1970 Cincinnati Reds season

1970 Cincinnati Reds
1970 National League Champions 1970 NL West Champions
Major League affiliations
National League (since 1890)
Western Division (since 1969)
Location
Crosley Field (since 1934) Riverfront Stadium (since 1970)
Cincinnati (since 1882)
Other information
Owner(s)	Francis Dale
General manager(s)	Bob Howsam
Manager(s)	Sparky Anderson
Local television	WLW (Ed Kennedy, Pee Wee Reese)
Local radio	WLW (Jim McIntyre, Joe Nuxhall)
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The 1970 Cincinnati Reds season consisted of the Reds winning the National League West title with a record of 102-60, 14½ games ahead of the runner-up Los Angeles Dodgers. The Reds defeated the Pittsburgh Pirates in three straight games in the 1970 National League Championship Series to win their first National League pennant since 1961. The team then lost to the Baltimore Orioles in the 1970 World Series in five games.

The Reds were managed by first-year manager George "Sparky" Anderson and played their home games at Crosley Field during the first part of the year, before moving into the then-new Riverfront Stadium on June 30.

Offseason

• October 24, 1969: Mel Queen was purchased from the Reds by the California Angels.^[1]
• October 29, 1969: Pedro Ramos was released by the Reds.^[2]
• November 14, 1969: Joaquín Andújar was signed as an amateur free agent by the Reds.^[3]
• November 25, 1969: Alex Johnson and Chico Ruiz were traded by the Reds to the California Angels for Pedro Borbón, Vern Geishert and Jim McGlothlin.^[4]
• January 14, 1970: Jack Fisher was traded by the Reds to the California Angels for Bill Harrelson and Dan Loomer (minors).^[5]
• January 17, 1970: Joel Youngblood was drafted by the Reds in the 2nd round of the 1970 Major League Baseball draft.^[6]
• February 4, 1970: Dennis Ribant was traded by the Reds to the Pittsburgh Pirates for Bo Belinsky.^[7]

Regular season

Buoyed by a lineup that included third baseman Tony Pérez, NL MVP catcher Johnny Bench, right fielder Pete Rose, center fielder Bobby Tolan and first baseman Lee May, the Reds got off to a 70-30 start. The Reds, who had been near the bottom of the NL in pitching in 1969, were aided by a young staff that included 18-game winner Gary Nolan (22), rookies Wayne Simpson (21) and Don Gullett (19), 20-game winner Jim Merritt (26) and record-setting reliever Wayne Granger, who appeared in a then-record 90 games in 1969.^[8] Simpson, a hard-throwing former first-round draft pick, started the season 9-1 and earned an all-star berth. He was 14-3 before he suffered a season-ending arm injury with 30 games left.

Season standings

NL West	W	L	Pct.	GB	Home	Road
Cincinnati Reds	102	60	0.630	—	57–24	45–36
Los Angeles Dodgers	87	74	0.540	14½	39–42	48–32
San Francisco Giants	86	76	0.531	16	48–33	38–43
Houston Astros	79	83	0.488	23	44–37	35–46
Atlanta Braves	76	86	0.469	26	42–39	34–47
San Diego Padres	63	99	0.389	39	31–50	32–49

Record vs. opponents

1970 National League Records Sources:
Team	ATL	CHC	CIN	HOU	LAD	MON	NYM	PHI	PIT	SD	SF	STL
Atlanta	—	8–4	5–13	9–9	6–12	6–6	6–6	7–5	6–6	9–9	7–11	7–5
Chicago	4–8	—	7–5	7–5	6–6	13–5	7–11	9–9	8–10	9–3	7–5	7–11
Cincinnati	13–5	5–7	—	15–3	13–5	7–5	8–4	7–5	8–4	8–10	9–9	9–3
Houston	9–9	5–7	3–15	—	8–10	8–4	6–6	4–8	6–6	14–4	10–8	6–6
Los Angeles	12–6	6–6	5–13	10–8	—	8–4	7–5	6–5	6–6	11–7	9–9	7–5
Montreal	6–6	5–13	5–7	4–8	4–8	—	10–8	11–7	9–9	6–6	6–6	7–11
New York	6–6	11–7	4–8	6–6	5–7	8–10	—	13–5	6–12	6–6	6–6	12–6
Philadelphia	5-7	9–9	5–7	8–4	5–6	7–11	5–13	—	4–14	9–3	8–4	8–10
Pittsburgh	6–6	10–8	4–8	6–6	6–6	9–9	12–6	14–4	—	6–6	4–8	12–6
San Diego	9–9	3–9	10–8	4–14	7–11	6–6	6–6	3–9	6–6	—	5–13	4–8
San Francisco	11–7	5–7	9–9	8–10	9–9	6–6	6–6	4–8	8–4	13–5	—	7–5
St. Louis	5–7	11–7	3–9	6–6	5–7	11–7	6–12	10–8	6–12	8–4	5–7	—

