1976 Cincinnati Reds season

1976 Cincinnati Reds
1976 Cincinnati Reds
World Series Champions; National League Champions; National League West Champions
League	National League
Division	West
Ballpark	Riverfront Stadium
City	Cincinnati
Record	102–60 (.630)
Divisional place	1st
Owners	Louis Nippert
General managers	Bob Howsam
Managers	Sparky Anderson
Television	WLWT; (Ken Coleman, Bill Brown)
Radio	WLW; (Marty Brennaman, Joe Nuxhall)

The 1976 Cincinnati Reds season was a season in American baseball. The Reds entered the season as the reigning World Series champions. The Reds dominated the league all season and won their second consecutive National League West title with a record of 102–60, finishing ten games ahead of the Los Angeles Dodgers. With the best record in baseball, they went on to defeat the Philadelphia Phillies in the NLCS in three straight games to reach the World Series. They proceeded to win the title in four straight games over the New York Yankees. They were the third and most recent National League team to achieve this distinction, and the first since the 1921–22 New York Giants. The Reds drew 2,629,708 fans to their home games at Riverfront Stadium, an all-time franchise attendance record.^[1] As mentioned above, the Reds swept through the entire postseason with their sweeps of the Phillies and Yankees, achieving a record of 7-0. As of 2024, the Reds are the only team in baseball history to sweep through an entire postseason in the divisional era.

Offseason

October 24, 1975: Joaquín Andújar was traded by the Reds to the Houston Astros for players to be named later. The Astros completed the deal by sending Luis Sánchez and Carlos Alfonso (minors) to the Reds on December 12.^[2]
December 12, 1975: Clay Carroll was traded by the Reds to the Chicago White Sox for Rich Hinton and Jeff Sovern (minors).^[3]

Regular season

Season summary

The "Big Red Machine" was at the height of its power in the 1976 season, with four future Hall-of-Famers (Johnny Bench, Joe Morgan, Tony Pérez, and manager Sparky Anderson), the future MLB all-time hits leader Pete Rose, and a notable supporting line up including Dave Concepción at shortstop, and Ken Griffey, César Gerónimo, and George Foster in the outfield. This would also turn out to be the final full year for the Big Red Machine, Perez would be traded in the offseason to the Montreal Expos.

The Reds retained their NL pennant by winning the NLCS in three games over the Phillies, and their second consecutive World Series title by defeating the Yankees in four games, becoming only the second team to sweep a World Series from the Yankees (following the 1963 Los Angeles Dodgers). By sweeping both the Phillies and Yankees, the Reds became the first and only team to have a perfect postseason since the League Championship Series was started in 1969. Joe Morgan was the NL's Most Valuable Player for the second straight season and Johnny Bench was the World Series MVP.

To celebrate the National League's 100th anniversary, the Reds and several other teams adopted pillbox-style caps.^[4]

Season standings

v
t
e
NL West
Team	W	L	Pct.	GB	Home	Road
Cincinnati Reds	102	60	.630	—	49‍–‍32	53‍–‍28
Los Angeles Dodgers	92	70	.568	10	49‍–‍32	43‍–‍38
Houston Astros	80	82	.494	22	46‍–‍36	34‍–‍46
San Francisco Giants	74	88	.457	28	40‍–‍41	34‍–‍47
San Diego Padres	73	89	.451	29	42‍–‍38	31‍–‍51
Atlanta Braves	70	92	.432	32	34‍–‍47	36‍–‍45

Record vs. opponents

1976 National League record v t e Sources: [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] [8] [9] [10] [11] [12]
Team	ATL	CHC	CIN	HOU	LAD	MON	NYM	PHI	PIT	SD	SF	STL
Atlanta	—	6–6	6–12	7–11	8–10	8–4	4–8	5–7	3–9	10–8	9–9	4–8
Chicago	6–6	—	3–9	5–7	3–9	11–7	5–13	8–10	8–10	6–6	8–4	12–6
Cincinnati	12–6	9–3	—	12–6	13–5	9–3	6–6	5–7	8–4	13–5	9–9	6–6
Houston	11–7	7–5	6–12	—	5–13	10–2	6–6	4–8	2–10	10–8	10–8	9–3
Los Angeles	10–8	9–3	5–13	13–5	—	10–2	7–5	5–7	9–3	6–12	8–10	10–2
Montreal	4–8	7–11	3–9	2–10	2–10	—	8–10	3–15	8–10	4–8	7–5	7–11
New York	8–4	13–5	6–6	6–6	5–7	10–8	—	5–13	10–8	7–5	7–5	9–9
Philadelphia	7-5	10–8	7–5	8–4	7–5	15–3	13–5	—	8–10	8–4	6–6	12–6
Pittsburgh	9–3	10–8	4–8	10–2	3–9	10–8	8–10	10–8	—	7–5	9–3	12–6
San Diego	8–10	6–6	5–13	8–10	12–6	8–4	5–7	4–8	5–7	—	8–10	4–8
San Francisco	9–9	4–8	9–9	8–10	10–8	5–7	5–7	6–6	3–9	10–8	—	5–7
St. Louis	8–4	6–12	6–6	3–9	2–10	11–7	9–9	6–12	6–12	8–4	7–5	—

