1979 Cincinnati Reds season

The 1979 Cincinnati Reds season consisted of the Reds winning 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.

1979 Cincinnati Reds
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)
Seasons

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

NL West

Team	W	L	Pct.	GB	Home	Road
Cincinnati Reds	90	71	.559	—	48‍–‍32	42‍–‍39
Houston Astros	89	73	.549	1½	52‍–‍29	37‍–‍44
Los Angeles Dodgers	79	83	.488	11½	46‍–‍35	33‍–‍48
San Francisco Giants	71	91	.438	19½	38‍–‍43	33‍–‍48
San Diego Padres	68	93	.422	22	39‍–‍42	29‍–‍51
Atlanta Braves	66	94	.412	23½	34‍–‍45	32‍–‍49

Record vs. opponents

1979 National League record 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	—	4–8	6–12	7–11	12–6	1–9	4–8	7–5	4–8	6–12	11–7	4–8
Chicago	8–4	—	7–5	6–6	5–7	6–12	8–10	9–9	6–12	9–3	8–4	8–10
Cincinnati	12–6	5–7	—	8–10	11–7	6–6	8–4	8–4	8–4	10–7	6–12	8–4
Houston	11–7	6–6	10–8	—	10–8	7–5	9–3	5–7	4–8	14–4	7–11	6–6
Los Angeles	6–12	7–5	7–11	8–10	—	6–6	9–3	3–9	4–8	9–9	14–4	6–6
Montreal	9–1	12–6	6–6	5–7	6–6	—	15–3	11–7	7–11	7–5	7–5	10–8
New York	8–4	10–8	4–8	3–9	3–9	3–15	—	5–13	8–10	4–8	8–4	7–11
Philadelphia	5–7	9–9	4–8	7–5	9–3	7–11	13–5	—	8–10	9–3	6–6	7–11
Pittsburgh	8–4	12–6	4–8	8–4	8–4	11–7	10–8	10–8	—	7–5	9–3	11–7
San Diego	12–6	3–9	7–10	4–14	9–9	5–7	8–4	3–9	5–7	—	8–10	4–8
San Francisco	7–11	4–8	12–6	11–7	4–14	5–7	4–8	6–6	3–9	10–8	—	5–7
St. Louis	8–4	10–8	4–8	6–6	6–6	8–10	11–7	11–7	7–11	8–4	7–5	—

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 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

Game log

Regular season

1979 regular season game log: 90–71 (Home: 48–32; Away: 42–39)
April: 11–10 (Home: 5–6; Away: 6–4) # Date Time (ET) Opponent Score Win Loss Save Time of Game Attendance Record Box/ Streak 17 April 24 Pirates L 2–9 18 April 25 Pirates L 2–3 (11)
May: 15–13 (Home: 8–4; Away: 7–9) # Date Time (ET) Opponent Score Win Loss Save Time of Game Attendance Record Box/ Streak 24 May 4 Astros W 6–5 (10) Bair Riccelli — 3:47 20,988 13–11 W2 25 May 5 Astros W 6–2 Hume Andújar Pastore 2:13 25,044 14–11 W3 26 May 6 (1) Astros W 17–5 27 May 6 (2) Astros L 2–8 Riccelli 31 May 11 @ Pirates W 8–4 32 May 12 @ Pirates L 2–3 33 May 13 @ Pirates W 7–3 47 May 29 @ Astros L 1–2 48 May 30 @ Astros L 3–6 49 May 31 @ Astros L 0–3
June: 15–14 (Home: 8–5; Away: 7–9) # Date Time (ET) Opponent Score Win Loss Save Time of Game Attendance Record Box/ Streak 57 June 8 Expos W 3–2 58 June 9 Expos W 7–1 59 June 10 Expos W 3–2 66 June 18 @ Expos W 3–2 67 June 19 @ Expos L 2–3 68 June 20 @ Expos L 4–5 (11) 72 June 25 (1) @ Astros W 2–1 Bair 73 June 25 (2) @ Astros L 0–4 74 June 26 @ Astros L 5–6 Bair
July: 17–14 (Home: 8–8; Away: 9–6) # Date Time (ET) Opponent Score Win Loss Save Time of Game Attendance Record Box/ Streak 81 July 3 Astros L 2–3 82 July 4 Astros L 2–3 Andújar 83 July 5 Astros W 5–4 Bair 84 July 6 Pirates W 2–1 85 July 7 Pirates W 6–2 86 July 8 (1) Pirates W 4–2 87 July 8 (2) Pirates L 1–2 50th All-Star Game in Seattle, Washington 101 July 24 @ Pirates W 6–5 102 July 25 @ Pirates W 6–5 (10) 103 July 26 @ Pirates W 9–7
August: 19–7 (Home: 12–4; Away: 7–3) # Date Time (ET) Opponent Score Win Loss Save Time of Game Attendance Record Box/ Streak 126 August 20 Expos L 2–5 127 August 21 Expos W 3–2 128 August 22 Expos W 7–2 135 August 31 @ Expos L 7–8 (10)
September: 13–13 (Home: 7–5; Away: 6–8) # Date Time (ET) Opponent Score Win Loss Save Time of Game Attendance Record Box/ Streak 136 September 1 @ Expos L 2–7 137 September 2 @ Expos L 1–13 145 September 11 Astros W 9–8 Hume 146 September 12 Astros W 7–4 Pastore 154 September 21 @ Astros L 2–3 (13) Hume 155 September 22 @ Astros L 1–4 156 September 23 @ Astros W 7–1 Pastore
Legend:        = Win        = Loss        = Postponement Bold = Reds team member

Postseason Game log

1979 Postseason game log: 0–3 (Home: 0–2; Away: 0–1)
NL Championship Series: vs. Pittsburgh Pirates 0–3 (Home: 0–2; Away: 0–1) # Date Time (ET) Opponent Score Win Loss Save Time of Game Attendance Series Box/ Streak 1 October 2 Pirates L 2–5 (11) 2 October 3 Pirates L 2–3 (10) 3 October 5 @ Pirates L 1–7
Legend:        = Win        = Loss Bold = Reds team member

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	121	440	133	.302	30	98
CF	César Gerónimo	123	356	85	.239	4	38
RF	Ken Griffey	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
Dave Collins	122	396	126	.318	3	35
Junior Kennedy	83	220	60	.273	1	17
Héctor Cruz	74	182	44	.242	4	27
Paul Blair	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	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	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

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

See also: Minor League Baseball

Level	Team	League	Manager
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

References

• 1979 Cincinnati Reds season at Baseball Reference
• Johnson, Lloyd; Wolff, Miles, eds. (1997). The Encyclopedia of Minor League Baseball (2nd ed.). Durham, North Carolina: Baseball America. ISBN 978-0-9637189-8-3.