| 1999 Cincinnati Reds | |
|---|---|
 | |
| League | National League |
| Division | Central |
| Ballpark | Cinergy Field |
| City | Cincinnati |
| Record | 96–67 (.589) |
| Divisional place | 2nd |
| Owners | Marge Schott,Carl Lindner |
| General managers | Jim Bowden |
| Managers | Jack McKeon |
| Television | Fox Sports Ohio (George Grande,Chris Welsh) |
| Radio | WLW (Marty Brennaman,Joe Nuxhall) |
| Stats | ESPN.com Baseball Reference |
The1999Cincinnati Reds season was the 130th season for the franchise inMajor League Baseball. During the season the Reds became a surprising contender in theNational League Central, winning 96 games and narrowly losing the division to theHouston Astros, ultimately missing the playoffs after losing atie-breaker game to theNew York Mets.[1] As of 2023, the 1999 Reds currently hold the Major League record for the most wins by a team that failed to reach the playoffs in the Wild Card era. It was the final season withMarge Schott as owner, as she agreed in April to sell most of her shares of the team that was approved on September 15.[2]
| Pos | Player |
|---|---|
| CF | Mike Cameron |
| SS | Barry Larkin |
| 1B | Sean Casey |
| LF | Greg Vaughn |
| RF | Dmitri Young |
| C | Eddie Taubensee |
| 3B | Aaron Boone |
| 2B | Pokey Reese |
| P | Brett Tomko |
In the May 19 contest versus theColorado Rockies, the Reds won by a 24−12 final, tied for the fourth-highest run-scoring output in MLB history. The Reds'Jeffrey Hammonds hit three home runs this game; following the season, Colorado acquired him via trade. Both Hammonds andSean Casey totaled four hits. Casey was on base seven times with three walks, and hit two home runs and six RBI. The Reds totaled six home runs; Casey added two, andBrian Johnson one. Colorado'sLarry Walker andDante Bichette both had four hits. Bichette also had five RBI, andVinny Castilla hit a three-run home run.[8]
| Team | W | L | Pct. | GB | Home | Road |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Houston Astros | 97 | 65 | .599 | — | 50–32 | 47–33 |
| Cincinnati Reds | 96 | 67 | .589 | 1½ | 45–37 | 51–30 |
| Pittsburgh Pirates | 78 | 83 | .484 | 18½ | 45–36 | 33–47 |
| St. Louis Cardinals | 75 | 86 | .466 | 21½ | 38–42 | 37–44 |
| Milwaukee Brewers | 74 | 87 | .460 | 22½ | 32–48 | 42–39 |
| Chicago Cubs | 67 | 95 | .414 | 30 | 34–47 | 33–48 |
| Team | AZ | ATL | CHC | CIN | COL | FLA | HOU | LAD | MIL | MON | NYM | PHI | PIT | SD | SF | STL | AL |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Arizona | — | 4–5 | 7–2 | 1–8 | 6–7 | 8–1 | 5–4 | 7–6 | 5–4 | 6–3 | 7–2 | 8–1 | 5–2 | 11–2 | 9–3 | 4–4 | 7–8 |
| Atlanta | 5–4 | — | 2–5 | 8–1 | 5–4 | 9–4 | 6–1 | 5–4 | 5–2 | 9–4 | 9–3 | 8–5 | 6–3 | 5–4 | 4–5 | 8–1 | 9–9 |
| Chicago | 2–7 | 5–2 | — | 5–8 | 4–5 | 6–3 | 3–9 | 2–7 | 6–6 | 2–5 | 3–6 | 2–7 | 7–6 | 6–3 | 1–7 | 7–5 | 6–9 |
