1984 Cincinnati Reds season

1984 Cincinnati Reds
LeagueNational League
DivisionWest
BallparkRiverfront Stadium
CityCincinnati
Record70–92 (.432)
Divisional place5th
OwnersMarge Schott
General managersBob Howsam, Bill Bergesch
ManagersVern Rapp, Pete Rose
TelevisionWLWT, Sports Time
(Ray Lane, Ken Wilson)
RadioWLW
(Marty Brennaman, Joe Nuxhall)
← 1983 Seasons 1985 →

The Cincinnati Reds' 1984 season consisted of the Cincinnati Reds attempting to win the National League West. 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

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.[8]

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.[9]

Season standings

NL West
Team W L Pct. GB Home Road
San Diego Padres 92 70 .568 48‍–‍33 44‍–‍37
Atlanta Braves 80 82 .494 12 38‍–‍43 42‍–‍39
Houston Astros 80 82 .494 12 43‍–‍38 37‍–‍44
Los Angeles Dodgers 79 83 .488 13 40‍–‍41 39‍–‍42
Cincinnati Reds 70 92 .432 22 39‍–‍42 31‍–‍50
San Francisco Giants 66 96 .407 26 35‍–‍46 31‍–‍50

Record vs. opponents


Sources: [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] [8] [9] [10] [11] [12]
Team ATL CHC CIN HOU LAD MON NYM PHI PIT SD SF STL
Atlanta 3–9 13–5 12–6 6–12 5–7 4–8 7–5 8–4 7–11 10–8 5–7
Chicago 9–3 7–5 6–6 7–5 10–7 12–6 9–9 8–10 6–6 9–3 13–5
Cincinnati 5–13 5–7 8–10 7–11 7–5 3–9 5–7 7–5 7–11 12–6 4–8
Houston 6–12 6–6 10–8 9–9 7–5 4–8 6–6 6–6 6–12 12–6 8–4
Los Angeles 12–6 5–7 7–11 9–9 6–6 3–9 3–9 4–8 10–8 10–8 6–6
Montreal 7–5 7–10 5–7 5–7 6–6 7–11 11–7 7–11 7–5 7–5 9–9
New York 8–4 6–12 9–3 8–4 9–3 11–7 10–8 12–6 6–6 4–8 7–11
Philadelphia 5-7 9–9 7–5 6–6 9–3 7–11 8–10 7–11 7–5 8–4 8–10
Pittsburgh 4–8 10–8 5–7 6–6 8–4 11–7 6–12 11–7 4–8 6–6 4–14
San Diego 11–7 6–6 11–7 12–6 8–10 5–7 6–6 5–7 8–4 13–5 7–5
San Francisco 8–10 3–9 6–12 6–12 8–10 5–7 8–4 4–8 6–6 5–13 7–5
St. Louis 7–5 5–13 8–4 4–8 6–6 9–9 11–7 10–8 14–4 5–7 5–7


Notable transactions

Roster

1984 Cincinnati Reds roster
Roster
Pitchers Catchers

Infielders

Outfielders Manager

Coaches

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 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 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 8 1 0 0 5.23 7
Carl Willis 7 0 1 1 3.72 3

Farm system

Level Team League Manager
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

  1. ^ "Brad Gulden Stats". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved September 10, 2024.
  2. ^ "Bob Owchinko Stats". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved September 10, 2024.
  3. ^ "Steve Christmas Stats". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved September 10, 2024.
  4. ^ "Wayne Krenchicki Stats". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved September 10, 2024.
  5. ^ "Fran Mullins Stats". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved September 10, 2024.
  6. ^ "Tony Pérez Stats". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved September 10, 2024.
  7. ^ "Dave Parker Stats". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved September 10, 2024.
  8. ^ "SPORTS PEOPLE; Soto Faces Suspension". The New York Times. June 19, 1984.
  9. ^ "1984 Cincinnati Reds Schedule". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved September 10, 2024.
  10. ^ "Dallas Williams Stats". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved September 10, 2024.
  11. ^ "Pete Rose Stats". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved September 10, 2024.

References