1978 Cincinnati Reds season

March 2026 November 2013 Cincinnati Reds 1978 National League West Riverfront Stadium Cincinnati 92–69 (.571) 2nd Louis Nippert Bob Howsam, Dick Wagner Sparky Anderson WLWT(Ken Coleman, Bill Brown) WLW(Marty Brennaman, Joe Nuxhall) The 1978 Cincinnati Reds season was the 109th season for the franchise in Major League Baseball, and their 9th season at Riverfront Stadium. 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 October 31, 1977: Woodie Fryman and Bill Caudill were traded by the Reds to the Chicago Cubs for Bill Bonham.Woodie Fryman at Baseball Reference October 31, 1977: Joe Henderson was purchased from the Reds by the Toronto Blue Jays.Joe Henderson at Baseball Reference December 9, 1977: Dave Collins was acquired by the Reds from the Seattle Mariners for Shane Rawley. February 25, 1978: Dave Revering and cash were traded by the Reds to the Oakland Athletics for Doug Bair.Dave Revering at Baseball Reference 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.http://mlb.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20100316&content_id=8811150&vkey=news_mlb&fext=.jsp&c_id=mlb How St. Patrick's became baseball's holiday; Cincy GM Dick Wagner turned the Reds green in '78 Tom Singer March 17, 2010 MLB.com February 23, 2012 Regular season thumb|260px|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. On June 16, 1978 at Riverfront Stadium, Tom Seaver recorded a 4-0 no-hitter against the St. Louis Cardinals. It was the only no-hitter of his professional career. Season standings Record vs. opponents CIN Notable transactions June 6, 1978: 1978 Major League Baseball draft Skeeter Barnes was drafted by the Reds in the 16th round. Player signed June 8, 1978.Skeeter Barnes at Baseball Reference Otis Nixon was drafted by the Reds in the 21st round, but did not sign.Otis Nixon at Baseball Reference May 19, 1978: Dale Murray was traded by the Reds to the New York Mets for Ken Henderson. 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. Three days later, due to an illness and back spasms, Rose was forced to snap a 678 consecutive games played streak, which was the longest active streak in the majors at the time.Illness Benches Rose, Ends Streak https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-cincinnati-enquirer-pete-rose-may-19/130509419/ Bob Hertzel The Cincinnati Enquirer 1 Newspapers.com May 8, 1978 August 23, 2023 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."http://www.findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m0FCI/is_2_63/ai_112167128 https://web.archive.org/web/20040906180014/http://www.findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m0FCI/is_2_63/ai_112167128 usurped September 6, 2004 Baseball Digest Former reliever Gene Garber recalls 19-year career and his role in baseball history Joe O'Loughlin 2 63 2004 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 0http://www.baseball-almanac.com/feats/feats13.shtml Pete Rose Consecutive Games Hitting Streak by Baseball Almanac Roster 1978 Cincinnati Reds Roster Pitchers 40 Doug Bair 42 Bill Bonham 34 Pedro Borbón 44 Doug Capilla 50 Dan Dumoulin 47 Tom Hume 51 Mike LaCoss 31 Paul Moskau 37 Dale Murray 32 Fred Norman 45 Manny Sarmiento 41 Tom Seaver 36 Mario Soto 43 Dave Tomlin Catchers  5 Johnny Bench  9 Vic Correll  7 Don Werner Infielders 23 Rick Auerbach 13 Dave Concepción 58 Arturo DeFreites 22 Dan Driessen 17 Mike Grace 26 Junior Kennedy 25 Ray Knight  8 Joe Morgan 16 Ron Oester 14 Pete Rose Outfielders 29 Dave Collins 15 George Foster 20 César Gerónimo 30 Ken Griffey 19 Ken Henderson 21 Mike Lum 28 Champ Summers Other batters 56 Harry Spilman Manager 10 Sparky Anderson Coaches  6 Alex Grammas 18 Ted Kluszewski  2 Russ Nixon 11 Ron Plaza  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 120 393 102 .260 23 73 1B Dan Driessen 153 524 131 .250 16 70 2B Joe Morgan 132 441 104 .236 13 75 3B Pete Rose 159 655 198 .302 7 52 SS Dave Concepción 153 565 170 .301 6 67 LF George Foster George Foster (baseball) 158 604 170 .281 40 120 CF César Gerónimo 122 296 67 .226 5 27 RF Ken Griffey Ken Griffey, Sr. 158 614 177 .288 10 63https://www.baseball-reference.com/teams/CIN/1978.shtml 1978 Cincinnati Reds Statistics 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 Junior Kennedy 89 157 40 .255 0 11 Mike Lum 86 146 39 .267 6 23 Ken Henderson 64 144 24 .167 3 19 Don Werner 50 113 17 .150 0 11 Vic Correll 52 105 25 .238 1 6 Dave Collins baseball 102 102 22 .216 0 7 Ray Knight 83 65 13 .200 1 4 Rick Auerbach 63 55 18 .327 2 5 Champ Summers 13 35 9 .257 1 3 Arturo DeFreites 9 19 4 .211 1 2 Ron Oester 6 8 3 .375 0 1 Harry Spilman 4 4 1 .250 0 0 Mike Grace Mike Grace (third baseman) 5 3 0 .000 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 Tom Seaver 36 259.2 16 14 2.88 226 Fred Norman Fred Norman (baseball) 31 177.1 11 9 3.70 111 Paul Moskau 26 145.0 6 4 3.97 88 Bill Bonham 23 140.1 11 5 3.53 83 Mike LaCoss 16 96.0 4 8 4.50 31 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 42 174.0 8 11 4.14 90 Mario Soto Mario Soto (baseball) 5 18.0 1 0 2.50 13 Doug Capilla 6 11.0 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 Doug Bair 70 7 6 28 1.97 91 Manny Sarmiento 63 9 7 5 4.38 72 Pedro Borbón 62 8 2 4 4.98 35 Dave Tomlin 57 9 1 4 5.78 32 Dale Murray 15 1 1 2 4.13 25 Dan Dumoulin 3 1 0 0 1.80 2 Farm system Minor League Baseball 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 2 References 1978 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 Cincinnati Reds