| Cincinnati | 8–1 | 1–8 | 8–5 | — | 7–2 | 6–1 | 9–4 | 4–3 | 6–6 | 4–3 | 5–5 | 6–3 | 7–6 | 6–3 | 4–5 | 8–4 | 7–8 |
| Colorado | 7–6 | 4–5 | 5–4 | 2–7 | — | 5–4 | 2–6 | 8–5 | 6–3 | 6–3 | 4–5 | 5–4 | 2–7 | 4–9 | 4–9 | 4–5 | 4–8 |
| Florida | 1–8 | 4–9 | 3–6 | 1–6 | 4–5 | — | 2–7 | 7–2 | 5–4 | 8–4 | 3–10 | 2–11 | 3–4 | 3–6 | 4–5 | 3–4 | 11–7 |
| Houston | 4–5 | 1–6 | 9–3 | 4–9 | 6–2 | 7–2 | — | 6–3 | 8–5 | 7–2 | 4–5 | 6–1 | 5–7 | 8–1 | 5–4 | 5–7 | 12–3 |
| Los Angeles | 6–7 | 4–5 | 7–2 | 3–4 | 5–8 | 2–7 | 3–6 | — | 7–2 | 5–4 | 4–4 | 6–3 | 3–6 | 3–9 | 8–5 | 3–6 | 8–7 |
| Milwaukee | 4–5 | 2–5 | 6–6 | 6–6 | 3–6 | 4–5 | 5–8 | 2–7 | — | 5–4 | 2–5 | 5–4 | 8–4 | 3–5 | 4–5 | 7–6 | 8–6 |
| Montreal | 3–6 | 4–9 | 5–2 | 3–4 | 3–6 | 4–8 | 2–7 | 4–5 | 4–5 | — | 5–8 | 6–6 | 3–6 | 5–3 | 4–5 | 5–4 | 8–10 |
| New York | 2–7 | 3–9 | 6–3 | 5–5 | 5–4 | 10–3 | 5–4 | 4–4 | 5–2 | 8–5 | — | 6–6 | 7–2 | 7–2 | 7–2 | 5–2 | 12–6 |
| Philadelphia | 1–8 | 5–8 | 7–2 | 3–6 | 4–5 | 11–2 | 1–6 | 3–6 | 4–5 | 6–6 | 6–6 | — | 3–4 | 6–3 | 2–6 | 4–5 | 11–7 |
| Pittsburgh | 2–5 | 3–6 | 6–7 | 6–7 | 7–2 | 4–3 | 7–5 | 6–3 | 4–8 | 6–3 | 2–7 | 4–3 | — | 3–6 | 4–5 | 7–5 | 7–8 |
| San Diego | 2–11 | 4–5 | 3–6 | 3–6 | 9–4 | 6–3 | 1–8 | 9–3 | 5–3 | 3–5 | 2–7 | 3–6 | 6–3 | — | 5–7 | 2–7 | 11–4 |
| San Francisco | 3–9 | 5–4 | 7–1 | 5–4 | 9–4 | 5–4 | 4–5 | 5–8 | 5–4 | 5–4 | 2–7 | 6–2 | 5–4 | 7–5 | — | 6–3 | 7–8 |
| St. Louis | 4–4 | 1–8 | 5–7 | 4–8 | 5–4 | 4–3 | 7–5 | 6–3 | 6–7 | 4–5 | 2–5 | 5–4 | 5–7 | 7–2 | 3–6 | — | 7–8 |
| 1999 Cincinnati Reds | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 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 | Eddie Taubensee | 126 | 424 | 132 | .311 | 21 | 87 |
| 1B | Sean Casey | 151 | 594 | 197 | .332 | 25 | 99 |
| 2B | Pokey Reese | 149 | 585 | 167 | .285 | 10 | 52 |
| 3B | Aaron Boone | 139 | 472 | 132 | .280 | 14 | 72 |
| SS | Barry Larkin | 161 | 583 | 171 | .293 | 12 | 75 |
| LF | Greg Vaughn | 153 | 550 | 135 | .245 | 45 | 118 |
| CF | Mike Cameron | 146 | 542 | 139 | .256 | 21 | 66 |
| RF | Michael Tucker | 133 | 296 | 75 | .253 | 11 | 44 |
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| OF | Dmitri Young | 127 | 373 | 112 | .300 | 14 | 56 |
| OF | Jeffrey Hammonds | 123 | 262 | 73 | .279 | 17 | 41 |
| 3B | Mark Lewis | 88 | 173 | 44 | .254 | 6 | 28 |
| C | Brian Johnson | 45 | 117 | 27 | .231 | 5 | 18 |
| IF | Chris Stynes | 73 | 113 | 27 | .239 | 2 | 14 |
| 1B | Hal Morris | 80 | 102 | 29 | .284 | 0 | 16 |
| C | Jason LaRue | 36 | 90 | 19 | .211 | 3 | 10 |
| 1B | Mark Sweeney | 37 | 31 | 11 | .355 | 2 | 7 |
| SS | Travis Dawkins | 7 | 7 | 1 | .143 | 0 | 0 |
| LF | Kerry Robinson | 9 | 1 | 0 | .000 | 0 | 0 |
Note: G = Games pitched; GS = Games started; IP = Innings pitched; W= Wins; L = Losses; K = Strikeouts; ERA = Earned run average; WHIP = Walks + Hits Per Inning Pitched
