# 1983 Cincinnati Reds season

The 1983 Cincinnati Reds season was the 114th season for the franchise in Major League Baseball, and their 14th and 13th full season at Riverfront Stadium. The Cincinnati Reds improved from their 61–101 record from the previous season to finish at 74–88, but failed to win the National League West and missed the postseason for the 4th consecutive season. It was also Johnny Bench's last season as a Red.

## Offseason

* October 15, 1982: Ted Power was acquired by the Reds from the Los Angeles Dodgers for Mike Ramsey and cash.
* November 15, 1982: Clint Hurdle was released by the Reds.
* December 16, 1982: Tom Seaver was traded by the Reds to the New York Mets for Charlie Puleo, Lloyd McClendon, and Jason Felice (minors).
* January 11, 1983: Tracy Jones was drafted by the Reds in the 1st round (1st pick) of the secondary phase of the 1983 Major League Baseball Draft.
* January 20, 1983: Danny Tartabull was chosen from the Reds by the Seattle Mariners as a free agent compensation pick.
* March 31, 1983: Bill Dawley and Tony Walker were traded by the Reds to the Houston Astros for Alan Knicely.

## Regular season
### Season standings

vteNL West :
| Team | W | L | Pct. | GB | Home | Road |
| Los Angeles Dodgers | 91 | 71 | .562 | — | 48‍–‍32 | 43‍–‍39 |
| Atlanta Braves | 88 | 74 | .543 | 3 | 46‍–‍34 | 42‍–‍40 |
| Houston Astros | 85 | 77 | .525 | 6 | 46‍–‍36 | 39‍–‍41 |
| San Diego Padres | 81 | 81 | .500 | 10 | 47‍–‍34 | 34‍–‍47 |
| San Francisco Giants | 79 | 83 | .488 | 12 | 43‍–‍38 | 36‍–‍45 |
| Cincinnati Reds | 74 | 88 | .457 | 17 | 36‍–‍45 | 38‍–‍43 |

### Record vs. opponents

1983 National League recordvte Sources: :
| Team | ATL | CHC | CIN | HOU | LAD | MON | NYM | PHI | PIT | SD | SF | STL |
| Atlanta | — | 5–7 | 12–6 | 11–7 | 7–11 | 7–5 | 8–4 | 7–5 | 6–6 | 9–9 | 9–9 | 7–5 |
| Chicago | 7–5 | — | 4–8 | 5–7 | 6–6 | 7–11 | 9–9 | 5–13 | 9–9 | 5–7 | 4–8 | 10–8 |
| Cincinnati | 6–12 | 8–4 | — | 5–13 | 7–11 | 4–8 | 7–5 | 6–6 | 6–6 | 9–9 | 10–8 | 6–6 |
| Houston | 7–11 | 7–5 | 13–5 | — | 6–12 | 8–4 | 9–3 | 4–8 | 6–6 | 11–7 | 12–6 | 2–10 |
| Los Angeles | 11–7 | 6–6 | 11–7 | 12–6 | — | 7–5 | 7–5 | 11–1 | 6–6 | 6–12–1 | 5–13 | 9–3 |
| Montreal | 5–7 | 11–7 | 8–4 | 4–8 | 5–7 | — | 8–10 | 8–10–1 | 8–10 | 8–4 | 8–4 | 9–9 |
| New York | 4–8 | 9–9 | 5–7 | 3–9 | 5–7 | 10–8 | — | 6–12 | 9–9 | 6–6 | 5–7 | 6–12 |
| Philadelphia | 5-7 | 13–5 | 6–6 | 8–4 | 1–11 | 10–8–1 | 12–6 | — | 11–7 | 5–7 | 5–7 | 14–4 |
| Pittsburgh | 6–6 | 9–9 | 6–6 | 6–6 | 6–6 | 10–8 | 9–9 | 7–11 | — | 9–3 | 6–6 | 10–8 |
| San Diego | 9–9 | 7–5 | 9–9 | 7–11 | 12–6–1 | 4–8 | 6–6 | 7–5 | 3–9 | — | 11–7 | 6–6 |
| San Francisco | 9–9 | 8–4 | 8–10 | 6–12 | 13–5 | 4–8 | 7–5 | 7–5 | 6–6 | 7–11 | — | 4–8 |
| St. Louis | 5–7 | 8–10 | 6–6 | 10–2 | 3–9 | 9–9 | 12–6 | 4–14 | 8–10 | 6–6 | 8–4 | — |

