# 1975 Cincinnati Reds season

The 1975 Cincinnati Reds season was the 106th season for the franchise in Major League Baseball, and their 6th and 5th full season at Riverfront Stadium. The Reds dominated the league all season, and won the National League West with a record of 108–54, the best record in MLB and finished 20 games ahead of the Los Angeles Dodgers. The Reds went on to win the NLCS by defeating the Pittsburgh Pirates in three straight games, and the World Series in seven games over the Boston Red Sox. The Reds were managed by Sparky Anderson and played their home games at Riverfront Stadium. It was the first World Series championship for Cincinnati since 1940. The 1975 Reds are one of the few teams to consistently challenge the 1927 New York Yankees for the title of the best team in major league history. The Reds went 64–17 at home in 1975, which remains the best home record ever by a National League team. It is currently the second-best home record in MLB history, behind the 1961 Yankees, who went 65-16.

## Offseason

* October 25, 1974: Andy Kosco was released by the Reds.
* October 25, 1974: Phil Gagliano was released by the Reds.
* January 2, 1975: Joe Henderson was purchased by the Reds from the Chicago White Sox.

## Regular season

The 1975 Reds clinched a playoff appearance on September 7, the earliest clinch date of any MLB team in a 162-game season.
Joe Morgan was the National League's Most Valuable Player in 1975.

### Season standings

vteNL West :
| Team | W | L | Pct. | GB | Home | Road |
| Cincinnati Reds | 108 | 54 | .667 | — | 64‍–‍17 | 44‍–‍37 |
| Los Angeles Dodgers | 88 | 74 | .543 | 20 | 49‍–‍32 | 39‍–‍42 |
| San Francisco Giants | 80 | 81 | .497 | 27½ | 46‍–‍35 | 34‍–‍46 |
| San Diego Padres | 71 | 91 | .438 | 37 | 38‍–‍43 | 33‍–‍48 |
| Atlanta Braves | 67 | 94 | .416 | 40½ | 37‍–‍43 | 30‍–‍51 |
| Houston Astros | 64 | 97 | .398 | 43½ | 37‍–‍44 | 27‍–‍53 |

### Record vs. opponents

1975 National League recordvte Sources: :
| Team | ATL | CHC | CIN | HOU | LAD | MON | NYM | PHI | PIT | SD | SF | STL |
| Atlanta | — | 5–7 | 3–15 | 12–6 | 8–10 | 8–4 | 4–8 | 5–7 | 4–8 | 7–11 | 8–9 | 3–9 |
| Chicago | 7–5 | — | 1–11 | 7–5 | 5–7 | 9–9 | 7–11 | 12–6 | 6–12 | 5–7 | 5–7 | 11–7 |
| Cincinnati | 15–3 | 11–1 | — | 13–5 | 8–10 | 8–4 | 8–4 | 7–5 | 6–6 | 11–7 | 13–5 | 8–4 |
| Houston | 6–12 | 5–7 | 5–13 | — | 6–12 | 8–4 | 4–8 | 6–6 | 6–5 | 9–9 | 5–13 | 4–8–1 |
| Los Angeles | 10–8 | 7–5 | 10–8 | 12–6 | — | 5–7 | 6–6 | 7–5 | 5–7 | 11–7 | 10–8 | 5–7 |
| Montreal | 4–8 | 9–9 | 4–8 | 4–8 | 7–5 | — | 10–8 | 7–11 | 7–11 | 7–5 | 5–7 | 11–7 |
| New York | 8–4 | 11–7 | 4–8 | 8–4 | 6–6 | 8–10 | — | 7–11 | 5–13 | 8–4 | 8–4 | 9–9 |
| Philadelphia | 7-5 | 6–12 | 5–7 | 6–6 | 5–7 | 11–7 | 11–7 | — | 11–7 | 7–5 | 7–5 | 10–8 |
| Pittsburgh | 8–4 | 12–6 | 6–6 | 5–6 | 7–5 | 11–7 | 13–5 | 7–11 | — | 8–4 | 5–7 | 10–8 |
| San Diego | 11–7 | 7–5 | 7–11 | 9–9 | 7–11 | 5–7 | 4–8 | 5–7 | 4–8 | — | 8–10 | 4–8 |
| San Francisco | 9–8 | 7–5 | 5–13 | 13–5 | 8–10 | 7–5 | 4–8 | 5–7 | 7–5 | 10–8 | — | 5–7 |
| St. Louis | 9–3 | 7–11 | 4–8 | 8–4–1 | 7–5 | 7–11 | 9–9 | 8–10 | 8–10 | 8–4 | 7–5 | — |

### Notable transactions

* April 8, 1975: Roger Freed was purchased from the Reds by the Sultanes de Monterrey.
* May 6, 1975: Doug Corbett was signed as a free agent by the Reds.

