| 1984 Cincinnati Reds | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| League | National League | |||
| Division | West | |||
| Ballpark | Riverfront Stadium | |||
| City | Cincinnati | |||
| Record | 70–92 (.432) | |||
| Divisional place | 5th | |||
| Owners | Marge Schott | |||
| General managers | Bob Howsam,Bill Bergesch | |||
| Managers | Vern Rapp,Pete Rose | |||
| Television | WLWT,Sports Time (Ray Lane,Ken Wilson) | |||
| Radio | WLW (Marty Brennaman,Joe Nuxhall) | |||
| ||||
The1984Cincinnati Reds season was the 115th season for the franchise inMajor League Baseball, and their 15th and 14th full season atRiverfront Stadium. The Cincinnati Reds failed to improve on their 74–88 record from theprevious season to finish at 70–92, and missed the postseason for the 5th consecutive season.Marge Schott became primary owner during the year. It marked the return ofBob Howsam as General Manager, afterDick Wagner was fired during the 1983 season. The Reds finished in fifth place that year, as they escaped last place in the NL West, which the team had finished in 1982 and 1983.
Reds pitcherMario Soto endured two suspensions during the 1984 season for various incidents. In the first incident, on May 27 against theChicago Cubs inWrigley Field,third basemanRon Cey hit what was originally ruled a home run down theleft field line. Believing the ball had gone foul, Soto and Reds managerVern Rapp disputed the call, and during the argument, Soto shoved third baseumpireSteve Rippley, who had made the call.
After conferring, the umpires changed their decision and ruled it a foul ball, drawing a protest from the Cubs. However, for shoving Rippley, Soto was ejected, prompting him to charge the field and attack Cubs coachDon Zimmer, which triggered a ten-minutebrawl. Four days later, National League presidentChub Feeney suspended Mario Soto for five games. This game is also notable because Soto's opponent that day was futureHall of FameDennis Eckersley, who would go on to become a record-settingcloser years later. "Eck", who was making his Cubs debut after being acquired in a trade with theBoston Red Sox, took the loss that day.[8]
In the second incident, on June 16, the Reds were playing theAtlanta Braves inAtlanta. Soto threw severalbrushback pitches at Braves sluggerClaudell Washington. Washington tossed his bat in the direction of Soto, appeared to go out to retrieve it, but instead walked toward the mound. UmpireLanny Harris attempted to restrain Washington. Harris was thrown to the ground. Soto used the distraction to punch Washington. Several of Washington's teammates attempted to hold Washington to the ground. While they were doing that, Soto fired the baseball into the crowd of players, striking Braves coachJoe Pignatano. He was suspended three games for this incident; Washington received a five-game suspension for shoving Lanny Harris.
The Reds drew the two smallest attendances in the history ofRiverfront Stadium in 1984. Only 3,921 were on hand to see the Reds play theNew York Mets on April 4, which was the record for the smallest crowd until May 31, when they lost to the Braves 7–1 in a makeup game from April, which drew just 2,472. That started a five-game series sweep of the Reds by Atlanta.
Prior to May 31, the Reds were 26-22 and trailed theSan Diego Padres by a half-game in the NL West standings. From then until August 16, the Reds went 25-48 and had long left any hopes of winning the division. August 16 was the day the Reds brought Rose back as player-manager, as part of a trade with Montreal, as Rapp was fired.[9]
| Team | W | L | Pct. | GB | Home | Road |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| San Diego Padres | 92 | 70 | .568 | — | 48–33 | 44–37 |
| Atlanta Braves | 80 | 82 | .494 | 12 | 38–43 | 42–39 |
| Houston Astros | 80 | 82 | .494 | 12 | 43–38 | 37–44 |
| Los Angeles Dodgers | 79 | 83 | .488 | 13 | 40–41 | 39–42 |
| Cincinnati Reds | 70 | 92 | .432 | 22 | 39–42 | 31–50 |
| San Francisco Giants | 66 | 96 | .407 | 26 | 35–46 | 31–50 |
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 | — | 3–9 | 13–5 | 12–6 | 6–12 | 5–7 | 4–8 | 7–5 | 8–4 | 7–11 | 10–8 | 5–7 | |||||
