 | 6 | 2 | .333 | 1 | 3 |
Note: G = Games pitched; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts
| Player | G | IP | W | L | ERA | SO |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Don Gullett | 36 | 243.0 | 17 | 11 | 3.04 | 183 |
| Clay Kirby | 36 | 230.2 | 12 | 9 | 3.28 | 160 |
| Jack Billingham | 36 | 212.1 | 19 | 11 | 3.94 | 103 |
| Fred Norman | 35 | 186.1 | 13 | 12 | 3.14 | 141 |
| Roger Nelson | 14 | 85.1 | 4 | 4 | 3.38 | 42 |
| Tom Carroll | 16 | 78.1 | 4 | 3 | 3.68 | 37 |
Note: G = Games pitched; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts
| Player | G | IP | W | L | ERA | SO |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pat Darcy | 6 | 17.0 | 1 | 0 | 3.71 | 14 |
Note: G = Games pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; SV = Saves; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts
| Player | G | W | L | SV | ERA | SO |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pedro Borbón | 73 | 10 | 7 | 14 | 3.24 | 53 |
| Clay Carroll | 57 | 12 | 5 | 6 | 2.15 | 46 |
| Tom Hall | 40 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 4.08 | 48 |
| Dick Baney | 22 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 5.49 | 12 |
| Will McEnaney | 24 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 4.33 | 12 |
| Rawly Eastwick | 8 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2.04 | 14 |
| Mike McQueen | 10 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5.40 | 5 |
| Pat Osburn | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 8.00 | 4 |