Notable transactions

• April 13, 1970: Al Jackson was released by the Reds.^[9]
• May 27, 1970: Arturo DeFreites was signed as an amateur free agent by the Reds.^[10]
• June 4, 1970: 1970 Major League Baseball draft
  • Will McEnaney was drafted by the Reds in the 8th round.^[11]
  • Ray Knight was drafted by the Reds in the 10th round.^[12]
• June 15, 1970: Clyde Mashore was traded by the Reds to the Montreal Expos for Ty Cline.^[13]

Riverfront Stadium

Riverfront Stadium was opened in 1970, and it was the home of the Cincinnati Reds National League baseball team and the Cincinnati Bengals National Football League team. Located on the Ohio River in downtown Cincinnati, the stadium was best known as the home of "The Big Red Machine", as the Reds were often called in the 1970s. Construction began on February 1, 1968 and was completed at a cost of less than $50 million. On June 30, 1970, the Reds hosted the Atlanta Braves in their grand opening, with Hank Aaron hitting the first ever home run at Riverfront. Two weeks later on July 14, Riverfront hosted the 1970 Major League Baseball All-Star Game. This game is most remembered for the often-replayed collision at home plate between the home-grown Pete Rose and catcher Ray Fosse of the Cleveland Indians.

Roster

1970 Cincinnati Reds
Roster
Pitchers 33 Mel Behney 34 Bo Belinsky 34 Pedro Borbón 36 Clay Carroll 40 Tony Cloninger 37 Wayne Granger 35 Don Gullett 46 Jim Maloney 31 Jim McGlothlin 30 Jim Merritt 38 Gary Nolan 42 John Noriega 45 Wayne Simpson 39 Ray Washburn 43 Milt Wilcox		Catchers  5 Johnny Bench  7 Pat Corrales  9 Bill Plummer Infielders 12 Darrel Chaney 13 Dave Concepción 15 Frank Duffy 19 Tommy Helms 23 Lee May 24 Tony Pérez 17 Jay Ward  6 Woody Woodward		Outfielders 22 Ángel Bravo 25 Bernie Carbo 17 Ty Cline 11 Hal McRae 14 Pete Rose 16 Jimmy Stewart 28 Bobby Tolan		Manager 10 Sparky Anderson Coaches  2 Alex Grammas 18 Ted Kluszewski  3 George Scherger  4 Larry Shepard

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	Bench, JohnnyJohnny Bench	158	605	177	.293	45	148
1B	May, LeeLee May	153	605	153	.253	34	94
2B	Helms, TommyTommy Helms	150	575	136	.237	1	45
3B	Pérez, TonyTony Pérez	158	587	186	.317	40	129
SS	Concepción, DaveDave Concepción	101	265	69	.260	1	19
LF	Carbo, BernieBernie Carbo	125	365	113	.310	21	63
CF	Tolan, BobbyBobby Tolan	152	589	186	.316	16	80
RF	Rose, PetePete Rose	159	649	205	.316	15	52

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
Cline, TyTy Cline	48	63	17	.270	0	8

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
Nolan, GaryGary Nolan	37	250.2	18	7	3.27	181
Merritt, JimJim Merritt	35	234	20	12	4.08	136
McGlothlin, JimJim McGlothlin	35	210.2	14	10	3.59	97
Simpson, WayneWayne Simpson	26	176	14	3	3.02	119

