# 1977 Cincinnati Reds season

The 1977 Cincinnati Reds season was the 108th season for the franchise in Major League Baseball, and their 8th and 7th full season at Riverfront Stadium. The team entered 1977 as defending World Series champions, but finished in second place in the National League West, with a record of 88–74, 10 games behind the Los Angeles Dodgers and missed the playoffs. The Reds were managed by Sparky Anderson and played their home games at Riverfront Stadium.

## Offseason

* December 16, 1976: Tony Pérez and Will McEnaney were traded by the Reds to the Montreal Expos for Woodie Fryman and Dale Murray.
* February 13, 1977: Steve Christmas was signed as an amateur free agent by the Reds.
* February 16, 1977: Dave Schneck was traded by the Reds to the Chicago Cubs for Champ Summers.
* March 28, 1977: Joel Youngblood was traded by the Reds to the St. Louis Cardinals for Bill Caudill.

## Regular season
### Season standings

vteNL West :
| Team | W | L | Pct. | GB | Home | Road |
| Los Angeles Dodgers | 98 | 64 | .605 | — | 51‍–‍30 | 47‍–‍34 |
| Cincinnati Reds | 88 | 74 | .543 | 10 | 48‍–‍33 | 40‍–‍41 |
| Houston Astros | 81 | 81 | .500 | 17 | 46‍–‍35 | 35‍–‍46 |
| San Francisco Giants | 75 | 87 | .463 | 23 | 38‍–‍43 | 37‍–‍44 |
| San Diego Padres | 69 | 93 | .426 | 29 | 35‍–‍46 | 34‍–‍47 |
| Atlanta Braves | 61 | 101 | .377 | 37 | 40‍–‍41 | 21‍–‍60 |

### Record vs. opponents

1977 National League recordvte Sources: :
| Team | ATL | CHC | CIN | HOU | LAD | MON | NYM | PHI | PIT | SD | SF | STL |
| Atlanta | — | 5–7 | 4–14 | 9–9 | 5–13 | 6–6 | 7–5 | 2–10 | 3–9 | 11–7 | 8–10 | 1–11 |
| Chicago | 7–5 | — | 7–5 | 6–6 | 6–6 | 10–8 | 9–9 | 6–12 | 7–11 | 7–5 | 9–3 | 7–11 |
| Cincinnati | 14–4 | 5–7 | — | 5–13 | 10–8 | 7–5 | 10–2 | 8–4 | 3–9 | 11–7 | 10–8 | 5–7 |
| Houston | 9–9 | 6–6 | 13–5 | — | 9–9 | 8–4 | 6–6 | 4–8 | 4–8 | 8–10 | 9–9 | 5–7 |
| Los Angeles | 13–5 | 6–6 | 8–10 | 9–9 | — | 7–5 | 8–4 | 6–6 | 9–3 | 12–6 | 14–4 | 6–6 |
| Montreal | 6–6 | 8–10 | 5–7 | 4–8 | 5–7 | — | 10–8 | 7–11 | 7–11 | 5–7 | 6–6 | 12–6 |
| New York | 5–7 | 9–9 | 2–10 | 6–6 | 4–8 | 8–10 | — | 5–13 | 4–14 | 6–6 | 7–5 | 8–10 |
| Philadelphia | 10-2 | 12–6 | 4–8 | 8–4 | 6–6 | 11–7 | 13–5 | — | 8–10 | 9–3 | 9–3 | 11–7 |
| Pittsburgh | 9–3 | 11–7 | 9–3 | 8–4 | 3–9 | 11–7 | 14–4 | 10–8 | — | 10–2 | 2–10 | 9–9 |
| San Diego | 7–11 | 5–7 | 7–11 | 10–8 | 6–12 | 7–5 | 6–6 | 3–9 | 2–10 | — | 8–10 | 8–4 |
| San Francisco | 10–8 | 3–9 | 8–10 | 9–9 | 4–14 | 6–6 | 5–7 | 3–9 | 10–2 | 10–8 | — | 7–5 |
| St. Louis | 11–1 | 11–7 | 7–5 | 7–5 | 6–6 | 6–12 | 10–8 | 7–11 | 9–9 | 4–8 | 5–7 | — |

### Notable transactions

* June 15, 1977: Pat Zachry, Doug Flynn, Steve Henderson, and Dan Norman were traded by the Reds to the New York Mets for Tom Seaver.
* June 15, 1977: Gary Nolan was traded by the Reds to the California Angels for Craig Hendrickson (minors).
* June 15, 1977: Rawly Eastwick was traded by the Reds to the St. Louis Cardinals for Doug Capilla.
* June 15, 1977: Mike Caldwell was traded by the Reds to the Milwaukee Brewers for two minor leaguers.
* September 28, 1977: Rudy Meoli was purchased from the Reds by the Chicago Cubs.

