1978 Cincinnati Reds season

1978 Cincinnati Reds
Major League affiliations
National League (since 1890)
Western Division (since 1969)
Location
Riverfront Stadium (since 1970)
Cincinnati (since 1882)
Other information
Owner(s)	Louis Nippert
General manager(s)	Bob Howsam, Dick Wagner
Manager(s)	Sparky Anderson
Local television	WLWT (Ken Coleman, Bill Brown)
Local radio	WLW (Marty Brennaman, Joe Nuxhall)
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The 1978 Cincinnati Reds season was a season in American baseball. The Reds finished in second place in the National League West with a record of 92-69, 2½ games behind the Los Angeles Dodgers. The Reds were managed by Sparky Anderson and played their home games at Riverfront Stadium. Following the season, Anderson was replaced as manager by John McNamara, and Pete Rose left to sign with the Philadelphia Phillies for the 1979 season.

Offseason

• October 31, 1977: Woodie Fryman and Bill Caudill were traded by the Reds to the Chicago Cubs for Bill Bonham.^[1]
• October 31, 1977: Joe Henderson was purchased from the Reds by the Toronto Blue Jays.^[2]
• February 25, 1978: Dave Revering and cash were traded by the Reds to the Oakland Athletics for Doug Bair.^[3]

Spring training

In honor of Saint Patrick's Day, Reds general manager Dick Wagner had green versions of the Reds' uniforms made. The Reds hosted the New York Yankees at Al Lopez Field on March 17, 1978. This was the first time a major league team wore green trimmed uniforms on March 17, a practice adopted in subsequent years by multiple major league teams.^[4]

Regular season

Reds vs. Giants at Riverfront Stadium, 1978. This was the 25th game of Pete Rose's 44-game hitting streak.

During the season, Pete Rose tied the National League record with a 44-game hitting streak held by Willie Keeler. The streak began on June 14, and came to an end on August 1.

Season standings

NL West	W	L	Pct.	GB	Home	Road
Los Angeles Dodgers	95	67	0.586	—	54–27	41–40
Cincinnati Reds	92	69	0.571	2½	49–31	43–38
San Francisco Giants	89	73	0.549	6	50–31	39–42
San Diego Padres	84	78	0.519	11	50–31	34–47
Houston Astros	74	88	0.457	21	50–31	24–57
Atlanta Braves	69	93	0.426	26	39–42	30–51

Record vs. opponents

1978 National League Records Sources:
Team	ATL	CHC	CIN	HOU	LAD	MON	NYM	PHI	PIT	SD	SF	STL
Atlanta	—	5–7	6–12	8–10	5–13	5–7	6–6	8–4	2–10	8–10	11–7	5–7
Chicago	7–5	—	7–5	6–6	4–8	7–11	11–7	4–14	7–11	7–5	4–8	15–3
Cincinnati	12–6	5–7	—	11–7	9–9	8–4	7–5	7–5	4–7	9–9	12–6	8–4
Houston	10–8	6–6	7–11	—	7–11	6–6	7–5	6–6	4–8	8–10	6–12	7–5
Los Angeles	13–5	8–4	9–9	11–7	—	8–4	7–5	7–5	7–5	9–9	11–7	5–7
Montreal	7–5	11–7	4–8	6–6	4–8	—	8–10	9–9	7–11	6–6	5–7	9–9
New York	6–6	7–11	5–7	5–7	5–7	10–8	—	6–12	7–11	5–7	3–9	7–11
Philadelphia	4-8	14–4	5–7	6–6	5–7	9–9	12–6	—	11–7	8–4	6–6	10–8
Pittsburgh	10–2	11–7	7–4	8–4	5–7	11–7	11–7	7–11	—	5–7	4–8	9–9
San Diego	10–8	5–7	9–9	10–8	9–9	6–6	7–5	4–8	7–5	—	8–10	9–3
San Francisco	7–11	8–4	6–12	12–6	7–11	7–5	9–3	6–6	8–4	10–8	—	9–3
St. Louis	7–5	3–15	4–8	5–7	7–5	9–9	11–7	8–10	9–9	3–9	3–9	—

Notable transactions

• June 6, 1978: 1978 Major League Baseball draft
  • Skeeter Barnes was drafted by the Reds in the 16th round. Player signed June 8, 1978.^[5]
  • Otis Nixon was drafted by the Reds in the 21st round, but did not sign.^[6]

