1971 Cincinnati Reds season

1971  Cincinnati Reds
League	National League
Division	West
Ballpark	Riverfront Stadium
City	Cincinnati
Record	79–83 (.488)
Divisional place	4th
Owners	Francis L. Dale
General managers	Bob Howsam
Managers	Sparky Anderson
Television	WLWT (Tom Hedrick, Bob Waller)
Radio	WLW (Al Michaels, Joe Nuxhall)
←  1970 Seasons 1972  →

The 1971 Cincinnati Reds season was the 102nd season for the franchise in Major League Baseball, and their 2nd and 1st full season at Riverfront Stadium in Cincinnati. The Reds finished in a fourth place tie with the 1971 Houston Astros season in the National League West, with a record of 79 wins and 83 losses, 11 games behind the National League West champion 1971 San Francisco Giants season. The Reds were managed by Sparky Anderson, and played their first full season of home games at Riverfront Stadium, which had opened at mid-season in the previous year. This was the team's only losing season of the 1970s.

Offseason

• October 20, 1970: Sonny Ruberto was sent to the Reds by the San Diego Padres in a conditional deal. ^[1]
• March 31, 1971: Stan Swanson was traded by the Reds to the Montreal Expos for Jim Qualls. ^[2]

Regular season

Season standings

• v
• t
• e

NL West

Team	W	L	Pct.	GB	Home	Road
San Francisco Giants	90	72	.556	—	51‍–‍30	39‍–‍42
Los Angeles Dodgers	89	73	.549	1	42‍–‍39	47‍–‍34
Atlanta Braves	82	80	.506	8	43‍–‍39	39‍–‍41
Cincinnati Reds	79	83	.488	11	46‍–‍35	33‍–‍48
Houston Astros	79	83	.488	11	39‍–‍42	40‍–‍41
San Diego Padres	61	100	.379	28½	33‍–‍48	28‍–‍52

Record vs. opponents

1971 National League record v t e Sources:
Team	ATL	CHC	CIN	HOU	LAD	MTL	NYM	PHI	PIT	SD	SF	STL
Atlanta	—	5–7	9–9	9–9	9–9	7–5	7–5	8–4	4–8	11–7	7–11	6–6
Chicago	7–5	—	6–6	5–7	8–4	8–10	11–7	11–7	6–12	9–3	3–9	9–9
Cincinnati	9–9	6–6	—	5–13	7–11	7–5	8–4	5–7	5–7	10–8	9–9	8–4
Houston	9–9	7–5	13–5	—	8–10	4–8	5–7	8–4	4–8	10–8	9–9	2–10
Los Angeles	9–9	4–8	11–7	10–8	—	8–4	5–7	7–5	4–8	13–5	12–6	6–6
Montreal	5–7	10–8	5–7	8–4	4–8	—	9–9	6–12	7–11	6–5	7–5	4–14
New York	5–7	7–11	4–8	7–5	7–5	9–9	—	13–5	10–8	7–5	4–8	10–8
Philadelphia	4-8	7–11	2–10	3–9	5–7	6–10	5–13	—	6–12	4–8	6–6	7–11
Pittsburgh	8–4	12–6	7–5	8–4	8–4	11–7	8–10	12–6	—	9–3	3–9	11–7
San Diego	7–11	3–9	8–10	8–10	5–13	5–6	5–7	8–4	3–9	—	5–13	4–8
San Francisco	11–7	9–3	9–9	9–9	6–12	5–7	8–4	6–6	9–3	13–5	—	5–7
St. Louis	6–6	9–9	4–8	10–2	6–6	14–4	8–10	11–7	7–11	8–4	7–5	—

Notable transactions

• May 29, 1971: Frank Duffy and Vern Geishert were traded by the Reds to the San Francisco Giants for George Foster. ^[3]
• June 8, 1971: Dave Revering was drafted by the Reds in the 7th round of the 1971 Major League Baseball draft. ^[4]