Notable transactions

April 5, 1976: Merv Rettenmund was traded by the Reds to the San Diego Padres for Rudy Meoli.^[5]

Roster

1976 Cincinnati Reds

Roster

Pitchers

Catchers

Infielders

Outfielders

Manager

10 Sparky Anderson

Coaches

Game log

Game Log

April (10–7)

#	Date	Opponent	Score	Record	Win	Loss	Save	Attendance
1	April 8	Houston Astros	W 11–5	1–0	Gary Nolan	J. R. Richard	Pedro Borbón	52,949
2	April 10	Houston Astros	W 13–7	2–0	Jack Billingham	Larry Dierker	Rawly Eastwick	16,728
3	April 11	Houston Astros	W 9–3	3–0	Pat Darcy	Joe Niekro		53,390
4	April 13	@ Atlanta Braves	W 6–1	4–0	Fred Norman	Pablo Torrealba		37,973
5	April 15	@ Atlanta Braves	L 5–10	4–1	Phil Niekro	Jack Billingham		15,716
6	April 16	San Francisco Giants	L 7–14	4–2	Jim Barr	Pat Darcy		37,147
7	April 17	San Francisco Giants	W 11–0	5–2	Fred Norman	Ed Halicki		21,219
8	April 18	San Francisco Giants	L 1–5	5–3	John Montefusco	Gary Nolan	Gary Lavelle	23,701
9	April 20	San Diego Padres	L 5–7	5–4	Butch Metzger	Will McEnaney		18,126
10	April 21	San Diego Padres	W 5–4	6–4	Fred Norman	Dave Wehrmeister	Rawly Eastwick	16,603
11	April 23	@ Montreal Expos	L 4–5	6–5	Don Stanhouse	Jack Billingham		5,306
12	April 24	@ Montreal Expos	W 6–4 (11)	7–5	Rawly Eastwick	Don Carrithers		11,190
13	April 25	@ Montreal Expos	W 7–0	8–5	Don Gullett	Steve Renko	Pat Darcy	8,095
14	April 26	@ Philadelphia Phillies	L 9–10	8–6	Tug McGraw	Rawly Eastwick		16,565
15	April 27	@ Philadelphia Phillies	W 7–3	9–6	Jack Billingham	Tom Underwood		17,818
16	April 28	@ Philadelphia Phillies	L 6–7	9–7	Jim Lonborg	Pat Darcy	Tug McGraw	20,215
17	April 30	Montreal Expos	W 7–2	10–7	Gary Nolan	Dan Warthen		20,166

May (18–10)

#	Date	Opponent	Score	Record	Win	Loss	Save	Attendance
26	May 1	Montreal Expos	W 6–1	11–7	Don Gullett	Don Carrithers		28,138
27	May 2	Montreal Expos	L 4–8 (16)	11–8	Don Stanhouse	Pat Darcy		49,285
28	May 4	@ New York Mets	L 3–5	11–9	Tom Seaver	Fred Norman	Skip Lockwood	11,205
29
30
31
32
33
34
35
36
37
38
39
40
41
42
43
44
45

June (18–12)