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
Cloninger, TonyTony Cloninger	30	148	9	7	3.83	56
Wilcox, MiltMilt Wilcox	5	22.1	3	1	2.42	13
Maloney, JimJim Maloney	7	16.2	0	1	11.34	7
Behney, MelMel Behney	5	10	0	2	4.50	2

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
Granger, WayneWayne Granger	67	6	5	35	2.66	38
Carroll, ClayClay Carroll	65	9	4	16	2.59	63
Gullett, DonDon Gullett	44	5	2	6	2.43	76
Borbón, PedroPedro Borbón	12	0	2	0	6.75	6
Belinsky, BoBo Belinsky	3	0	0	0	4.50	6

Postseason

1970 National League Championship Series

Game One

October 3, Three Rivers Stadium

Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	R	H	E
Cincinnati	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	3	3	9	0
Pittsburgh	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	8	0
W: Gary Nolan (1-0)  L: Dock Ellis (0-1)  SV: Clay Carroll (1)
HRs: None

Game Two

October 4, Three Rivers Stadium

Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
Cincinnati	0	0	1	0	1	0	0	1	0	3	8	1
Pittsburgh	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	0	0	1	5	2
W: Jim Merritt (1-0)  L: Luke Walker (0-1)  SV: Don Gullett (1)
HRs: CIN – Bobby Tolan (1)

Game Three

October 5, Riverfront Stadium

Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
Pittsburgh	1	0	0	0	1	0	0	0	0	2	10	0
Cincinnati	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	X	3	5	0
W: Milt Wilcox (1-0)  L: Bob Moose (0-1)  SV: Don Gullett (2)
HRs: CIN – Tony Pérez (1), Johnny Bench (1)

1970 World Series

After their win in the NLCS, additional injuries to Merritt and Granger caught up to the Reds against the Orioles. In three of their losses, the Reds had leads of 3-0, 4-0 and 3-0. The Reds' only win came in Game 4 on a Lee May 3-run home run in the eighth inning.

1970 World Series (4-1): Baltimore Orioles (A.L.) over Cincinnati Reds (N.L.)

Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
Baltimore Orioles	4	3	6	3	8	5	2	2	0	33	50	5
Cincinnati Reds	7	2	4	0	1	1	2	3	0	20	35	3
Total Attendance: 253,183   Average Attendance: 50,637
Winning Player's Share: – $18,216,   Losing Player's Share– $13,688 *Includes Playoffs and World Series

Awards and honors

• Johnny Bench, National League MVP Award (He was the youngest National League player in the 20th century to win the MVP Award.)^[14]

Farm system

Level	Team	League	Manager
AAA	Indianapolis Indians	American Association	Vern Rapp
AA	Asheville Tourists	Southern League	Jim Snyder
A	Tampa Tarpons	Florida State League	Dick Kennedy
A-Short Season	Sioux Falls Packers	Northern League	Russ Nixon
Rookie	GCL Reds	Gulf Coast League	Ron Plaza

^[15]

Notes

1. Mel Queen at Baseball Reference
2. Pedro Ramos at Baseball Reference
3. Joaquín Andújar at Baseball Reference
4. Pedro Borbón at Baseball Reference
5. Jack Fisher at Baseball Reference
6. Joel Youngblood at Baseball Reference
7. Bo Belinsky at Baseball Reference
8. Progressive Leaders & Records for Games Played
9. Al Jackson at Baseball Reference
10. Arturo DeFreites at Baseball-Reference
11. Will McEnaney at Baseball-Reference
12. Ray Knight at Baseball-Reference
13. Clyde Mashore at Baseball Reference
14. Great Baseball Feats, Facts and Figures, 2008 Edition, p. 152, David Nemec and Scott Flatow, A Signet Book, Penguin Group, New York, ISBN 978-0-451-22363-0
15. Johnson, Lloyd, and Wolff, Miles, ed., The Encyclopedia of Minor League Baseball, 3rd edition. Durham, North Carolina: Baseball America, 2007

References

• 1970 Cincinnati Reds season at Baseball Reference