Roster

1971 Cincinnati Reds
Roster
Pitchers 42 Steve Blateric 34 Pedro Borbón 36 Clay Carroll 40 Tony Cloninger 47 Greg Garrett 39 Joe Gibbon 37 Wayne Granger 48 Ross Grimsley 35 Don Gullett 31 Jim McGlothlin 30 Jim Merritt 38 Gary Nolan 45 Wayne Simpson 44 Ed Sprague 43 Milt Wilcox		Catchers  5 Johnny Bench  7 Pat Corrales  9 Bill Plummer Infielders 12 Darrel Chaney 13 Dave Concepción 15 Frank Duffy 19 Tommy Helms 23 Lee May 24 Tony Pérez 20 Willie Smith  6 Woody Woodward		Outfielders 29 Buddy Bradford 25 Bernie Carbo 17 Ty Cline 22 Al Ferrara 15 George Foster 11 Hal McRae 14 Pete Rose 16 Jimmy Stewart Other batters 22 Ángel Bravo		Manager 10 Sparky Anderson Coaches  2 Alex Grammas 18 Ted Kluszewski  3 George Scherger  4 Larry Shepard

Player stats

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	Johnny Bench	149	562	134	.238	27	61
1B	Lee May	147	553	154	.278	39	98
2B	Tommy Helms	150	547	141	.258	3	52
SS	Dave Concepción	130	327	67	.205	1	20
3B	Tony Pérez	158	609	164	.269	25	91
LF	Bernie Carbo	106	310	68	.219	5	20
CF	George Foster	104	368	86	.234	10	50
RF	Pete Rose	160	632	192	.304	13	44

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
Hal McRae	99	337	89	.264	9	34
Woody Woodward	136	273	66	.242	0	18
Buddy Bradford	79	100	20	.200	2	12
Ty Cline	69	97	19	.196	0	1
Pat Corrales	40	94	17	.181	0	6
Jimmy Stewart	80	82	19	.232	0	9
Willie Smith	31	55	9	.164	1	4
Al Ferrara	32	33	6	.182	1	5
Darrel Chaney	10	24	3	.125	0	1
Bill Plummer	10	19	0	.000	0	0
Frank Duffy	13	16	3	.188	0	1
Ángel Bravo	5	5	1	.200	0	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	35	244.2	12	15	3.16	146
Don Gullett	35	217.2	16	6	2.65	107
Jim McGlothlin	30	170.2	8	12	3.22	93
Ross Grimsley	26	161.1	10	7	3.57	67
Wayne Simpson	22	117.1	4	7	4.76	61

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
Jim Merritt	28	107.0	1	11	4.37	38
Tony Cloninger	28	97.1	3	6	3.38	51
Milt Wilcox	18	43.1	2	2	3.32	21
Greg Garrett	2	8.2	0	1	1.04	2

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
Clay Carroll	61	10	4	15	2.50	64
Wayne Granger	70	7	6	11	3.33	51
Joe Gibbon	50	5	6	11	2.94	34
Ed Sprague Sr.	7	1	0	0	0.00	7
Pedro Borbón	3	0	0	0	4.15	4
Steve Blateric	2	0	0	0	13.50	4

Farm system

See also: Minor League Baseball

Level	Team	League	Manager
AAA	Indianapolis Indians	American Association	Vern Rapp
AA	Trois-Rivières Aigles	Eastern League	Jim Snyder
A	Tampa Tarpons	Florida State League	Russ Nixon
A-Short Season	Sioux Falls Packers	Northern League	Dave Pavlesic
Rookie	GCL Reds	Gulf Coast League	Ron Plaza

^[5]

Notes

1. Sonny Ruberto page at Baseball Reference
2. Stan Swanson page at Baseball Reference
3. George Foster page at Baseball Reference
4. Dave Revering page at Baseball Reference
5. Johnson, Lloyd, and Wolff, Miles, ed., The Encyclopedia of Minor League Baseball, 3rd edition. Durham, North Carolina: Baseball America, 2007

References

• 1971 Cincinnati Reds season at Baseball Reference