### 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 | H | Avg. | HR | RBI |
| C | Johnny Bench | 142 | 530 | 150 | .283 | 28 | 110 |
| 1B | Tony Pérez | 137 | 511 | 144 | .282 | 20 | 109 |
| 2B | Joe Morgan | 146 | 498 | 163 | .327 | 17 | 94 |
| 3B | Pete Rose | 162 | 662 | 210 | .317 | 7 | 74 |
| SS | Dave Concepción | 140 | 507 | 139 | .274 | 5 | 49 |
| LF | George Foster | 134 | 463 | 139 | .300 | 23 | 78 |
| CF | César Gerónimo | 148 | 501 | 129 | .257 | 6 | 53 |
| RF | Ken Griffey | 132 | 463 | 141 | .305 | 4 | 46 |

#### 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 |
| Dan Driessen | 88 | 210 | 59 | .281 | 7 | 38 |
| Merv Rettenmund | 93 | 188 | 45 | .239 | 2 | 19 |
| Darrel Chaney | 71 | 160 | 35 | .219 | 2 | 26 |
| Bill Plummer | 65 | 159 | 29 | .182 | 1 | 19 |
| Doug Flynn | 89 | 127 | 34 | .268 | 1 | 20 |
| Terry Crowley | 66 | 71 | 19 | .268 | 1 | 11 |
| Ed Armbrister | 59 | 65 | 12 | .185 | 0 | 2 |
| John Vukovich | 31 | 38 | 8 | .211 | 0 | 2 |
| Don Werner | 7 | 8 | 1 | .125 | 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 |
| Gary Nolan | 32 | 210.2 | 15 | 9 | 3.16 | 74 |
| Jack Billingham | 33 | 208.0 | 15 | 10 | 4.11 | 79 |
| Fred Norman | 34 | 188.0 | 12 | 4 | 3.73 | 119 |
| Don Gullett | 22 | 159.2 | 15 | 4 | 2.42 | 98 |
| Pat Darcy | 27 | 130.2 | 11 | 5 | 3.58 | 46 |
| Clay Kirby | 26 | 110.2 | 10 | 6 | 4.72 | 48 |

#### 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 Carroll | 12 | 47.0 | 4 | 1 | 4.98 | 14 |

#### 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 |
| Rawly Eastwick | 58 | 5 | 3 | 22 | 2.60 | 61 |
| Will McEnaney | 70 | 5 | 2 | 15 | 2.47 | 48 |
| Pedro Borbón | 67 | 9 | 5 | 5 | 2.95 | 29 |
| Clay Carroll | 56 | 7 | 5 | 7 | 2.62 | 44 |
| Tom Hall | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.00 | 3 |

## Postseason
### National League Championship Series
#### Game One

October 4, Riverfront Stadium
| Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E |
| Pittsburgh | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 8 | 0 |
| Cincinnati | 0 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | X | 8 | 11 | 0 |
| W: Don Gullett (1–0) L: Jerry Reuss (0–1) |||||||||||||
| HRs: CIN – Don Gullett (1) |||||||||||||

#### Game Two

October 5, Riverfront Stadium
| Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E |
| Pittsburgh | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 5 | 0 |
| Cincinnati | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | X | 6 | 12 | 1 |
| W: Fred Norman (1–0) L: Jim Rooker (0–1) SV: Rawly Eastwick (1) |||||||||||||
| HRs: CIN – Tony Pérez (1) |||||||||||||

#### Game Three

October 7, Three Rivers Stadium
| Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | R | H | E |
| Cincinnati | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 5 | 6 | 0 |
| Pittsburgh | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 7 | 2 |
| W: Rawly Eastwick (1–0) L: Ramón Hernández (0–1) SV: Pedro Borbón (1) ||||||||||||||
| HRs: CIN – Dave Concepción (1), Pete Rose (1); PIT – Al Oliver (1) ||||||||||||||

### World Series

NL Cincinnati Reds (4) vs. AL Boston Red Sox (3) :
| Game | Score | Date | Location | Attendance | Time of Game |
| 1 | Reds – 0, Red Sox – 6 | Sat. Oct 11 (D) | Fenway Park | 35,205 | 2:27 |
| 2 | Reds – 3, Red Sox – 2 | Sun. Oct 12 (D) | Fenway Park | 35,205 | 2:38 |
| 3 | Red Sox – 5, Reds – 6 (10 inns) | Tue. Oct 14 (N) | Riverfront Stadium | 55,392 | 3:03 |
| 4 | Red Sox – 5, Reds – 4 | Wed. Oct 15 (N) | Riverfront Stadium | 55,667 | 2:52 |
| 5 | Red Sox – 2, Reds – 6 | Thu. Oct 16 (N) | Riverfront Stadium | 56,393 | 2:23 |
| 6 | Reds – 6, Red Sox – 7 (12 inns) | Tue. Oct 21 (N) | Fenway Park | 35,205 | 4:01 |
| 7 | Reds – 4, Red Sox – 3 | Wed. Oct 22 (N) | Fenway Park | 35,205 | 2:52 |

## Awards and honors

* Sparky Anderson, Associated Press NL Manager of the Year
* Johnny Bench, Lou Gehrig Award
* Gary Nolan, Hutch Award
* Pete Rose, World Series Most Valuable Player
* Joe Morgan, NL MVP

### All-Stars

All-Star Game
* Johnny Bench, catcher, starter
* Dave Concepción, shortstop, starter
* Joe Morgan, second baseman, starter
* Pete Rose, right fielder, starter
* Tony Pérez, reserve

## Farm system

| Level | Team | League | Manager |
| AAA | Indianapolis Indians | American Association | Vern Rapp |
| AA | Trois-Rivières Aigles | Eastern League | Jim Snyder and Ron Plaza |
| A | Tampa Tarpons | Florida State League | Russ Nixon |
| A-Short Season | Eugene Emeralds | Northwest League | Greg Riddoch |
| Rookie | Billings Mustangs | Pioneer League | Jim Hoff |
LEAGUE CHAMPIONS: Eugene