1975 Cincinnati Reds season
The 1975 Cincinnati Reds season was a season in American baseball. The Reds dominated the league all season, and won the National League West with a record of 108–54, the best record in MLB and finished 20 games ahead of the Los Angeles Dodgers. The Reds went on to win the National League Championship Series by defeating the Pittsburgh Pirates in three straight games, and the World Series in seven games over the Boston Red Sox. The Reds were managed by Sparky Anderson and played their home games at Riverfront Stadium. It was the first World Series championship for Cincinnati since 1940. The 1975 Reds are one of the few teams to consistently challenge the 1927 New York Yankees for the title of the best team in major league history. The Reds went 64–17 at home in 1975, which remains the best home record ever by a National League team. It is currently the second-best home record in MLB history, behind the 1961 Yankees, who went 65-16.
1975 Cincinnati Reds | |
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1975 World Series Champions 1975 National League Champions 1975 National League West Division Champions | |
Major League affiliations | |
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Location | |
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Results | |
Record | 108–54 (.667) |
Divisional place | 1st |
Other information | |
Owners | Louis Nippert |
General managers | Bob Howsam |
Managers | Sparky Anderson |
Local television | WLWT (Ken Coleman, Woody Woodward) |
Local radio | WLW (Marty Brennaman, Joe Nuxhall) |
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Offseason
- October 25, 1974: Andy Kosco was released by the Reds.[1]
- October 25, 1974: Phil Gagliano was released by the Reds.[2]
- January 2, 1975: Joe Henderson was purchased by the Reds from the Chicago White Sox.[3]
Regular season
The 1975 Reds clinched a playoff appearance on September 7, the earliest clinch date of any MLB team in a 162-game season.[4]
Joe Morgan was the National League's Most Valuable Player in 1975.
Season standings
NL West | W | L | Pct. | GB | Home | Road |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Cincinnati Reds | 108 | 54 | 0.667 | — | 64–17 | 44–37 |
Los Angeles Dodgers | 88 | 74 | 0.543 | 20 | 49–32 | 39–42 |
San Francisco Giants | 80 | 81 | 0.497 | 27½ | 46–35 | 34–46 |
San Diego Padres | 71 | 91 | 0.438 | 37 | 38–43 | 33–48 |
Atlanta Braves | 67 | 94 | 0.416 | 40½ | 37–43 | 30–51 |
Houston Astros | 64 | 97 | 0.398 | 43½ | 37–44 | 27–53 |
Record vs. opponents
Sources: | |||||||||||||||||
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Team | ATL | CHC | CIN | HOU | LAD | MON | NYM | PHI | PIT | SD | SF | STL | |||||
Atlanta | — | 5–7 | 3–15 | 12–6 | 8–10 | 8–4 | 4–8 | 5–7 | 4–8 | 7–11 | 8–9 | 3–9 | |||||
Chicago | 7–5 | — | 1–11 | 7–5 | 5–7 | 9–9 | 7–11 | 12–6 | 6–12 | 5–7 | 5–7 | 11–7 | |||||
Cincinnati | 15–3 | 11–1 | — | 13–5 | 8–10 | 8–4 | 8–4 | 7–5 | 6–6 | 11–7 | 13–5 | 8–4 | |||||
Houston | 6–12 | 5–7 | 5–13 | — | 6–12 | 8–4 | 4–8 | 6–6 | 6–5 | 9–9 | 5–13 | 4–8–1 | |||||
Los Angeles | 10–8 | 7–5 | 10–8 | 12–6 | — | 5–7 | 6–6 | 7–5 | 5–7 | 11–7 | 10–8 | 5–7 | |||||
Montreal | 4–8 | 9–9 | 4–8 | 4–8 | 7–5 | — | 10–8 | 7–11 | 7–11 | 7–5 | 5–7 | 11–7 | |||||
New York | 8–4 | 11–7 | 4–8 | 8–4 | 6–6 | 8–10 | — | 7–11 | 5–13 | 8–4 | 8–4 | 9–9 | |||||
Philadelphia | 7-5 | 6–12 | 5–7 | 6–6 | 5–7 | 11–7 | 11–7 | — | 11–7 | 7–5 | 7–5 | 10–8 | |||||
Pittsburgh | 8–4 | 12–6 | 6–6 | 5–6 | 7–5 | 11–7 | 13–5 | 7–11 | — | 8–4 | 5–7 | 10–8 | |||||
San Diego | 11–7 | 7–5 | 7–11 | 9–9 | 7–11 | 5–7 | 4–8 | 5–7 | 4–8 | — | 8–10 | 4–8 | |||||
San Francisco | 9–8 | 7–5 | 5–13 | 13–5 | 8–10 | 7–5 | 4–8 | 5–7 | 7–5 | 10–8 | — | 5–7 | |||||
St. Louis | 9–3 | 7–11 | 4–8 | 8–4–1 | 7–5 | 7–11 | 9–9 | 8–10 | 8–10 | 8–4 | 7–5 | — |
Notable transactions
- April 8, 1975: Roger Freed was purchased from the Reds by the Sultanes de Monterrey.[5]
- May 6, 1975: Doug Corbett was signed as a free agent by the Reds.[6]
Roster
1975 Cincinnati Reds | |||||||||
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Roster | |||||||||
Pitchers
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Catchers
Infielders
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Outfielders
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Manager
Coaches |
Player stats
= Indicates team leader |
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 |
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C | Johnny Bench | 142 | 530 | 150 | .283 | 28 | 110 |
1B | Tony Pérez | 137 | 511 | 144 | .282 | 20 | 109 |
2B | Joe Morgan | 146 | 498 | 163 | .327 | 17 | 94 |