### Notable transactions

* May 9, 1983: Rafael Landestoy was traded by the Reds to the Los Angeles Dodgers for John Franco and Brett Wise (minors).
* June 6, 1983: 1983 Major League Baseball Draft
** Chris Sabo was drafted by the Reds in the 2nd round.
** Joe Oliver was drafted by the Reds in the 2nd round.
* June 30, 1983: Wayne Krenchicki was traded by the Reds to the Detroit Tigers for Pat Underwood.
* September 27, 1983: Greg Harris was selected off waivers from the Reds by the Montreal Expos.

### Roster
## 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 | Dann Bilardello | 109 | 298 | 71 | .238 | 9 | 38 |
| 1B | Dan Driessen | 122 | 386 | 107 | .277 | 12 | 57 |
| 2B | Ron Oester | 157 | 549 | 145 | .264 | 11 | 58 |
| SS | Dave Concepción | 143 | 528 | 123 | .233 | 1 | 47 |
| 3B | Nick Esasky | 85 | 302 | 80 | .265 | 12 | 46 |
| LF | Gary Redus | 125 | 453 | 112 | .247 | 17 | 51 |
| CF | Eddie Milner | 146 | 502 | 131 | .261 | 9 | 33 |
| RF | César Cedeño | 98 | 332 | 77 | .232 | 9 | 39 |

#### 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 |
| Paul Householder | 123 | 380 | 97 | .255 | 6 | 43 |
| Johnny Bench | 110 | 310 | 79 | .255 | 12 | 54 |
| Duane Walker | 109 | 225 | 53 | .236 | 2 | 29 |
| Alex Treviño | 74 | 167 | 36 | .216 | 1 | 13 |
| Kelly Paris | 56 | 120 | 30 | .250 | 0 | 7 |
| Alan Knicely | 59 | 98 | 22 | .224 | 2 | 10 |
| Tom Foley | 68 | 98 | 20 | .204 | 0 | 9 |
| Wayne Krenchicki | 51 | 77 | 21 | .273 | 0 | 11 |
| Jeff Jones | 16 | 44 | 10 | .227 | 0 | 5 |
| Dallas Williams | 18 | 36 | 2 | .056 | 0 | 1 |
| Skeeter Barnes | 15 | 34 | 7 | .206 | 1 | 4 |
| Steve Christmas | 9 | 17 | 1 | .059 | 0 | 1 |
| Rafael Landestoy | 7 | 5 | 0 | .000 | 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 | 34 | 273.2 | 17 | 13 | 2.70 | 242 |
| Bruce Berenyi | 32 | 186.1 | 9 | 14 | 3.86 | 151 |
| Frank Pastore | 36 | 184.1 | 9 | 12 | 4.88 | 93 |
| Joe Price | 21 | 144.0 | 10 | 6 | 2.88 | 83 |
| Charlie Puleo | 27 | 143.2 | 6 | 12 | 4.89 | 71 |
| Jeff Russell | 10 | 68.1 | 4 | 5 | 3.03 | 40 |

#### 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 |
| Ted Power | 49 | 111.0 | 5 | 6 | 4.54 | 57 |
| Rich Gale | 33 | 89.2 | 4 | 6 | 5.82 | 53 |

#### 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 |
| Bill Scherrer | 73 | 2 | 3 | 10 | 2.74 | 57 |
| Ben Hayes | 60 | 4 | 6 | 7 | 6.49 | 44 |
| Tom Hume | 48 | 3 | 5 | 9 | 4.77 | 34 |
| Brad Lesley | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2.16 | 5 |
| Keefe Cato | 4 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2.45 | 3 |
| Greg Harris | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 27.00 | 1 |

## Farm system

| Level | Team | League | Manager |
| AAA | Indianapolis Indians | American Association | Roy Hartsfield |
| AA | Waterbury Reds | Eastern League | Jim Lett |
| A | Tampa Tarpons | Florida State League | Jim Hoff |
| A | Cedar Rapids Reds | Midwest League | Bruce Kimm |
| A-Short Season | Eugene Emeralds | Northwest League | Sam Mejías |
| Rookie | Billings Mustangs | Pioneer League | Marc Bombard |
LEAGUE CHAMPIONS: Billings