1978 Cincinnati Reds season

1978 Cincinnati Reds
Major League affiliations
Location
Other information
Owner(s) Louis Nippert
General manager(s) Bob Howsam, Dick Wagner
Manager(s) Sparky Anderson
Local television WLWT
(Ken Coleman, Bill Brown)
Local radio WLW
(Marty Brennaman, Joe Nuxhall)
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The 1978 Cincinnati Reds season was a season in American baseball. The Reds finished in second place in the National League West with a record of 92-69, 2½ games behind the Los Angeles Dodgers. The Reds were managed by Sparky Anderson and played their home games at Riverfront Stadium. Following the season, Anderson was replaced as manager by John McNamara, and Pete Rose left to sign with the Philadelphia Phillies for the 1979 season.

Offseason

Spring training

In honor of Saint Patrick's Day, Reds general manager Dick Wagner had green versions of the Reds' uniforms made. The Reds hosted the New York Yankees at Al Lopez Field on March 17, 1978. This was the first time a major league team wore green trimmed uniforms on March 17, a practice adopted in subsequent years by multiple major league teams.[4]

Regular season

Reds vs. Giants at Riverfront Stadium, 1978. This was the 25th game of Pete Rose's 44-game hitting streak.

During the season, Pete Rose tied the National League record with a 44-game hitting streak held by Willie Keeler. The streak began on June 14, and came to an end on August 1.

Season standings

NL West W L Pct. GB Home Road
Los Angeles Dodgers 95 67 0.586 54–27 41–40
Cincinnati Reds 92 69 0.571 49–31 43–38
San Francisco Giants 89 73 0.549 6 50–31 39–42
San Diego Padres 84 78 0.519 11 50–31 34–47
Houston Astros 74 88 0.457 21 50–31 24–57
Atlanta Braves 69 93 0.426 26 39–42 30–51

Record vs. opponents

1978 National League Records

Sources:
Team ATL CHC CIN HOU LAD MON NYM PHI PIT SD SF STL
Atlanta 5–7 6–12 8–10 5–13 5–7 6–6 8–4 2–10 8–10 11–7 5–7
Chicago 7–5 7–5 6–6 4–8 7–11 11–7 4–14 7–11 7–5 4–8 15–3
Cincinnati 12–6 5–7 11–7 9–9 8–4 7–5 7–5 4–7 9–9 12–6 8–4
Houston 10–8 6–6 7–11 7–11 6–6 7–5 6–6 4–8 8–10 6–12 7–5
Los Angeles 13–5 8–4 9–9 11–7 8–4 7–5 7–5 7–5 9–9 11–7 5–7
Montreal 7–5 11–7 4–8 6–6 4–8 8–10 9–9 7–11 6–6 5–7 9–9
New York 6–6 7–11 5–7 5–7 5–7 10–8 6–12 7–11 5–7 3–9 7–11
Philadelphia 4-8 14–4 5–7 6–6 5–7 9–9 12–6 11–7 8–4 6–6 10–8
Pittsburgh 10–2 11–7 7–4 8–4 5–7 11–7 11–7 7–11 5–7 4–8 9–9
San Diego 10–8 5–7 9–9 10–8 9–9 6–6 7–5 4–8 7–5 8–10 9–3
San Francisco 7–11 8–4 6–12 12–6 7–11 7–5 9–3 6–6 8–4 10–8 9–3
St. Louis 7–5 3–15 4–8 5–7 7–5 9–9 11–7 8–10 9–9 3–9 3–9

Notable transactions

Pete Rose hitting streak

On May 5, 1978, Rose became the 13th and youngest player in major league history to collect his 3,000th career hit, with a single off Expos pitcher Steve Rogers. On June 14 in Cincinnati, Rose singled in the first inning off Cubs pitcher Dave Roberts; Rose would proceed to get a hit in every game he played until August 1, making a run at Joe DiMaggio's record 56-game hitting streak, which had stood virtually unchallenged for 37 years. The streak started quietly, but by the time it had reached 30 games, the media took notice and a pool of reporters accompanied Rose and the Reds to every game. On July 19 against the Phillies, Rose was hitless going into the ninth with his team trailing. He ended up walking and the streak appeared over. But the Reds managed to bat through their entire lineup, giving Rose another chance. Facing Ron Reed, Rose laid down a perfect bunt single to extend the streak to 32 games.

He eventually tied Willie Keeler's single season National League record at 44 games; but on August 1, the streak came to an end as Gene Garber of the Braves struck out Rose in the ninth inning. The competitive Rose was sour after the game, blasting Garber and the Braves for treating the situation "like it was the ninth inning of the 7th game of the World Series" and adding that "Phil Niekro would have given me a fastball to hit."[7]