### 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 | Johnny Bench | 142 | 494 | 136 | .275 | 31 | 109 |
| 1B | Dan Driessen | 151 | 536 | 161 | .300 | 17 | 91 |
| 2B | Joe Morgan | 153 | 521 | 150 | .288 | 22 | 78 |
| SS | Dave Concepcion | 156 | 572 | 155 | .271 | 8 | 64 |
| 3B | Pete Rose | 162 | 655 | 204 | .311 | 9 | 64 |
| LF | George Foster | 158 | 615 | 197 | .320 | 52 | 149 |
| CF | Cesar Geronimo | 149 | 492 | 131 | .266 | 10 | 52 |
| RF | Ken Griffey Sr. | 154 | 585 | 186 | .318 | 12 | 57 |

#### 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 |
| Mike Lum | 81 | 125 | 20 | .160 | 5 | 16 |
| Bill Plummer | 51 | 117 | 16 | .137 | 1 | 7 |
| Ray Knight | 80 | 92 | 24 | .261 | 1 | 13 |
| Bob Bailey | 49 | 79 | 20 | .253 | 2 | 11 |
| Ed Armbrister | 65 | 78 | 20 | .256 | 1 | 5 |
| Champ Summers | 59 | 76 | 13 | .171 | 3 | 6 |
| Rick Auerbach | 33 | 45 | 7 | .156 | 0 | 3 |
| Doug Flynn | 36 | 32 | 8 | .250 | 0 | 5 |
| Don Werner | 10 | 23 | 4 | .174 | 2 | 4 |

### 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 |
| Fred Norman | 35 | 221.1 | 14 | 13 | 3.38 | 160 |
| Tom Seaver | 20 | 165.1 | 14 | 3 | 2.34 | 124 |
| Jack Billingham | 36 | 161.2 | 10 | 10 | 5.23 | 76 |
| Paul Moskau | 20 | 108.0 | 6 | 6 | 4.00 | 71 |
| Doug Capilla | 22 | 106.1 | 7 | 8 | 4.23 | 74 |
| Woodie Fryman | 17 | 75.1 | 5 | 5 | 5.38 | 57 |
| Pat Zachry | 12 | 75.0 | 3 | 7 | 5.04 | 36 |
| Mario Soto | 12 | 60.2 | 2 | 6 | 5.34 | 44 |
| Gary Nolan | 8 | 39.1 | 4 | 1 | 4.81 | 28 |

#### 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 | 14 | 43.0 | 3 | 3 | 7.12 | 22 |
| Santo Alcalá | 7 | 15.2 | 1 | 1 | 5.74 | 9 |

#### 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 |
| Pedro Borbon | 73 | 10 | 5 | 18 | 3.19 | 48 |
| Dale Murray | 61 | 7 | 2 | 4 | 4.94 | 42 |
| Manny Sarmiento | 24 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2.45 | 23 |
| Rawly Eastwick | 23 | 2 | 2 | 7 | 2.91 | 17 |
| Mike Caldwell | 14 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 4.01 | 11 |
| Joe Hoerner | 8 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 12.71 | 5 |
| Joe Henderson | 7 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 12.00 | 8 |
| Ángel Torres | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2.16 | 8 |
| Dan Dumoulin | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 13.50 | 5 |

## Awards and records

* George Foster, MLB Home Run Champion (52)
* George Foster, MLB RBI Champion (149)
* George Foster, National League MVP

### All-Stars

1977 Major League Baseball All-Star Game
* Johnny Bench, starter, catcher
* Joe Morgan, starter, second base
* Dave Concepción, starter, shortstop
* George Foster, starter, outfield
* Tom Seaver, reserve
* Pete Rose, reserve
* Ken Griffey, reserve

## Farm system

| Level | Team | League | Manager |
| AAA | Indianapolis Indians | American Association | Roy Majtyka |
| AA | Trois-Rivières Aigles | Eastern League | Chuck Goggin |
| A | Tampa Tarpons | Florida State League | Jim Hoff |
| A | Shelby Reds | Western Carolinas League | Jim Lett |
| A-Short Season | Eugene Emeralds | Northwest League | John Underwood |
| Rookie | Billings Mustangs | Pioneer League | Greg Riddoch |