1976 Cincinnati Reds season

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)
←  1975 Seasons 1977  →

The 1976 Cincinnati Reds season was the 107th season for the franchise in Major League Baseball, and their 7th and 6th full season at Riverfront Stadium. 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 2025, 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:
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 42 Santo Alcalá 43 Jack Billingham 34 Pedro Borbón 44 Pat Darcy 49 Rawly Eastwick 35 Don Gullett 53 Joe Henderson 36 Rich Hinton 37 Will McEnaney 38 Gary Nolan 32 Fred Norman 45 Manny Sarmiento 40 Pat Zachry		Catchers  5 Johnny Bench  9 Bill Plummer  7 Don Werner Infielders 13 Dave Concepción 22 Dan Driessen 23 Doug Flynn  8 Joe Morgan 24 Tony Pérez 14 Pete Rose		Outfielders 33 Ed Armbrister 11 Bob Bailey 15 George Foster 20 César Gerónimo 30 Ken Griffey 21 Mike Lum 19 Joel Youngblood		Manager 10 Sparky Anderson Coaches 18 Ted Kluszewski  2 Russ Nixon  3 George Scherger  4 Larry Shepard

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

Main article: 1976 National League Championship Series

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

Main article: 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 ^[7]
• 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

^[8]

Farm system

See also: Minor League Baseball

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

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. "MLB Babe Ruth Award Winners". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved March 21, 2025.
8. "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.