| Chicago | 9–3 | — | 7–5 | 6–6 | 7–5 | 10–7 | 12–6 | 9–9 | 8–10 | 6–6 | 9–3 | 13–5 | |||||
| Cincinnati | 5–13 | 5–7 | — | 8–10 | 7–11 | 7–5 | 3–9 | 5–7 | 7–5 | 7–11 | 12–6 | 4–8 | |||||
| Houston | 6–12 | 6–6 | 10–8 | — | 9–9 | 7–5 | 4–8 | 6–6 | 6–6 | 6–12 | 12–6 | 8–4 | |||||
| Los Angeles | 12–6 | 5–7 | 7–11 | 9–9 | — | 6–6 | 3–9 | 3–9 | 4–8 | 10–8 | 10–8 | 6–6 | |||||
| Montreal | 7–5 | 7–10 | 5–7 | 5–7 | 6–6 | — | 7–11 | 11–7 | 7–11 | 7–5 | 7–5 | 9–9 | |||||
| New York | 8–4 | 6–12 | 9–3 | 8–4 | 9–3 | 11–7 | — | 10–8 | 12–6 | 6–6 | 4–8 | 7–11 | |||||
| Philadelphia | 5-7 | 9–9 | 7–5 | 6–6 | 9–3 | 7–11 | 8–10 | — | 7–11 | 7–5 | 8–4 | 8–10 | |||||
| Pittsburgh | 4–8 | 10–8 | 5–7 | 6–6 | 8–4 | 11–7 | 6–12 | 11–7 | — | 4–8 | 6–6 | 4–14 | |||||
| San Diego | 11–7 | 6–6 | 11–7 | 12–6 | 8–10 | 5–7 | 6–6 | 5–7 | 8–4 | — | 13–5 | 7–5 | |||||
| San Francisco | 8–10 | 3–9 | 6–12 | 6–12 | 8–10 | 5–7 | 8–4 | 4–8 | 6–6 | 5–13 | — | 7–5 | |||||
| St. Louis | 7–5 | 5–13 | 8–4 | 4–8 | 6–6 | 9–9 | 11–7 | 10–8 | 14–4 | 5–7 | 5–7 | — | |||||
| 1984 Cincinnati Reds roster | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Roster | |||||||||
| Pitchers | Catchers Infielders | Outfielders | Manager Coaches | ||||||
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 | Brad Gulden | 107 | 292 | 66 | .226 | 4 | 33 |
| 1B | Dan Driessen | 81 | 218 | 61 | .280 | 7 | 28 |
| 2B | Ron Oester | 150 | 553 | 134 | .242 | 3 | 38 |
| SS | Dave Concepción | 154 | 531 | 130 | .245 | 4 | 58 |
| 3B | Nick Esasky | 113 | 322 | 62 | .193 | 10 | 45 |
| LF | Gary Redus | 123 | 394 | 100 | .254 | 7 | 22 |
| CF | Eddie Milner | 117 | 336 | 78 | .232 | 7 | 29 |
| RF | Dave Parker | 156 | 607 | 173 | .285 | 16 | 94 |
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| César Cedeño | 110 | 380 | 105 | .276 | 10 | 47 |
| Tom Foley | 106 | 277 | 70 | .253 | 5 | 27 |
| Duane Walker | 83 | 195 | 57 | .292 | 10 | 28 |
| Dann Bilardello | 68 | 182 | 38 | .209 | 2 | 10 |
| Wayne Krenchicki | 97 | 181 | 54 | .298 | 6 | 22 |
| Eric Davis | 57 | 174 | 39 | .224 | 10 | 30 |
| Tony Pérez | 71 | 137 | 33 | .241 | 2 | 15 |
| Dave Van Gorder | 38 | 101 | 23 | .228 | 0 | 6 |
| Pete Rose | 26 | 96 | 35 | .365 | 0 | 11 |
| Tom Lawless | 43 | 80 | 20 | .250 | 1 | 2 |
| Skeeter Barnes | 32 | 42 | 5 | .119 | 1 | 3 |
| Alan Knicely | 10 | 29 | 4 | .138 | 0 | 5 |
| Paul Householder | 14 | 12 | 1 | .083 | 0 | 0 |
| Wade Rowdon | 4 | 7 | 2 | .286 | 0 | 0 |
| Alex Treviño | 6 | 6 | 1 | .167 | 0 | 0 |
Note: G = Games pitched; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts
| Player | G | IP | W | L | ERA | SO |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mario Soto | 33 | 237.1 | 18 | 7 | 3.53 | 185 |
| Jeff Russell | 33 | 181.2 | 6 | 18 | 4.26 | 101 |
| Joe Price | 30 | 171.2 | 7 | 13 | 4.19 | 129 |
| Jay Tibbs | 14 | 100.2 | 6 | 2 | 2.86 | 40 |
| Bruce Berenyi | 13 | 51.0 | 3 | 7 | 6.00 | 53 |
| Tom Browning | 3 | 23.1 | 1 | 0 | 1.54 | 14 |
Note: G = Games pitched; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts
| Player | G | IP | W | L | ERA | SO |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tom Hume | 54 | 113.1 | 4 | 13 | 5.64 | 59 |
| Frank Pastore | 24 | 98.1 | 3 | 8 | 6.50 | 53 |
| Ron Robinson | 12 | 39.2 | 1 | 2 | 2.72 | 24 |
| Andy McGaffigan | 9 | 23.0 | 0 | 2 | 5.48 | 18 |
| Charlie Puleo | 5 | 22.0 | 1 | 2 | 5.73 | 6 |
| Freddie Toliver | 3 | 10.0 | 0 | 0 | 0.90 | 4 |
Note: G = Games pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; SV = Saves; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts
| Player | G | W | L | SV | ERA | SO |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ted Power | 78 | 9 | 7 | 11 | 2.82 | 81 |
| John Franco | 54 | 6 | 2 | 4 | 2.61 | 55 |
| Bob Owchinko | 49 | 3 | 5 | 2 | 4.12 | 60 |
| Bill Scherrer | 36 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 4.99 | 35 |
| Brad Lesley | 16 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 5.12 | 7 |
| Keefe Cato | 8 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 8.04 | 12 |
| Mike Smith | 8 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 5.23 | 7 |
| Carl Willis | 7 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 3.72 | 3 |
LEAGUE CHAMPIONS: Vermont