#	Date	Opponent	Score	Record	Win	Loss	Save	Attendance
46
47
48
49
50
51
52
53
54
55
56
57
58
59
60
61
62
63	June 18	@ Philadelphia Phillies	L 5–6	39–24	Jim Lonborg	Jack Billingham	Gene Garber	50,635
64	June 19	@ Philadelphia Phillies	W 4–3	40–24	Gary Nolan	Ron Reed	Rawly Eastwick	36,808
65	June 20	@ Philadelphia Phillies	L 1–6	40–25	Jim Kaat	Don Gullett		38,669
66
67
68	June 23	Philadelphia Phillies	L 2–4	42–26	Ron Reed	Pedro Borbón	Gene Garber	35,266
69	June 24	Philadelphia Phillies	L 4–5	42–27	Jim Kaat	Gary Nolan	Tug McGraw	34,053
70
71
72
73
74
75

July (20–9)

#	Date	Opponent	Score	Record	Win	Loss	Save	Attendance
76
77
78
79
80
81
82
83
84
85
86
87
88
89
90
91
92
93
94
95
96
97
98
99
100
101
102
103
104

August (18–11)

#	Date	Opponent	Score	Record	Win	Loss	Save	Attendance
105
106
107
108
109
110
111
112
113
114
115
116
117
118
119
120
121
122
123
124
125
126
127
128	August 26	Philadelphia Phillies	L 5–4 (13)	80–48	Tug McGraw	Rawly Eastwick		38,094
129	August 27	Philadelphia Phillies	W 4–1	81–48	Fred Norman	Tom Underwood	Pedro Borbón	49,821
130	August 28	Philadelphia Phillies	W 8–7	82–48	Rawly Eastwick	Tug McGraw		51,091
131	August 29	Philadelphia Phillies	W 6–5 (15)	83–48	Santo Alcalá	Jim Kaat		51,376
132
133

September (16–10)

#	Date	Opponent	Score	Record	Win	Loss	Save	Attendance
134
135
136
137
138
139
140
141
142
143
144
145
146
147
148
149
150
151
152
153
154
155
156
157
158
159

October (2–1)

#	Date	Opponent	Score	Record	Win	Loss	Save	Attendance
160
161
162

Player stats

=Indicates team leader

Batting

Starters by position

Note: Pos=Position; G=Games played; AB=At bats; R=Runs scored; H=Hits; Avg.=Batting average; HR=Home runs; RBI=Runs batted in; SB=Stolen Bases

Pos	Player	G	AB	R	H	Avg.	HR	RBI	SB
C	Johnny Bench	135	465	62	109	.234	16	74	13
1B	Tony Pérez	139	527	77	137	.260	19	91	10
2B	Joe Morgan	141	472	113	151	.320	27	111	60
3B	Pete Rose	162	665	130	215	.323	10	63	9
SS	Dave Concepción	152	576	74	162	.281	9	69	21
LF	George Foster	144	562	86	172	.306	29	121	17
CF	César Gerónimo	149	486	59	149	.307	2	49	22
RF	Ken Griffey	148	562	111	189	.336	6	74	34

^[6]

Other batters

Note: G=Games played; AB=At bats; R=Runs scored; H=Hits; Avg.=Batting average; HR=Home runs; RBI=Runs batted in; SB=Stolen Bases

Player	G	AB	R	H	Avg.	HR	RBI	SB
Dan Driessen	98	219	32	54	.247	7	44	14
Doug Flynn	93	219	20	62	.283	1	20	2
Bill Plummer	56	153	16	38	.248	4	19	0
Mike Lum	84	136	15	31	.228	3	20	0
Bob Bailey	69	124	17	37	.298	6	23	0
Joel Youngblood	55	57	8	11	.193	0	1	1
Don Werner	3	4	0	2	.500	0	1	0

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
Gary Nolan	34	239.1	15	9	3.46	113
Pat Zachry	38	204.0	14	7	2.74	143
Fred Norman	33	180.1	12	7	3.10	126
Jack Billingham	34	177.0	12	10	4.32	76
Santo Alcalá	30	132.0	11	4	4.70	67
Don Gullett	23	126.0	11	3	3.00	64

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
Pat Darcy	11	39.0	2	3	6.23	15

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	71	11	5	26	2.09	70
Pedro Borbón	69	4	3	8	3.35	53
Will McEnaney	55	2	6	7	4.85	28
Manny Sarmiento	22	5	1	0	2.06	20
Rich Hinton	12	1	2	0	7.64	8
Joe Henderson	4	2	0	0	0.00	7

Postseason

NLCS

Game 1

October 9, Veterans Stadium

Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
Cincinnati	0	0	1	0	0	2	0	3	0	6	10	0
Philadelphia	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	2	3	6	1
W: Don Gullett (1–0) L: Steve Carlton (0–1) SV: None
HRs: CIN – George Foster (1) PHI – None

Reds starter Don Gullett held the Phils to two hits in eight strong innings and helped his own cause with an RBI single in the sixth and a two-run double in the eighth. George Foster added a solo homer.

