1984 Cincinnati Reds season

1984  Cincinnati Reds
League	National League
Division	West
Ballpark	Riverfront Stadium
City	Cincinnati
Record	70–92 (.432)
Divisional place	5th
Owners	Marge Schott
General managers	Bob Howsam, Bill Bergesch
Managers	Vern Rapp, Pete Rose
Television	WLWT, Sports Time (Ray Lane, Ken Wilson)
Radio	WLW (Marty Brennaman, Joe Nuxhall)
←  1983 Seasons 1985  →

The 1984 Cincinnati Reds season was the 115th season for the franchise in Major League Baseball, and their 15th and 14th full season at Riverfront Stadium. The Cincinnati Reds failed to improve on their 74–88 record from the previous season to finish at 70–92, and missed the postseason for the 5th consecutive season. 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.

Offseason

• November 4, 1983: Brad Gulden was signed as a free agent with the Cincinnati Reds. ^[1]
• November 12, 1983: Bob Owchinko was purchased by the Cincinnati Reds from the Pittsburgh Pirates. ^[2]
• November 21, 1983: Steve Christmas was traded by the Reds to the Chicago White Sox for Fran Mullins. ^[3]
• November 21, 1983: Wayne Krenchicki was purchased by the Reds from the Detroit Tigers. ^[4]
• December 5, 1983: Fran Mullins was drafted from the Reds by the San Francisco Giants in the rule 5 draft. ^[5]
• December 6, 1983: Tony Pérez was purchased by the Reds from the Philadelphia Phillies. ^[6]
• December 7, 1983: Dave Parker was signed as a free agent by the Reds. ^[7]

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

• v
• t
• e

NL West

Team	W	L	Pct.	GB	Home	Road
San Diego Padres	92	70	.568	—	48‍–‍33	44‍–‍37
Atlanta Braves	80	82	.494	12	38‍–‍43	42‍–‍39
Houston Astros	80	82	.494	12	43‍–‍38	37‍–‍44
Los Angeles Dodgers	79	83	.488	13	40‍–‍41	39‍–‍42
Cincinnati Reds	70	92	.432	22	39‍–‍42	31‍–‍50
San Francisco Giants	66	96	.407	26	35‍–‍46	31‍–‍50

Record vs. opponents

1984 National League record v t e Sources:
Team	ATL	CHC	CIN	HOU	LAD	MON	NYM	PHI	PIT	SD	SF	STL
Atlanta	—	3–9	13–5	12–6	6–12	5–7	4–8	7–5	8–4	7–11	10–8	5–7
Chicago	9–3	—	7–5	6–6	7–5	10–7	12–6	9–9	8–10	6–6	9–3	13–5
Cincinnati	5–13	5–7	—	8–10	7–11	7–5	3–9	5–7	7–5	7–11	12–6	4–8
Houston	6–12	6–6	10–8	—	9–9	7–5	4–8	6–6	6–6	6–12	12–6	8–4
Los Angeles	12–6	5–7	7–11	9–9	—	6–6	3–9	3–9	4–8	10–8	10–8	6–6
Montreal	7–5	7–10	5–7	5–7	6–6	—	7–11	11–7	7–11	7–5	7–5	9–9
New York	8–4	6–12	9–3	8–4	9–3	11–7	—	10–8	12–6	6–6	4–8	7–11
Philadelphia	5-7	9–9	7–5	6–6	9–3	7–11	8–10	—	7–11	7–5	8–4	8–10
Pittsburgh	4–8	10–8	5–7	6–6	8–4	11–7	6–12	11–7	—	4–8	6–6	4–14
San Diego	11–7	6–6	11–7	12–6	8–10	5–7	6–6	5–7	8–4	—	13–5	7–5
San Francisco	8–10	3–9	6–12	6–12	8–10	5–7	8–4	4–8	6–6	5–13	—	7–5
St. Louis	7–5	5–13	8–4	4–8	6–6	9–9	11–7	10–8	14–4	5–7	5–7	—

Notable transactions

• March 30, 1984: Dallas Williams was traded by the Reds to the Detroit Tigers for Charlie Nail (minors). ^[10]
• August 16, 1984: Tom Lawless was traded by the Reds to the Montreal Expos for Pete Rose. Rose was named player-manager, as Vern Rapp was fired. ^[11]