Pete Rose hitting streak

On May 5, 1978, Rose became the 13th and youngest player in major league history to collect his 3,000th career hit, with a single off Expos pitcher Steve Rogers. On June 14 in Cincinnati, Rose singled in the first inning off Cubs pitcher Dave Roberts; Rose would proceed to get a hit in every game he played until August 1, making a run at Joe DiMaggio's record 56-game hitting streak, which had stood virtually unchallenged for 37 years. The streak started quietly, but by the time it had reached 30 games, the media took notice and a pool of reporters accompanied Rose and the Reds to every game. On July 19 against the Phillies, Rose was hitless going into the ninth with his team trailing. He ended up walking and the streak appeared over. But the Reds managed to bat through their entire lineup, giving Rose another chance. Facing Ron Reed, Rose laid down a perfect bunt single to extend the streak to 32 games.

He eventually tied Willie Keeler's single season National League record at 44 games; but on August 1, the streak came to an end as Gene Garber of the Braves struck out Rose in the ninth inning. The competitive Rose was sour after the game, blasting Garber and the Braves for treating the situation "like it was the ninth inning of the 7th game of the World Series" and adding that "Phil Niekro would have given me a fastball to hit."^[7]

Game	Date	Pitcher	Team	Singles	Doubles
1	06-14-1978	Dave Roberts	Chicago Cubs	2	0
2	06-16-1978	John Denny	St. Louis Cardinals	2	1
3	06-17-1978	Pete Vukovich	St. Louis Cardinals	2	0
4	06-18-1978	Silvio Martinez	St. Louis Cardinals	1	0
5	06-20-1978	John Montefusco	San Francisco Giants	2	1
6	06-21-1978	Ed Halicki	San Francisco Giants	1	0
7	06-22-1978	Bob Knepper	San Francisco Giants	1	0
8	06-23-1978	Burt Hooton	Los Angeles Dodgers	1	0
9	06-24-1978	Bob Welch	Los Angeles Dodgers	1	0
10	06-25-1978	Tommy John	Los Angeles Dodgers	2	0
11	06-26-1978	Mark Lemongello	Houston Astros	1	0
12	06-27-1978	Joe Niekro	Houston Astros	1	0
13	06-28-1978	Tom Dixon	Houston Astros	1	0
14	06-29-1978	Floyd Bannister	Houston Astros	1	1
15	06-30-1978	Lance Rautzhan	Los Angeles Dodgers	1	0
16	06-30-1978	Bob Welch	Los Angeles Dodgers	3	0
17	07-01-1978	Rick Rhoden	Los Angeles Dodgers	1	1
18	07-02-1978	Doug Rau	Los Angeles Dodgers	1	1
19	07-03-1978	Floyd Bannister	Houston Astros	3	1
20	07-04-1978	J. R. Richard	Houston Astros	1	0
21	07-05-1978	Joe Niekro	Houston Astros	1	0
22	07-07-1978	Vida Blue	San Francisco Giants	3	0
23	07-07-1978	Jim Barr	San Francisco Giants	1	0
24	07-08-1978	John Montefusco	San Francisco Giants	1	0
25	07-09-1978	Ed Halicki	San Francisco Giants	3	0
26	07-13-1978	Jerry Koosman	New York Mets	2	1
27	07-14-1978	Pat Zachry	New York Mets	2	0
28	07-15-1978	Craig Swan	New York Mets	1	0
29	07-16-1978	Paul Siebert	New York Mets	1	1
30	07-17-1978	Stan Bahnsen	Montreal Expos	1	0
31	07-18-1978	Hal Dues	Montreal Expos	2	1
32	07-19-1978	Ron Reed	Philadelphia Phillies	1	0
33	07-20-1978	Jim Kaat	Philadelphia Phillies	1	0
34	07-21-1978	Ross Grimsley	Montreal Expos	1	0
35	07-22-1978	Dan Schatzeder	Montreal Expos	1	0
36	07-22-1978	Steve Rogers	Montreal Expos	2	1
37	07-24-1978	Pat Zachry	New York Mets	1	0
38	07-25-1978	Craig Swan	New York Mets	3	1
39	07-26-1978	Nino Espinosa	New York Mets	1	1
40	07-28-1978	Randy Lerch	Philadelphia Phillies	1	1
41	07-28-1978	Steve Carlton	Philadelphia Phillies	1	0
42	07-29-1978	Jim Lonborg	Philadelphia Phillies	3	0
43	07-30-1978	Larry Christenson	Philadelphia Phillies	2	0
44	07-31-1978	Phil Niekro	Atlanta Braves	1	0

