1974 Cincinnati Reds season

March 2026 November 2013 Cincinnati Reds 1974 National League West Riverfront Stadium Cincinnati 98–64 (.605) 2nd Louis Nippert Bob Howsam Sparky Anderson WLWT(Charlie Jones, Woody Woodward) WLW(Marty Brennaman, Joe Nuxhall) The 1974 Cincinnati Reds season was the 105th season for the franchise in Major League Baseball, and their 5th and 4th full season at Riverfront Stadium. The Reds finished in second place in the National League West with a record of 98–64, four games behind the NL West and pennant-winning Los Angeles Dodgers. The Reds were managed by Sparky Anderson and played their home games at Riverfront 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 the San Francisco Giants won). In the 1973-74 offseason, the Dodgers added center fielder Jimmy Wynn in a trade from Houston and acquired future Cy Young Award winning reliever Mike Marshall from Montreal. The Reds added a solid starter in 12-game winner Clay Kirby in the offseason. Pennant Race 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 by 7 1 2 games despite a solid 66–45 record. By August 15, the Reds had cut the lead to 1 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 winner Steve Garvey, runner-up Lou Brock, and Marshall. Wynn was fifth. The 1974 season also marked the first with future Hall of Fame broadcaster Marty Brennaman. Brennaman replaced another nationally known broadcaster, Al Michaels, who moved to San Francisco to take the same position with the Giants. Offseason thumb|250px|The Reds play at Riverfront Stadium, 1974 December 3, 1973: Mario Soto was signed as an amateur free agent by the Reds.Mario Soto page at Baseball Reference December 4, 1973: Ross Grimsley and Wally Williams (minors) were traded by the Reds to the Baltimore Orioles for Merv Rettenmund, Junior Kennedy and Bill Wood (minors).Merv Rettenmund page at Baseball Reference December 12, 1973: Steve Blateric was traded by the Reds to the Cleveland Indians for Roger Freed.Roger Freed page at Baseball Reference Prior to 1974 season: Dan Dumoulin was signed as an amateur free agent by the Reds.Dan Dumoulin page at Baseball Reference Regular season Season standings Record vs. opponents CIN Roster 1974 Cincinnati Reds Roster Pitchers 44 Dick Baney 43 Jack Billingham 34 Pedro Borbón 36 Clay Carroll 51 Tom Carroll 58 Pat Darcy 49 Rawly Eastwick 35 Don Gullett 21 Tom Hall 31 Clay Kirby 37 Will McEnaney 47 Mike McQueen 45 Roger Nelson 32 Fred Norman 46 Pat Osburn Catchers  5 Johnny Bench  6 Hal King  9 Bill Plummer Infielders 12 Darrel Chaney 13 Dave Concepción 22 Dan Driessen 28 Roger Freed 16 Phil Gagliano 11 Junior Kennedy 25 Ray Knight 23 Andy Kosco  8 Joe Morgan 24 Tony Pérez Outfielders 33 Ed Armbrister 17 Terry Crowley 15 George Foster 20 César Gerónimo 30 Ken Griffey 26 Merv Rettenmund 14 Pete Rose Manager 10 Sparky Anderson Coaches  2 Alex Grammas 18 Ted Kluszewski  3 George Scherger  4 Larry Shepard 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 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 Ken Griffey, Sr. 88 227 57 .251 2 19 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 George Foster George Foster (baseball) 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 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 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 Fred Norman (baseball) 35 186.1 13 12 3.14 141 Roger Nelson Roger Nelson (baseball) 14 85.1 4 4 3.38 42 Tom Carroll Tom Carroll (pitcher) 16 78.1 4 3 3.68 37 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 Pat Darcy 6 17.0 1 0 3.71 14 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 Pedro Borbón 73 10 7 14 3.24 53 Clay Carroll 57 12 5 6 2.15 46 Tom Hall Tom Hall (baseball) 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 Mike McQueen (baseball) 10 0 0 0 5.40 5 Pat Osburn 6 0 0 0 8.00 4 Farm system Minor League Baseball AAA Indianapolis Indians American Association Vern Rapp AA Trois-Rivières Aigles Eastern League Jim Snyder A Tampa Tarpons Florida State League Russ Nixon A-Short Season Seattle Rainiers Northwest League Greg Riddoch Rookie Billings Mustangs Pioneer League Jim HoffJohnson, Lloyd, and Wolff, Miles, ed., The Encyclopedia of Minor League Baseball, 3rd edition. Durham, North Carolina: Baseball America, 2007 Notes 2 References 1974 Cincinnati Reds season at Baseball Reference Category:Cincinnati Reds seasons Cincinnati Reds season Cincinnati