1985 Cincinnati Reds season

1985  Cincinnati Reds
League	National League
Division	West
Ballpark	Riverfront Stadium
City	Cincinnati
Record	89–72 (.553)
Divisional place	2nd
Owners	Marge Schott
General managers	Bill Bergesch
Managers	Pete Rose
Television	WLWT (Ken Wilson, Joe Morgan)
Radio	WLW (Marty Brennaman, Joe Nuxhall)
←  1984 Seasons 1986  →

The 1985 Cincinnati Reds season was the 116th season for the franchise in Major League Baseball, and their 16th and 15th full season at Riverfront Stadium. The Cincinnati Reds improved on their 70–92 record from the previous season to finish at 89–72, but missed the postseason for the 6th consecutive year and they finished in second place, 5½ games behind the Los Angeles Dodgers. This year, the Reds adopted an alternate uniform. Reds pitcher Tom Browning became the last 20th century pitcher to win 20 games in his rookie year. ^[1]

Regular season

Rose (left) with Tommy Lasorda before a game in April 1985

Pete Rose

On September 11, 1985, Rose was thought to have broken Ty Cobb's all-time hits record with his 4,192nd hit, a single to left-center field off San Diego Padres pitcher Eric Show. A subsequent independent review of Cobb's hits, however, revealed that two of them were double-counted. ^{[2] [3]} As a result, it has been suggested that Pete Rose actually broke the all-time hits record against the Cubs' Reggie Patterson with a single in the first in the Reds 5-5 called game against Chicago on September 8.

Season standings

• v
• t
• e

NL West

Team	W	L	Pct.	GB	Home	Road
Los Angeles Dodgers	95	67	.586	—	48‍–‍33	47‍–‍34
Cincinnati Reds	89	72	.553	5½	47‍–‍34	42‍–‍38
Houston Astros	83	79	.512	12	44‍–‍37	39‍–‍42
San Diego Padres	83	79	.512	12	44‍–‍37	39‍–‍42
Atlanta Braves	66	96	.407	29	32‍–‍49	34‍–‍47
San Francisco Giants	62	100	.383	33	38‍–‍43	24‍–‍57

Record vs. opponents

1985 National League record v t e Sources:
Team	ATL	CHC	CIN	HOU	LAD	MTL	NYM	PHI	PIT	SD	SF	STL
Atlanta	—	5–7	7–11	8–10	5–13	3–9	2–10	10–2	6–6	7–11	10–8	3–9
Chicago	7–5	—	5–6	5–7	5–7	7–11	4–14	13–5	13–5	8–4	6–6	4–14
Cincinnati	11–7	6–5	—	11–7	7–11	8–4	4–8	7–5	9–3	9–9	12–6	5–7
Houston	10–8	7–5	7–11	—	6–12	6–6	4–8	4–8	6–6	12–6	15–3	6–6
Los Angeles	13–5	7–5	11–7	12–6	—	7–5	7–5	4–8	8–4	8–10	11–7	7–5
Montreal	9–3	11–7	4–8	6–6	5–7	—	9–9	8–10	9–8	5–7	7–5	11–7
New York	10–2	14–4	8–4	8–4	5–7	9–9	—	11–7	10–8	7–5	8–4	8–10
Philadelphia	2-10	5–13	5–7	8–4	8–4	10–8	7–11	—	11–7	5–7	6–6	8–10
Pittsburgh	6–6	5–13	3–9	6–6	4–8	8–9	8–10	7–11	—	4–8	3–9	3–15
San Diego	11–7	4–8	9–9	6–12	10–8	7–5	5–7	7–5	8–4	—	12–6	4–8
San Francisco	8–10	6–6	6–12	3–15	7–11	5–7	4–8	6–6	9–3	6–12	—	2–10
St. Louis	9–3	14–4	7–5	6–6	5–7	7–11	10–8	10–8	15–3	8–4	10–2	—

Notable transactions

• April 10, 1985: Tony Pérez was signed as a free agent by the Reds. ^[4]
• April 26, 1985: Skeeter Barnes was traded by the Reds to the Montreal Expos for Max Venable. ^[5]
• June 3, 1985: Barry Larkin was drafted by the Reds in the 1st round (4th pick) of the 1985 amateur draft. ^[6]
• June 12, 1985: Brad Gulden was purchased by the Houston Astros from the Cincinnati Reds. ^[7]
• July 19, 1985: Buddy Bell was acquired from the Texas Rangers for Duane Walker and a player to be named later. The Cincinnati Reds later sent Jeff Russell to the Rangers to complete the trade.
• August 8, 1985: Alan Knicely, Tom Foley and a player to be named later were traded by the Reds to the Philadelphia Phillies for Bo Díaz and Greg Simpson (minors). The Reds completed the deal by sending Freddie Toliver to the Phillies on August 27. ^[8]
• August 29, 1985: César Cedeño was traded by the Reds to the St. Louis Cardinals for Mark Jackson (minors). ^[9]

