1978 Cincinnati Reds season

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.

1978 Cincinnati Reds
Major League affiliations
Location
Results
Record92–69 (.571)
Divisional place2nd
Other information
OwnersLouis Nippert
General managersBob Howsam, Dick Wagner
ManagersSparky Anderson
Local televisionWLWT
(Ken Coleman, Bill Brown)
Local radioWLW
(Marty Brennaman, Joe Nuxhall)
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Offseason

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.

On June 16, 1978 at Riverfront Stadium, Tom Seaver recorded a 4-0 no-hitter against the St. Louis Cardinals. It was the only no-hitter of his professional career.

Season standings
NL West W L Pct. GB Home Road
Los Angeles Dodgers 9567 0.586 — 54–27 41–40
Cincinnati Reds 9269 0.571 2½ 49–31 43–38
San Francisco Giants 8973 0.549 6 50–31 39–42
San Diego Padres 8478 0.519 11 50–31 34–47
Houston Astros 7488 0.457 21 50–31 24–57
Atlanta Braves 6993 0.426 26 39–42 30–51

Record vs. opponents
1978 National League record

Sources:
Team ATL CHC CIN HOU LAD MON NYM PHI PIT SD SF STL
Atlanta —5–76–128–105–135–76–68–42–108–1011–75–7
Chicago 7–5—7–56–64–87–1111–74–147–117–54–815–3
Cincinnati 12–65–7—11–79–98–47–57–54–79–912–68–4
Houston 10–86–67–11—7–116–67–56–64–88–106–127–5
Los Angeles 13–58–49–911–7—8–47–57–57–59–911–75–7
Montreal 7–511–74–86–64–8—8–109–97–116–65–79–9
New York 6–67–115–75–75–710–8—6–127–115–73–97–11
Philadelphia 4-814–45–76–65–79–912–6—11–78–46–610–8
Pittsburgh 10–211–77–48–45–711–711–77–11—5–74–89–9
San Diego 10–85–79–910–89–96–67–54–87–5—8–109–3
San Francisco 7–118–46–1212–67–117–59–36–68–410–8—9–3
St. Louis 7–53–154–85–77–59–911–78–109–93–93–9—

Notable transactions

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. Three days later, due to an illness and back spasms, Rose was forced to snap a 678 consecutive games played streak, which was the longest active streak in the majors at the time.[7]

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."[8]

Game Date Pitcher Team Singles Doubles
106-14-1978Dave RobertsChicago Cubs20
206-16-1978John DennySt. Louis Cardinals21
306-17-1978Pete VukovichSt. Louis Cardinals20
406-18-1978Silvio MartinezSt. Louis Cardinals10
506-20-1978John MontefuscoSan Francisco Giants21
606-21-1978Ed HalickiSan Francisco Giants10
706-22-1978Bob KnepperSan Francisco Giants10
806-23-1978Burt HootonLos Angeles Dodgers10
906-24-1978Bob WelchLos Angeles Dodgers10
1006-25-1978Tommy JohnLos Angeles Dodgers20
1106-26-1978Mark LemongelloHouston Astros10
1206-27-1978Joe NiekroHouston Astros10
1306-28-1978Tom DixonHouston Astros10
1406-29-1978Floyd BannisterHouston Astros11
1506-30-1978Lance RautzhanLos Angeles Dodgers10
1606-30-1978Bob WelchLos Angeles Dodgers30
1707-01-1978Rick RhodenLos Angeles Dodgers11
1807-02-1978Doug RauLos Angeles Dodgers11
1907-03-1978Floyd BannisterHouston Astros31
2007-04-1978J. R. RichardHouston Astros10
2107-05-1978Joe NiekroHouston Astros10
2207-07-1978Vida BlueSan Francisco Giants30
2307-07-1978Jim BarrSan Francisco Giants10
2407-08-1978John MontefuscoSan Francisco Giants10
2507-09-1978Ed HalickiSan Francisco Giants30
2607-13-1978Jerry KoosmanNew York Mets21
2707-14-1978Pat ZachryNew York Mets20
2807-15-1978Craig SwanNew York Mets10
2907-16-1978Paul SiebertNew York Mets11
3007-17-1978Stan BahnsenMontreal Expos10
3107-18-1978Hal DuesMontreal Expos21
3207-19-1978Ron ReedPhiladelphia Phillies10
3307-20-1978Jim KaatPhiladelphia Phillies10
3407-21-1978Ross GrimsleyMontreal Expos10
3507-22-1978Dan SchatzederMontreal Expos10
3607-22-1978Steve RogersMontreal Expos21
3707-24-1978Pat ZachryNew York Mets10
3807-25-1978Craig SwanNew York Mets31
3907-26-1978Nino EspinosaNew York Mets11
4007-28-1978Randy LerchPhiladelphia Phillies11
4107-28-1978Steve CarltonPhiladelphia Phillies10
4207-29-1978Jim LonborgPhiladelphia Phillies30
4307-30-1978Larry ChristensonPhiladelphia Phillies20
4407-31-1978Phil NiekroAtlanta Braves10

[9]

Roster
1978 Cincinnati Reds
Roster
Pitchers Catchers

Infielders

 Outfielders

Other batters

 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
CJohnny Bench120393102.2602373
1BDan Driessen153524131.2501670
2BJoe Morgan132441104.2361375
3BPete Rose159655198.302752
SSDave Concepción153565170.301667
LFGeorge Foster158604170.28140120
CFCésar Gerónimo12229667.226527
RFKen Griffey158614177.2881063

[10]

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
Junior Kennedy8915740.255011
Mike Lum8614639.267623
Ken Henderson6414424.167319
Don Werner5011317.150011
Vic Correll5210525.23816
Dave Collins10210222.21607
Ray Knight836513.20014
Rick Auerbach635518.32725
Champ Summers13359.25713
Arturo DeFreites9194.21112
Ron Oester683.37501
Harry Spilman441.25000
Mike Grace530.00000

[10]

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 Seaver36259.216142.88226
Fred Norman31177.11193.70111
Paul Moskau26145.0643.9788
Bill Bonham23140.11153.5383
Mike LaCoss1696.0484.5031

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 Hume42174.08114.1490
Mario Soto518.0102.5013
Doug Capilla611.0019.829

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 Bair7076281.9791
Manny Sarmiento639754.3872
Pedro Borbón628244.9835
Dave Tomlin579145.7832
Dale Murray151124.1325
Dan Dumoulin31001.802

Farm system
See also: Minor League Baseball
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. Hertzel, Bob (May 8, 1978). "Illness Benches Rose, Ends Streak". The Cincinnati Enquirer. p. 1. Retrieved August 23, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.open access
  8. O'Loughlin, Joe (2004). "Former reliever Gene Garber recalls 19-year career and his role in baseball history". Baseball Digest.
  9. "Pete Rose Consecutive Games Hitting Streak by Baseball Almanac".
  10. "1978 Cincinnati Reds Statistics".

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.
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