1984 Cincinnati Reds season

March 2026 November 2013 Cincinnati Reds 1984 National League West Riverfront Stadium Cincinnati 70–92 (.432) 5th Marge Schott Bob Howsam, Bill Bergesch Vern Rapp, Pete Rose WLWT, Sports Time (Ray Lane, Ken Wilson) WLW(Marty Brennaman, Joe Nuxhall) The 1984 Cincinnati Reds season was the 115th season for the franchise in Major League Baseball, and their 15th and 14th full season at Riverfront Stadium. The Cincinnati Reds failed to improve on their 74–88 record from the previous 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 of Bob Howsam as General Manager, after Dick 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. Offseason November 4, 1983: Brad Gulden was signed as a free agent with the Cincinnati Reds.Brad Gulden Stats https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/g/guldebr01.shtml 2024-09-10 Baseball-Reference.com en November 12, 1983: Bob Owchinko was purchased by the Cincinnati Reds from the Pittsburgh Pirates.Bob Owchinko Stats https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/o/owchibo01.shtml 2024-09-10 Baseball-Reference.com en November 21, 1983: Steve Christmas was traded by the Reds to the Chicago White Sox for Fran Mullins.Steve Christmas Stats https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/c/chrisst01.shtml 2024-09-10 Baseball-Reference.com en November 21, 1983: Wayne Krenchicki was purchased by the Reds from the Detroit Tigers.Wayne Krenchicki Stats https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/k/krencwa01.shtml 2024-09-10 Baseball-Reference.com en December 5, 1983: Fran Mullins was drafted from the Reds by the San Francisco Giants in the rule 5 draft.Fran Mullins Stats https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/m/mullifr01.shtml 2024-09-10 Baseball-Reference.com en December 6, 1983: Tony Pérez was purchased by the Reds from the Philadelphia Phillies.Tony Pérez Stats https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/p/perezto01.shtml 2024-09-10 Baseball-Reference.com en December 7, 1983: Dave Parker was signed as a free agent by the Reds.Dave Parker Stats https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/p/parkeda01.shtml 2024-09-10 Baseball-Reference.com en Regular season Reds pitcher Mario Soto endured two suspensions during the 1984 season for various incidents. In the first incident, on May 27 against the Chicago Cubs in Wrigley Field, third baseman Ron Cey hit what was originally ruled a home run down the left field line. Believing the ball had gone foul, Soto and Reds manager Vern Rapp disputed the call, and during the argument, Soto shoved third base umpire Steve 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 coach Don Zimmer, which triggered a ten-minute brawl. Four days later, National League president Chub Feeney suspended Mario Soto for five games. This game is also notable because Soto's opponent that day was future Hall of Fame Dennis Eckersley, who would go on to become a record-setting closer years later. "Eck", who was making his Cubs debut after being acquired in a trade with the Boston Red Sox, took the loss that day.https://www.nytimes.com/1984/06/19/sports/sports-people-soto-faces-suspension.html The New York Times SPORTS PEOPLE; Soto Faces Suspension June 19, 1984 In the second incident, on June 16, the Reds were playing the Atlanta Braves in Atlanta. Soto threw several brushback pitches at Braves slugger Claudell Washington. Washington tossed his bat in the direction of Soto, appeared to go out to retrieve it, but instead walked toward the mound. Umpire Lanny 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 coach Joe 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 of Riverfront Stadium in 1984. Only 3,921 were on hand to see the Reds play the New 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 the San 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.1984 Cincinnati Reds Schedule https://www.baseball-reference.com/teams/CIN/1984-schedule-scores.shtml 2024-09-10 Baseball-Reference.com en Season standings Record vs. opponents CIN Notable transactions March 30, 1984: Dallas Williams was traded by the Reds to the Detroit Tigers for Charlie Nail (minors).Dallas Williams Stats https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/w/willida05.shtml 2024-09-10 Baseball-Reference.com en August 16, 1984: Tom Lawless was traded by the Reds to the Montreal Expos for Pete Rose. Rose was named player-manager, as Vern Rapp was fired.Pete Rose Stats https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/r/rosepe01.shtml 2024-09-10 Baseball-Reference.com en Roster 1984 Cincinnati Reds roster Roster Pitchers 38 Bruce Berenyi 54 Tom Browning 42 Keefe Cato 31,52 John Franco 47 Tom Hume 50 Brad Lesley 37 Andy McGaffigan 32 Bob Owchinko 35 Frank Pastore 48 Ted Power 49 Joe Price 25 Charlie Puleo 33 Ron Robinson 46 Jeff Russell 34 Bill Scherrer 37 Mike Smith 36 Mario Soto 38 Jay Tibbs 59 Freddie Toliver 40 Carl Willis Catchers 11 Dann Bilardello  4 Brad Gulden 29 Alex Treviño 23 Dave Van Gorder Infielders 21 Skeeter Barnes 13 Dave Concepción 22 Dan Driessen 12 Nick Esasky 10 Tom Foley 34 Alan Knicely 15 Wayne Krenchicki 17 Tom Lawless 16 Ron Oester 24 Tony Pérez 14 Pete Rose 56 Wade Rowdon Outfielders 28 César Cedeño 44 Eric Davis  7 Paul Householder 20 Eddie Milner 39 Dave Parker  2 Gary Redus 26 Duane Walker Manager  9 Vern Rapp 14 Pete Rose Coaches 19 Tommy Helms  6 Bruce Kimm  3 George Scherger  8 Joe Sparks 40 Stan Williams Player stats 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 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 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 César Cedeño 110 380 105 .276 10 47 Tom Foley Tom Foley (infielder) 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 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 Mario Soto Mario Soto (baseball) 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 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 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 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 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 Mike Smith (1984–1989 pitcher) 8 1 0 0 5.23 7 Carl Willis 7 0 1 1 3.72 3 Farm system Minor League Baseball AAA Wichita Aeros American Association Gene Dusan AA Vermont Reds Eastern League Jack Lind A Tampa Tarpons Florida State League Marc Bombard A Cedar Rapids Reds Midwest League Jim Lett Rookie GCL Reds Gulf Coast League Sam Mejías Rookie Billings Mustangs Pioneer League Larry Barton, Jr.LEAGUE CHAMPIONS: Vermont Notes 2 References 1984 Cincinnati Reds season at Baseball Reference Johnson Lloyd Wolff Miles The Encyclopedia of Minor League Baseball 2nd Durham, North Carolina Baseball America 1997 978-0-9637189-8-3 Category:Cincinnati Reds seasons Cincinnati Reds season Cinc