1979 Cincinnati Reds season

March 2026 November 2013 Cincinnati Reds 1979 National League West champions National League West Riverfront Stadium Cincinnati 90–71 (.559) 1st Louis Nippert Dick Wagner John McNamara WLWT(Ray Lane, Bill Brown) WLW(Marty Brennaman, Joe Nuxhall) The 1979 Cincinnati Reds season was the 110th season for the franchise in Major League Baseball, and their 10th and 9th full season at Riverfront Stadium. The Reds won the National League West under their first-year manager John McNamara, with a record of 90–71, 1½ games better than the Houston Astros. It was a year of great change for the Reds, who lost long-time star Pete Rose to the Philadelphia Phillies, who signed Rose as an unrestricted free agent. Also, long-time manager and future Hall of Famer Sparky Anderson was fired by new general manager Dick Wagner when Anderson refused to make changes in his coaching staff. McNamara guided the Reds to its first West Division title in three years. Wagner replaced long-time GM Bob Howsam, who retired after running the Reds for 12 years. Through some good drafts and several key trades, Howsam built a team that won six division titles, and played in four World Series, winning two, during the 1970s. However, the Reds lost the NLCS to the eventual World Series champion Pittsburgh Pirates in three straight games. It was the first time in four tries the Pirates had upended the Reds in a league championship series since Major League Baseball began divisional play in 1969. It would be Cincinnati's last postseason appearance until 1990. The Reds played their home games at Riverfront Stadium. Offseason January 9, 1979: Bill Bordley was drafted by the Reds in 1979, but the pick was voided.Bill Bordley page at Baseball-Reference Regular season Season standings Record vs. opponents CIN Notable transactions May 8, 1979: Paul Blair was signed as a free agent by the Reds.Paul Blair page at Baseball-Reference May 25, 1979: Champ Summers was traded by the Reds to the Detroit Tigers for a player to be named later. The Tigers completed the deal by sending Sheldon Burnside to the Reds on October 25.Champ Summers page at Baseball-Reference June 5, 1979: Jeff Jones was drafted by the Reds in the 20th round of the 1979 Major League Baseball draft.Jeff Jones page at Baseball-Reference June 28, 1979: Pedro Borbón was traded by the Reds to the San Francisco Giants for Héctor Cruz.Pedro Borbón page at Baseball-Reference Roster 1979 Cincinnati Reds Roster Pitchers 40 Doug Bair 42 Bill Bonham 34 Pedro Borbón 44 Doug Capilla 47 Tom Hume 51 Mike LaCoss 44 Charlie Leibrandt 31 Paul Moskau 34 Fred Norman 35 Frank Pastore 45 Manny Sarmiento 41 Tom Seaver 36 Mario Soto 37,43 Dave Tomlin Catchers  5 Johnny Bench  9 Vic Correll Infielders 23 Rick Auerbach 13 Dave Concepción 21 Arturo DeFreites 22 Dan Driessen 26 Junior Kennedy 25 Ray Knight  8 Joe Morgan 16 Ron Oester 12 Harry Spilman Outfielders 33 Paul Blair 29 Dave Collins  7 Héctor Cruz 15 George Foster 20 César Gerónimo 30 Ken Griffey 16,19 Ken Henderson 28 Sam Mejías 28 Champ Summers Other batters 21 Rafael Santo Domingo Manager  3 John McNamara Coaches  4 Harry Dunlop  6 Bill Fischer  2 Russ Nixon 11 Ron Plaza 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 Johnny Bench 130 464 128 .276 22 80 1B Dan Driessen 150 515 129 .250 18 75 2B Joe Morgan 127 436 109 .250 9 32 3B Ray Knight 150 551 175 .318 10 79 SS Dave Concepción 149 590 166 .281 16 84 LF George Foster George Foster (baseball) 121 440 133 .302 30 98 CF César Gerónimo 123 356 85 .239 4 38 RF Ken Griffey Ken Griffey, Sr. 95 380 120 .316 8 32https://www.baseball-reference.com/teams/CIN/1979.shtml 1979 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 Dave Collins baseball 122 396 126 .318 3 35 Junior Kennedy 83 220 60 .273 1 17 Héctor Cruz Hector Cruz (baseball) 74 182 44 .242 4 27 Paul Blair Paul Blair (baseball) 75 140 21 .150 2 15 Rick Auerbach 62 100 21 .210 1 12 Champ Summers 27 60 12 .200 1 11 Harry Spilman 43 56 12 .214 0 5 Arturo DeFreites 23 34 7 .206 0 4 Ken Henderson 10 13 3 .231 0 2 Rafael Santo Domingo 7 6 1 .167 0 0 Ron Oester 6 3 0 .000 0 0 Sam Mejias 7 2 1 .500 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 32 215.0 16 6 3.14 131 Mike LaCoss 35 205.2 14 8 3.50 73 Fred Norman Fred Norman (baseball) 34 195.1 11 13 3.64 95 Bill Bonham 29 175.2 9 7 3.79 78 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 57 163.0 10 9 2.76 80 Paul Moskau 21 106.0 5 4 3.89 58 Frank Pastore 30 95.1 6 7 4.25 63 Note: Tom Hume led the Reds in saves with 17. 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 65 11 7 16 4.29 86 Dave Tomlin 53 2 2 1 2.62 30 Pedro Borbón 30 2 2 2 3.43 23 Mario Soto Mario Soto (baseball) 25 3 2 0 5.30 32 Manny Sarmiento 23 0 4 0 4.66 23 Doug Capilla 5 1 0 0 8.53 0 Charlie Leibrandt 3 0 0 0 0.00 1 National League Championship Series 1979 National League Championship Series Game 1 October 2, Riverfront Stadium Team1234567891011RHEPittsburgh002000000035100Cincinnati00020000000270W: Grant Jackson (1–0)  L: Tom Hume (0–1)   SV: Don Robinson (1)HRs: PIT – Phil Garner (1)   Willie Stargell (1)   CIN – George Foster (1) Game 2 October 3, Riverfront Stadium Team12345678910RHEPittsburgh00011000013110Cincinnati0100000010280W: Don Robinson (1–0)  L: Doug Bair (0–1)   SV: NoneHRs: PIT – None   CIN – None Game 3 October 5, Three Rivers Stadium Team123456789RHECincinnati000001000181Pittsburgh11220001X770W: Bert Blyleven (1–0)  L: Mike LaCoss (0–1)   SV: NoneHRs: CIN – Johnny Bench (1)   PIT – Willie Stargell (2)   Bill Madlock (1) Farm system Minor League Baseball AAA Indianapolis Indians American Association Roy Majtyka AA Nashville Sounds Southern League George Scherger A Tampa Tarpons Florida State League Mike Compton A Greensboro Hornets Western Carolinas League Jim Lett A-Short Season Eugene Emeralds Northwest League Greg Riddoch Rookie Billings Mustangs Pioneer League Jim Hoff LEAGUE CHAMPIONS: Nashville Notes 2 References 1979 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 Category:National League West champion seasons Cinc