# 1985 Cincinnati Reds season

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.

## Regular season
### 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. 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

vteNL 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 recordvte Sources: :
| Team | ATL | CHC | CIN | HOU | LAD | MON | 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.
* April 26, 1985: Skeeter Barnes was traded by the Reds to the Montreal Expos for Max Venable.
* June 3, 1985: Barry Larkin was drafted by the Reds in the 1st round (4th pick) of the 1985 amateur draft.
* June 12, 1985: Brad Gulden was purchased by the Houston Astros from the Cincinnati Reds.
* 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.
* August 29, 1985: César Cedeño was traded by the Reds to the St. Louis Cardinals for Mark Jackson (minors).

### Roster
## Player stats

* = Indicates team 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 |

#### 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)

## Farm system

| 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