^[8]

Roster

1978 Cincinnati Reds
Roster
Pitchers 40 Doug Bair 42 Bill Bonham 34 Pedro Borbón 44 Doug Capilla 50 Dan Dumoulin 47 Tom Hume 51 Mike LaCoss 31 Paul Moskau 37 Dale Murray 32 Fred Norman 45 Manny Sarmiento 41 Tom Seaver 36 Mario Soto 43 Dave Tomlin		Catchers  5 Johnny Bench  9 Vic Correll  7 Don Werner Infielders 23 Rick Auerbach 13 Dave Concepción 58 Arturo DeFreites 22 Dan Driessen 17 Mike Grace 26 Junior Kennedy 25 Ray Knight  8 Joe Morgan 16 Ron Oester 14 Pete Rose		Outfielders 29 Dave Collins 15 George Foster 20 César Gerónimo 30 Ken Griffey 19 Ken Henderson 21 Mike Lum 28 Champ Summers Other batters 56 Harry Spilman		Manager 10 Sparky Anderson Coaches  6 Alex Grammas 18 Ted Kluszewski  2 Russ Nixon 11 Ron Plaza  3 George Scherger  4 Larry Shepard

Player stats

= Indicates team leader

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	120	393	102	.260	23	73
1B	Driessen, DanDan Driessen	153	524	131	.250	16	70
2B	Morgan, JoeJoe Morgan	132	441	104	.236	13	75
3B	Rose, PetePete Rose	159	655	198	.302	7	52
SS	Concepción, DaveDave Concepción	153	565	170	.301	6	67
LF	Foster, GeorgeGeorge Foster	158	604	170	.281	40	120
CF	Gerónimo, CésarCésar Gerónimo	122	296	67	.226	5	27
RF	Griffey, KenKen Griffey	158	614	177	.288	10	63

^[9]

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
Collins, DaveDave Collins	102	102	22	.216	0	7
Knight, RayRay Knight	83	65	13	.200	1	4
Summers, ChampChamp Summers	13	35	9	.257	1	3
DeFreites, ArturoArturo DeFreites	9	19	4	.211	1	2
Grace, MikeMike Grace	5	3	0	.000	0	0

^[9]

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
Seaver, TomTom Seaver	36	259.2	16	14	2.88	226
Bonham, BillBill Bonham	23	140.1	11	5	3.53	83

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
Hume, TomTom Hume	42	174	8	11	4.14	90
Capilla, DougDoug Capilla	6	11	0	1	9.82	9

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
Bair, DougDoug Bair	70	7	6	28	1.97	91
Borbón, PedroPedro Borbón	62	8	2	4	4.98	35
Dumoulin, DanDan Dumoulin	3	1	0	0	1.80	2

Farm system

Level	Team	League	Manager
AAA	Indianapolis Indians	American Association	Roy Majtyka
AA	Nashville Sounds	Southern League	Chuck Goggin
A	Tampa Tarpons	Florida State League	Mike Compton
A	Shelby Reds	Western Carolinas League	Jim Lett
A-Short Season	Eugene Emeralds	Northwest League	Greg Riddoch
Rookie	Billings Mustangs	Pioneer League	Jim Hoff

LEAGUE CHAMPIONS: Billings

Notes

1. Woodie Fryman at Baseball Reference
2. Joe Henderson at Baseball Reference
3. Dave Revering at Baseball Reference
4. Tom Singer (March 17, 2010). "How St. Patrick's became baseball's holiday; Cincy GM Dick Wagner turned the Reds green in '78". MLB.com. Retrieved February 23, 2012.
5. Skeeter Barnes at Baseball Reference
6. Otis Nixon at Baseball Reference
7. O'Loughlin, Joe (2004). "Former reliever Gene Garber recalls 19-year career and his role in baseball history". Baseball Digest.
8. http://www.baseball-almanac.com/feats/feats13.shtml
9. http://www.baseball-reference.com/teams/CIN/1978.shtml

References

• 1978 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.