| Player | G | GS | IP | W | L | K | ERA | WHIP |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Harnisch, Pete | 33 | 33 | 198.1 | 16 | 10 | 120 | 3.68 | 1.24 |
| Tomko, Brett | 33 | 26 | 172.0 | 5 | 7 | 132 | 4.78 | 1.36 |
| Villone, Ron | 29 | 22 | 142.2 | 9 | 7 | 97 | 4.23 | 1.31 |
| Parris, Steve | 22 | 21 | 128.2 | 11 | 4 | 86 | 3.50 | 1.36 |
| Neagle, Denny | 20 | 19 | 111.2 | 9 | 5 | 76 | 4.27 | 1.20 |
| Avery, Steve | 19 | 19 | 96.0 | 6 | 7 | 51 | 5.16 | 1.59 |
| Guzmán, Juan | 12 | 12 | 77.1 | 6 | 3 | 60 | 3.03 | 1.18 |
Note: G = Games pitched; GS = Games started; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts
| Player | G | GS | IP | W | L | ERA | SO |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bere, Jason | 12 | 10 | 43.1 | 3 | 0 | 6.85 | 28 |
Note: G = Games pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; SV = Saves; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts
| Player | G | W | L | SV | ERA | SO |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Graves, Danny | 75 | 8 | 7 | 27 | 3.08 | 69 |
| Sullivan, Scott | 79 | 5 | 4 | 3 | 3.01 | 78 |
| Williamson, Scott | 62 | 12 | 7 | 19 | 2.41 | 107 |
| Reyes, Dennys | 65 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 3.79 | 72 |
| White, Gabe | 50 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 4.43 | 61 |
| Belinda, Stan | 29 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 5.27 | 40 |
| Greene, Rick | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4.76 | 3 |
| Ryan, B.J. | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4.50 | 1 |
| Hudek, John | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 27.00 | 0 |
The 96 wins by the 1999 Cincinnati Reds were the most since the 1976Big Red Machine who compiled 102 victories en route to their second consecutive World Series title. The Reds would not reach the 90-win plateau again until the 2010 season, when the team won the National League Central title with 91 victories.[12]
The 1999 team is regarded as one of the best teams not to make the playoffs. Since the switch to 162 game season in 1962, the Reds have the sixth-best record, only to not make the playoffs at 96-67.[13]
The team scored 865 runs, which still stands as the franchise record for runs scored in a season. The team also set franchise highs in most runs batted in (820), most total bases (2,549), and highest slugging percentage (.451)[12]
On May 19, 1999, the Reds set three franchise records when they collected 28 hits, 15 extra base hits, and 55 total bases in a 24–12 victory over the Colorado Rockies.Sean Casey andJeffrey Hammonds also set individual franchise records with each scoring five runs.[14]
On September 4, 1999, the Reds set a franchise record when they clubbed nine home runs in a 22–3 victory over the Philadelphia Phillies.[14] Eight different Reds players homered in the game, the only time since 1901 that a team has achieved this.[15]