3B | Pete Rose | 162 | 662 | 210 | .317 | 7 | 74 |
SS | Dave Concepción | 140 | 507 | 139 | .274 | 5 | 49 |
LF | George Foster | 134 | 463 | 139 | .300 | 23 | 78 |
CF | César Gerónimo | 148 | 501 | 129 | .257 | 6 | 53 |
RF | Ken Griffey | 132 | 463 | 141 | .305 | 4 | 46 |
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 |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Dan Driessen | 88 | 210 | 59 | .281 | 7 | 38 |
Merv Rettenmund | 93 | 188 | 45 | .239 | 2 | 19 |
Darrel Chaney | 71 | 160 | 35 | .219 | 2 | 26 |
Bill Plummer | 65 | 159 | 29 | .182 | 1 | 19 |
Doug Flynn | 89 | 127 | 34 | .268 | 1 | 20 |
Terry Crowley | 66 | 71 | 19 | .268 | 1 | 11 |
Ed Armbrister | 59 | 65 | 12 | .185 | 0 | 2 |
John Vukovich | 31 | 38 | 8 | .211 | 0 | 2 |
Don Werner | 7 | 8 | 1 | .125 | 0 | 0 |
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 |
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Gary Nolan | 32 | 210.2 | 15 | 9 | 3.16 | 74 |
Jack Billingham | 33 | 208.0 | 15 | 10 | 4.11 | 79 |
Fred Norman | 34 | 188.0 | 12 | 4 | 3.73 | 119 |
Don Gullett | 22 | 159.2 | 15 | 4 | 2.42 | 98 |
Pat Darcy | 27 | 130.2 | 11 | 5 | 3.58 | 46 |
Clay Kirby | 26 | 110.2 | 10 | 6 | 4.72 | 48 |
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 |
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Tom Carroll | 12 | 47.0 | 4 | 1 | 4.98 | 14 |
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 |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Rawly Eastwick | 58 | 5 | 3 | 22 | 2.60 | 61 |
Will McEnaney | 70 | 5 | 2 | 15 | 2.47 | 48 |
Pedro Borbón | 67 | 9 | 5 | 5 | 2.95 | 29 |
Clay Carroll | 56 | 7 | 5 | 7 | 2.62 | 44 |
Tom Hall | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.00 | 3 |
Postseason
National League Championship Series
Game One
October 4, Riverfront Stadium
Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E | |
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Pittsburgh | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 8 | 0 | |
Cincinnati | 0 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | X | 8 | 11 | 0 | |
W: Don Gullett (1–0) L: Jerry Reuss (0–1) | |||||||||||||
HRs: CIN – Don Gullett (1) |
Game Two
October 5, Riverfront Stadium
Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E |
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Pittsburgh | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 5 | 0 |
Cincinnati | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | X | 6 | 12 | 1 |
W: Fred Norman (1–0) L: Jim Rooker (0–1) SV: Rawly Eastwick (1) | ||||||||||||
HRs: CIN – Tony Pérez (1) |
Game Three
October 7, Three Rivers Stadium
Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | R | H | E |
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Cincinnati | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 5 | 6 | 0 |
Pittsburgh | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 7 | 2 |
W: Rawly Eastwick (1–0) L: Ramón Hernández (0–1) SV: Pedro Borbón (1) | |||||||||||||
HRs: CIN – Dave Concepción (1), Pete Rose (1); PIT – Al Oliver (1) |
World Series
Game | Score | Date | Location | Attendance | Time of Game |
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1 | Reds – 0, Red Sox – 6 | Sat. Oct 11 (D) | Fenway Park | 35,205 | 2:27 |
2 | Reds – 3, Red Sox – 2 | Sun. Oct 12 (D) | Fenway Park | 35,205 | 2:38 |
3 | Red Sox – 5, Reds – 6 (10 inns) | Tue. Oct 14 (N) | Riverfront Stadium | 55,392 | 3:03 |
4 | Red Sox – 5, Reds – 4 | Wed. Oct 15 (N) | Riverfront Stadium | 55,667 | 2:52 |
5 | Red Sox – 2, Reds – 6 | Thu. Oct 16 (N) | Riverfront Stadium | 56,393 | 2:23 |
6 | Reds – 6, Red Sox – 7 (12 inns) | Tue. Oct 21 (N) | Fenway Park | 35,205 | 4:01 |
7 | Reds – 4, Red Sox – 3 | Wed. Oct 22 (N) | Fenway Park | 35,205 | 2:52 |
Awards and honors
- Sparky Anderson, Associated Press NL Manager of the Year
- Johnny Bench, Lou Gehrig Award
- Gary Nolan, Hutch Award[8]
- Pete Rose, World Series Most Valuable Player
- Joe Morgan, NL MVP
All-Stars
- Johnny Bench, catcher, starter
- Dave Concepción, shortstop, starter
- Joe Morgan, second baseman, starter
- Pete Rose, right fielder, starter
- Tony Pérez, reserve
Farm system
LEAGUE CHAMPIONS: Eugene[9]
Notes
- Andy Kosco at Baseball Reference
- Phil Gagliano at Baseball Reference
- Joe Henderson at Baseball Reference
- Earliest division-clinching dates in a 162-game season
- Roger Freed at Baseball Reference
- Doug Corbett at Baseball Reference
- 1975 Cincinnati Reds Statistics and Roster – Baseball-Reference.com
- "Hutch Award | Baseball Almanac".
- Johnson, Lloyd, and Wolff, Miles, ed., The Encyclopedia of Minor League Baseball, 3rd edition. Durham, North Carolina: Baseball America, 2007