Roster

1985 Cincinnati Reds roster
Roster
Pitchers 32 Tom Browning 51 Bob Buchanan 31 John Franco 47 Tom Hume 37 Andy McGaffigan 46,54 Rob Murphy 35 Frank Pastore 48 Ted Power 49 Joe Price 33 Ron Robinson 34,53 Mike Smith 36 Mario Soto 42 John Stuper 38 Jay Tibbs 40 Carl Willis		Catchers 11 Dann Bilardello  8 Bo Díaz 34 Alan Knicely 23 Dave Van Gorder Infielders 25 Buddy Bell 13 Dave Concepción 12 Nick Esasky 10 Tom Foley 15 Wayne Krenchicki 16 Ron Oester 24 Tony Pérez 14 Pete Rose 17,56 Wade Rowdon 10 Tom Runnells		Outfielders 28 César Cedeño 44 Eric Davis 20 Eddie Milner 21,57 Paul O'Neill 39 Dave Parker  2 Gary Redus  9 Max Venable 26 Duane Walker		Manager 14 Pete Rose Coaches  7 Billy DeMars 19 Tommy Helms 45 Jim Kaat  6 Bruce Kimm  3 George Scherger

Player stats

= Indicates team leader

= Indicates league leader

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	R	H	Avg.	HR	RBI	SB
C	Dave Van Gorder	73	151	12	36	.238	2	24	0
1B	Pete Rose	119	405	60	107	.264	2	46	8
2B	Ron Oester	152	526	59	155	.295	1	34	5
3B	Buddy Bell	67	247	28	54	.219	6	36	0
SS	Dave Concepción	155	560	59	141	.252	7	48	16
LF	Nick Esasky	125	413	61	108	.262	21	66	3
CF	Eddie Milner	145	453	82	115	.254	3	33	35
RF	Dave Parker	160	635	88	198	.312	34	125	5

^[10]

Other batters

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

Player	G	AB	R	H	Avg.	HR	RBI	SB
Gary Redus	101	246	51	62	.252	6	28	48
César Cedeño	83	220	24	53	.241	3	30	9
Tony Pérez	72	183	25	60	.328	6	33	0
Wayne Krenchicki	90	173	16	47	.272	4	25	0
Bo Díaz	51	161	12	42	.261	3	15	0
Alan Knicely	48	158	17	40	.253	5	26	0
Max Venable	77	135	21	39	.289	0	10	11
Eric Davis	56	122	26	30	.246	8	18	16
Dann Bilardello	42	102	6	17	.167	1	9	0
Tom Foley	43	92	7	18	.196	0	6	1
Duane Walker	37	48	5	8	.167	2	6	1
Tom Runnells	28	35	3	7	.200	0	0	0
Paul O'Neill	5	12	1	4	.333	0	1	0
Wade Rowdon	5	9	2	2	.222	0	2	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
Tom Browning	38	261.1	20	9	3.55	155
Mario Soto	36	256.2	12	15	3.58	214
Jay Tibbs	35	218.0	10	16	3.92	98
Andy McGaffigan	15	94.1	3	3	3.72	83

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
Ron Robinson	33	108.1	7	7	3.99	76
John Stuper	33	99.0	8	5	4.55	38
Joe Price	26	64.2	2	2	3.90	52
Frank Pastore	17	54.0	2	1	3.83	29

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	64	8	6	27	2.70	42
John Franco	67	12	3	12	2.18	61
Tom Hume	56	3	5	3	3.26	50
Bob Buchanan	14	1	0	0	8.44	3
Carl Willis	11	1	0	1	9.22	6
Mike Smith	2	0	0	0	5.40	2
Rob Murphy	2	0	0	0	6.00	1

Awards and honors

• Dave Parker – National League Leader in RBIs (125)
• Dave Parker – National League Leader in Doubles (42)

All-Star Game

• Pete Rose, 1B, Reserve
• Dave Parker, OF, Reserve

Farm system

See also: Minor League Baseball

Level	Team	League	Manager
AAA	Denver Zephyrs	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	Jay Ward
Rookie	GCL Reds	Gulf Coast League	Sam Mejías
Rookie	Billings Mustangs	Pioneer League	Jim Lett

LEAGUE CHAMPIONS: Vermont

References

1. Great Baseball Feats, Facts and Figures, 2008 Edition, p.347, David Nemec and Scott Flatow, A Signet Book, Penguin Group, New York, ISBN   978-0-451-22363-0
2. "The 2005 ESPN Baseball Encyclopedia – book review". curledup.com. Retrieved June 9, 2010.
3. Schwarz, Alan (July 31, 2005). "Numbers Are Cast in Bronze, but Are Not Set in Stone". The New York Times. Retrieved May 22, 2010.
4. Tony Pérez at Baseball Reference
5. Skeeter Barnes at Baseball Reference
6. Barry Larkin at Baseball Reference
7. "Brad Gulden Statistics and History". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved August 24, 2012.
8. Alan Knicely at Baseball Reference
9. Cesar Cedeno at Baseball Reference
10. "1985 Cincinnati Reds Batting, Pitching, & Fielding Statistics". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved August 24, 2012.

• 1985 Cincinnati Reds season at Baseball Reference
• 1985 National League Standings 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.