Game Date Pitcher Team Singles Doubles
1 06-14-1978 Dave Roberts Chicago Cubs 2 0
2 06-16-1978 John Denny St. Louis Cardinals 2 1
3 06-17-1978 Pete Vukovich St. Louis Cardinals 2 0
4 06-18-1978 Silvio Martinez St. Louis Cardinals 1 0
5 06-20-1978 John Montefusco San Francisco Giants 2 1
6 06-21-1978 Ed Halicki San Francisco Giants 1 0
7 06-22-1978 Bob Knepper San Francisco Giants 1 0
8 06-23-1978 Burt Hooton Los Angeles Dodgers 1 0
9 06-24-1978 Bob Welch Los Angeles Dodgers 1 0
10 06-25-1978 Tommy John Los Angeles Dodgers 2 0
11 06-26-1978 Mark Lemongello Houston Astros 1 0
12 06-27-1978 Joe Niekro Houston Astros 1 0
13 06-28-1978 Tom Dixon Houston Astros 1 0
14 06-29-1978 Floyd Bannister Houston Astros 1 1
15 06-30-1978 Lance Rautzhan Los Angeles Dodgers 1 0
16 06-30-1978 Bob Welch Los Angeles Dodgers 3 0
17 07-01-1978 Rick Rhoden Los Angeles Dodgers 1 1
18 07-02-1978 Doug Rau Los Angeles Dodgers 1 1
19 07-03-1978 Floyd Bannister Houston Astros 3 1
20 07-04-1978 J. R. Richard Houston Astros 1 0
21 07-05-1978 Joe Niekro Houston Astros 1 0
22 07-07-1978 Vida Blue San Francisco Giants 3 0
23 07-07-1978 Jim Barr San Francisco Giants 1 0
24 07-08-1978 John Montefusco San Francisco Giants 1 0
25 07-09-1978 Ed Halicki San Francisco Giants 3 0
26 07-13-1978 Jerry Koosman New York Mets 2 1
27 07-14-1978 Pat Zachry New York Mets 2 0
28 07-15-1978 Craig Swan New York Mets 1 0
29 07-16-1978 Paul Siebert New York Mets 1 1
30 07-17-1978 Stan Bahnsen Montreal Expos 1 0
31 07-18-1978 Hal Dues Montreal Expos 2 1
32 07-19-1978 Ron Reed Philadelphia Phillies 1 0
33 07-20-1978 Jim Kaat Philadelphia Phillies 1 0
34 07-21-1978 Ross Grimsley Montreal Expos 1 0
35 07-22-1978 Dan Schatzeder Montreal Expos 1 0
36 07-22-1978 Steve Rogers Montreal Expos 2 1
37 07-24-1978 Pat Zachry New York Mets 1 0
38 07-25-1978 Craig Swan New York Mets 3 1
39 07-26-1978 Nino Espinosa New York Mets 1 1
40 07-28-1978 Randy Lerch Philadelphia Phillies 1 1
41 07-28-1978 Steve Carlton Philadelphia Phillies 1 0
42 07-29-1978 Jim Lonborg Philadelphia Phillies 3 0
43 07-30-1978 Larry Christenson Philadelphia Phillies 2 0
44 07-31-1978 Phil Niekro Atlanta Braves 1 0

[8]

Roster

1978 Cincinnati Reds
Roster
Pitchers Catchers

Infielders

Outfielders

Other batters

Manager

Coaches

Player stats

= Indicates team leader

Batting

Starters by position

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 Bench, JohnnyJohnny Bench 120 393 102 .260 23 73
1B Driessen, DanDan Driessen 153 524 131 .250 16 70
2B Morgan, JoeJoe Morgan 132 441 104 .236 13 75
3B Rose, PetePete Rose 159 655 198 .302 7 52
SS Concepción, DaveDave Concepción 153 565 170 .301 6 67
LF Foster, GeorgeGeorge Foster 158 604 170 .281 40 120
CF Gerónimo, CésarCésar Gerónimo 122 296 67 .226 5 27
RF Griffey, KenKen Griffey 158 614 177 .288 10 63

[9]

Other batters

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
Collins, DaveDave Collins 102 102 22 .216 0 7
Knight, RayRay Knight 83 65 13 .200 1 4
Summers, ChampChamp Summers 13 35 9 .257 1 3
DeFreites, ArturoArturo DeFreites 9 19 4 .211 1 2
Grace, MikeMike Grace 5 3 0 .000 0 0

[9]

Pitching

Starting pitchers

Note: G = Games pitched; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts

Player G IP W L ERA SO
Seaver, TomTom Seaver 36 259.2 16 14 2.88 226
Bonham, BillBill Bonham 23 140.1 11 5 3.53 83

Other pitchers

Note: G = Games pitched; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts

Player G IP W L ERA SO
Hume, TomTom Hume 42 174 8 11 4.14 90
Capilla, DougDoug Capilla 6 11 0 1 9.82 9

Relief pitchers

Note: G = Games pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; SV = Saves; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts

Player G W L SV ERA SO
Bair, DougDoug Bair 70 7 6 28 1.97 91
Borbón, PedroPedro Borbón 62 8 2 4 4.98 35
Dumoulin, DanDan Dumoulin 3 1 0 0 1.80 2

Farm system

Level Team League Manager
AAA Indianapolis Indians American Association Roy Majtyka
AA Nashville Sounds Southern League Chuck Goggin
A Tampa Tarpons Florida State League Mike Compton
A Shelby Reds Western Carolinas League Jim Lett
A-Short Season Eugene Emeralds Northwest League Greg Riddoch
Rookie Billings Mustangs Pioneer League Jim Hoff

LEAGUE CHAMPIONS: Billings

Notes

References

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