Roster

1984 Cincinnati Reds roster
Roster
Pitchers 38 Bruce Berenyi 54 Tom Browning 42 Keefe Cato 31,52 John Franco 47 Tom Hume 50 Brad Lesley 37 Andy McGaffigan 32 Bob Owchinko 35 Frank Pastore 48 Ted Power 49 Joe Price 25 Charlie Puleo 33 Ron Robinson 46 Jeff Russell 34 Bill Scherrer 37 Mike Smith 36 Mario Soto 38 Jay Tibbs 59 Freddie Toliver 40 Carl Willis		Catchers 11 Dann Bilardello  4 Brad Gulden 29 Alex Treviño 23 Dave Van Gorder Infielders 21 Skeeter Barnes 13 Dave Concepción 22 Dan Driessen 12 Nick Esasky 10 Tom Foley 34 Alan Knicely 15 Wayne Krenchicki 17 Tom Lawless 16 Ron Oester 24 Tony Pérez 14 Pete Rose 56 Wade Rowdon		Outfielders 28 César Cedeño 44 Eric Davis  7 Paul Householder 20 Eddie Milner 39 Dave Parker  2 Gary Redus 26 Duane Walker		Manager  9 Vern Rapp 14 Pete Rose Coaches 19 Tommy Helms  6 Bruce Kimm  3 George Scherger  8 Joe Sparks 40 Stan Williams

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	Brad Gulden	107	292	66	.226	4	33
1B	Dan Driessen	81	218	61	.280	7	28
2B	Ron Oester	150	553	134	.242	3	38
SS	Dave Concepción	154	531	130	.245	4	58
3B	Nick Esasky	113	322	62	.193	10	45
LF	Gary Redus	123	394	100	.254	7	22
CF	Eddie Milner	117	336	78	.232	7	29
RF	Dave Parker	156	607	173	.285	16	94

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 Cedeño	110	380	105	.276	10	47
Tom Foley	106	277	70	.253	5	27
Duane Walker	83	195	57	.292	10	28
Dann Bilardello	68	182	38	.209	2	10
Wayne Krenchicki	97	181	54	.298	6	22
Eric Davis	57	174	39	.224	10	30
Tony Pérez	71	137	33	.241	2	15
Dave Van Gorder	38	101	23	.228	0	6
Pete Rose	26	96	35	.365	0	11
Tom Lawless	43	80	20	.250	1	2
Skeeter Barnes	32	42	5	.119	1	3
Alan Knicely	10	29	4	.138	0	5
Paul Householder	14	12	1	.083	0	0
Wade Rowdon	4	7	2	.286	0	0
Alex Treviño	6	6	1	.167	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
Mario Soto	33	237.1	18	7	3.53	185
Jeff Russell	33	181.2	6	18	4.26	101
Joe Price	30	171.2	7	13	4.19	129
Jay Tibbs	14	100.2	6	2	2.86	40
Bruce Berenyi	13	51.0	3	7	6.00	53
Tom Browning	3	23.1	1	0	1.54	14

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 Hume	54	113.1	4	13	5.64	59
Frank Pastore	24	98.1	3	8	6.50	53
Ron Robinson	12	39.2	1	2	2.72	24
Andy McGaffigan	9	23.0	0	2	5.48	18
Charlie Puleo	5	22.0	1	2	5.73	6
Freddie Toliver	3	10.0	0	0	0.90	4

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
Ted Power	78	9	7	11	2.82	81
John Franco	54	6	2	4	2.61	55
Bob Owchinko	49	3	5	2	4.12	60
Bill Scherrer	36	1	1	1	4.99	35
Brad Lesley	16	0	1	2	5.12	7
Keefe Cato	8	0	1	1	8.04	12
Mike Smith	8	1	0	0	5.23	7
Carl Willis	7	0	1	1	3.72	3

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. "Brad Gulden Stats". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved September 10, 2024.
2. "Bob Owchinko Stats". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved September 10, 2024.
3. "Steve Christmas Stats". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved September 10, 2024.
4. "Wayne Krenchicki Stats". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved September 10, 2024.
5. "Fran Mullins Stats". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved September 10, 2024.
6. "Tony Pérez Stats". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved September 10, 2024.
7. "Dave Parker Stats". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved September 10, 2024.
8. "SPORTS PEOPLE; Soto Faces Suspension". The New York Times. June 19, 1984.
9. "1984 Cincinnati Reds Schedule". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved September 10, 2024.
10. "Dallas Williams Stats". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved September 10, 2024.
11. "Pete Rose Stats". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved September 10, 2024.

References

• 1984 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.