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1979 Cincinnati Reds season
| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| name | Cincinnati Reds |
| season | 1979 |
| misc | National League West champions |
| league | National League |
| division | West |
| ballpark | Riverfront Stadium |
| city | Cincinnati |
| record | 90–71 (.559) |
| divisional_place | 1st |
| owners | Louis Nippert |
| general_managers | Dick Wagner |
| managers | John McNamara |
| television | WLWT |
| (Ray Lane, Bill Brown) | |
| radio | WLW |
| (Marty Brennaman, Joe Nuxhall) |
(Ray Lane, Bill Brown) (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.
Regular season
Season standings
Record vs. opponents
Notable transactions
- May 8, 1979: Paul Blair was signed as a free agent by the Reds.
- 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.
- June 5, 1979: Jeff Jones was drafted by the Reds in the 20th round of the 1979 Major League Baseball draft.
- June 28, 1979: Pedro Borbón was traded by the Reds to the San Francisco Giants for Héctor Cruz.
Roster
| 1979 Cincinnati Reds |
|---|
| **Roster** |
| **Pitchers** |
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 | 130 | 464 | 128 | .276 | 22 | 80 | |
| 1B | 150 | 515 | 129 | .250 | 18 | 75 | |
| 2B | 127 | 436 | 109 | .250 | 9 | 32 | |
| 3B | 150 | 551 | 175 | .318 | 10 | 79 | |
| SS | 149 | 590 | 166 | .281 | 16 | 84 | |
| LF | 121 | 440 | 133 | .302 | 30 | 98 | |
| CF | 123 | 356 | 85 | .239 | 4 | 38 | |
| RF | 95 | 380 | 120 | .316 | 8 | 32 |
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 122 | 396 | 126 | .318 | 3 | 35 | |
| 83 | 220 | 60 | .273 | 1 | 17 | |
| 74 | 182 | 44 | .242 | 4 | 27 | |
| 75 | 140 | 21 | .150 | 2 | 15 | |
| 62 | 100 | 21 | .210 | 1 | 12 | |
| 27 | 60 | 12 | .200 | 1 | 11 | |
| 43 | 56 | 12 | .214 | 0 | 5 | |
| 23 | 34 | 7 | .206 | 0 | 4 | |
| 10 | 13 | 3 | .231 | 0 | 2 | |
| 7 | 6 | 1 | .167 | 0 | 0 | |
| 6 | 3 | 0 | .000 | 0 | 0 | |
| 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 32 | 215.0 | 16 | 6 | 3.14 | 131 | |
| 35 | 205.2 | 14 | 8 | 3.50 | 73 | |
| 34 | 195.1 | 11 | 13 | 3.64 | 95 | |
| 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 57 | 163.0 | 10 | 9 | 2.76 | 80 | |
| 21 | 106.0 | 5 | 4 | 3.89 | 58 | |
| 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 65 | 11 | 7 | 16 | 4.29 | 86 | |
| 53 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 2.62 | 30 | |
| 30 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 3.43 | 23 | |
| 25 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 5.30 | 32 | |
| 23 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 4.66 | 23 | |
| 5 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 8.53 | 0 | |
| 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.00 | 1 |
National League Championship Series
Main article: 1979 National League Championship Series
Game 1
October 2, Riverfront Stadium
| Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | R | H | E |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| **Pittsburgh** | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | **5** | **10** | **0** |
| Cincinnati | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | **2** | **7** | **0** |
| **W**: 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
| Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | R | H | E |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| **Pittsburgh** | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | **3** | **11** | **0** |
| Cincinnati | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | **2** | **8** | **0** |
| **W**: Don Robinson (1–0) **L**: Doug Bair (0–1) **SV**: None | |||||||||||||
| **HRs**: **PIT** – None **CIN** – None |
Game 3
October 5, Three Rivers Stadium
| Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cincinnati | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | **1** | **8** | **1** |
| **Pittsburgh** | 1 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | X | **7** | **7** | **0** |
| **W**: Bert Blyleven (1–0) **L**: Mike LaCoss (0–1) **SV**: None | ||||||||||||
| **HRs**: **CIN** – Johnny Bench (1) **PIT** – Willie Stargell (2) Bill Madlock (1) |
Farm system
LEAGUE CHAMPIONS: Nashville
Notes
References
References
- [https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/b/bordlbi01.shtml Bill Bordley page at Baseball-Reference]
- [https://www.baseball-reference.com/b/blairpa01.shtml Paul Blair page at Baseball-Reference]
- [https://www.baseball-reference.com/s/summech01.shtml Champ Summers page at Baseball-Reference]
- [https://www.baseball-reference.com/j/jonesje02.shtml Jeff Jones page at Baseball-Reference]
- [https://www.baseball-reference.com/b/borbope01.shtml Pedro Borbón page at Baseball-Reference]
- "1979 Cincinnati Reds Statistics".
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