1984 Cincinnati Reds season

The Cincinnati Reds' 1984 season consisted of the Cincinnati Reds attempting to win the National League West. It marked the return of Bob Howsam as General Manager, after Dick Wagner was fired during the 1983 season. The Reds finished in fifth place that year, as they escaped last place in the NL West, which the team had finished in 1982 and 1983.

1984 Cincinnati Reds
Major League affiliations
Location
Results
Record70–92 (.432)
Divisional place5th
Other information
Owner(s)Marge Schott
General manager(s)Bob Howsam, Bill Bergesch
Manager(s)Vern Rapp, Pete Rose
Local televisionWLWT, Sports Time
(Ray Lane, Ken Wilson)
Local radioWLW
(Marty Brennaman, Joe Nuxhall)
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Offseason

Regular season

Reds pitcher Mario Soto endured two suspensions during the 1984 season for various incidents. In the first incident, on May 27 against the Chicago Cubs in Wrigley Field, third baseman Ron Cey hit what was originally ruled a home run down the left field line. Believing the ball had gone foul, Soto and Reds manager Vern Rapp disputed the call, and during the argument, Soto shoved third base umpire Steve Rippley, who had made the call.

After conferring, the umpires changed their decision and ruled it a foul ball, drawing a protest from the Cubs. However, for shoving Rippley, Soto was ejected, prompting him to charge the field and attack Cubs coach Don Zimmer, which triggered a ten-minute brawl. Four days later, National League president Chub Feeney suspended Mario Soto for five games. This game is also notable because Soto's opponent that day was future Hall of Fame Dennis Eckersley, who would go on to become a record-setting closer years later. "Eck", who was making his Cubs debut after being acquired in a trade with the Boston Red Sox, took the loss that day.[8]

In the second incident, on June 16, the Reds were playing the Atlanta Braves in Atlanta. Soto threw several brushback pitches at Braves slugger Claudell Washington. Washington tossed his bat in the direction of Soto, appeared to go out to retrieve it, but instead walked toward the mound. Umpire Lanny Harris attempted to restrain Washington. Harris was thrown to the ground. Soto used the distraction to punch Washington. Several of Washington's teammates attempted to hold Washington to the ground. While they were doing that, Soto fired the baseball into the crowd of players, striking Braves coach Joe Pignatano. He was suspended three games for this incident; Washington received a five-game suspension for shoving Lanny Harris.

The Reds drew the two smallest attendances in the history of Riverfront Stadium in 1984. Only 3,921 were on hand to see the Reds play the New York Mets on April 4, which was the record for the smallest crowd until May 31, when they lost to the Braves 7-1 in a makeup game from April, which drew just 2,472. That started a five-game series sweep of the Reds by Atlanta.

Prior to May 31, the Reds were 26-22 and trailed the San Diego Padres by a half-game in the NL West standings. From then until August 16, the Reds went 25-48 and had long left any hopes of winning the division. August 16 was the day the Reds brought Rose back as player-manager, as part of a trade with Montreal, as Rapp was fired.[9]

Season standings
NL West W L Pct. GB Home Road
San Diego Padres 9270 0.568 — 48–33 44–37
Atlanta Braves 8082 0.494 12 38–43 42–39
Houston Astros 8082 0.494 12 43–38 37–44
Los Angeles Dodgers 7983 0.488 13 40–41 39–42
Cincinnati Reds 7092 0.432 22 39–42 31–50
San Francisco Giants 6696 0.407 26 35–46 31–50

Record vs. opponents
1984 National League Records

Sources:
Team ATL CHC CIN HOU LAD MON NYM PHI PIT SD SF STL
Atlanta —3–913–512–66–125–74–87–58–47–1110–85–7
Chicago 9–3—7–56–67–510–712–69–98–106–69–313–5
Cincinnati 5–135–7—8–107–117–53–95–77–57–1112–64–8
Houston 6–126–610–8—9–97–54–86–66–66–1212–68–4
Los Angeles 12–65–77–119–9—6–63–93–94–810–810–86–6
Montreal 7–57–105–75–76–6—7–1111–77–117–57–59–9
New York 8–46–129–38–49–311–7—10–812–66–64–87–11
Philadelphia 5-79–97–56–69–37–118–10—7–117–58–48–10
Pittsburgh 4–810–85–76–68–411–76–1211–7—4–86–64–14
San Diego 11–76–611–712–68–105–76–65–78–4—13–57–5
San Francisco 8–103–96–126–128–105–78–44–86–65–13—7–5
St. Louis 7–55–138–44–86–69–911–710–814–45–75–7—

Notable transactions

Roster
1984 Cincinnati Reds roster
Roster
Pitchers Catchers

Infielders

 Outfielders Manager

Coaches

Player stats

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
RFDave Parker156607173.2851694

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
César Cedeño110380105.2761047
Tom Foley10627770.253527
Wayne Krenchicki9718154.298622
Tony Pérez7113733.241215
Pete Rose269635.365011
Tom Lawless438020.25012
Alan Knicely10294.13805

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
Mario Soto33237.11873.53185
Bruce Berenyi1351376.0053
Tom Browning323.1101.5414

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

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
Bob Owchinko493524.1260
Mike Smith81005.237

Farm system
See also: Minor League Baseball
Level Team League Manager
AAA Wichita Aeros American Association Gene Dusan
AA Vermont Reds Eastern League Jack Lind
A Tampa Tarpons Florida State League Marc Bombard
A Cedar Rapids Reds Midwest League Jim Lett
Rookie GCL Reds Gulf Coast League Sam Mejías
Rookie Billings Mustangs Pioneer League Larry Barton, Jr.

LEAGUE CHAMPIONS: Vermont

Notes
  1. https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/g/guldebr01.shtml
  2. https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/o/owchibo01.shtml
  3. Steve Christmas page at Baseball Reference
  4. Wayne Krenchicki page at Baseball Reference
  5. Fran Mullins page at Baseball Reference
  6. Tony Perez page at Baseball Reference
  7. Dave Parker page at Baseball Reference
  8. "SPORTS PEOPLE; Soto Faces Suspension". The New York Times. June 19, 1984.
  9. https://www.baseball-reference.com/teams/CIN/1984-schedule-scores.shtml%7Caccessdate=20140621%5B%5D
  10. Dallas Williams page at Baseball Reference
  11. Pete Rose page at Baseball Reference

References
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