Game 2

October 10, Veterans Stadium

Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
Cincinnati	0	0	0	0	0	4	2	0	0	6	6	0
Philadelphia	0	1	0	0	1	0	0	0	0	2	10	1
W: Pat Zachry (1–0) L: Jim Lonborg (0–1) SV: Pedro Borbón (1)
HRs: CIN – None PHI – Greg Luzinski (1)

Game 3

October 12, Riverfront Stadium

Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
Philadelphia	0	0	0	1	0	0	2	2	1	6	11	0
Cincinnati	0	0	0	0	0	0	4	0	3	7	9	2
W: Rawly Eastwick (1–0) L: Gene Garber (0–1) SV: None
HRs: CIN – George Foster (2) Johnny Bench (1) PHI – None

1976 World Series

Summary

NL Cincinnati Reds (4) vs. AL New York Yankees (0)
Game	Road	Home	Score	Date	Location	Attendance	Time of Game
1	Yankees	Reds	5–1	Sat. Oct 16 (D)	Riverfront Stadium	54,826	2:10
2	Yankees	Reds	4–3	Sun. Oct 17 (N)	Riverfront Stadium	54,816	2:33
3	Reds	Yankees	6–2	Tue. Oct 19 (N)	Yankee Stadium	56,667	2:40
4	Reds	Yankees	7–2	Thu. Oct 21 (N)	Yankee Stadium	56,700	2:36

Awards and honors

Johnny Bench, Babe Ruth Award
Johnny Bench, World Series Most Valuable Player Award
Pete Rose, Roberto Clemente Award

1976 Major League Baseball All-Star Game

Johnny Bench, catcher, starter
Joe Morgan, second base, starter
Pete Rose, third base, starter
Dave Concepción, shortstop, starter
George Foster, outfield, starter
Tony Pérez, first base, reserve
Ken Griffey, Sr., outfielder, reserve

^[7]

Farm system

Level	Team	League	Manager
AAA	Indianapolis Indians	American Association	Jim Snyder
AA	Trois-Rivières Aigles	Eastern League	Roy Majtyka
A	Tampa Tarpons	Florida State League	Ron Brand
A-Short Season	Eugene Emeralds	Northwest League	Greg Riddoch
Rookie	Billings Mustangs	Pioneer League	Jim Hoff

Notes

^ "Cincinnati Reds Attendance Records". Baseball Almanac. Retrieved September 12, 2024.
^ "Joaquín Andújar". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved September 12, 2024.
^ "Rich Hinton". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved September 12, 2024.
^ "National Baseball Hall of Fame - Dressed to the Nines - Parts of the Uniform". exhibits.baseballhalloffame.org. Retrieved September 12, 2024. The striped "pillbox" cap also made a comeback in 1976 when five National League clubs celebrated the "Senior Circuit's" 100th anniversary by adopting the nostalgic style. While the Reds, Mets, Phillies and Cardinals...
^ "Merv Rettenmund". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved September 12, 2024.
^ "1976 Cincinnati Reds Batting, Pitching, & Fielding Statistics". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved June 8, 2012.
^ "1976 All-Star Game". Baseball-almanac.com. July 13, 1976. Retrieved June 8, 2012.

References

1976 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.

[1] "Cincinnati Reds Attendance Records". Baseball Almanac. Retrieved September 12, 2024.

[2] "Joaquín Andújar". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved September 12, 2024.

[3] "Rich Hinton". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved September 12, 2024.

[4] "National Baseball Hall of Fame - Dressed to the Nines - Parts of the Uniform". exhibits.baseballhalloffame.org. Retrieved September 12, 2024. The striped "pillbox" cap also made a comeback in 1976 when five National League clubs celebrated the "Senior Circuit's" 100th anniversary by adopting the nostalgic style. While the Reds, Mets, Phillies and Cardinals...

[5] "Merv Rettenmund". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved September 12, 2024.

[6] "1976 Cincinnati Reds Batting, Pitching, & Fielding Statistics". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved June 8, 2012.

[7] "1976 All-Star Game". Baseball-almanac.com. July 13, 1976. Retrieved June 8, 2012.

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