# 1978 Cincinnati Reds season

The 1978 Cincinnati Reds season was the 109th season for the franchise in Major League Baseball, and their 9th and 8th full season at Riverfront Stadium. The Reds finished in second place in the National League West with a record of 92-69, 2½ games behind the Los Angeles Dodgers. The Reds were managed by Sparky Anderson and played their home games at Riverfront Stadium. Following the season, Anderson was replaced as manager by John McNamara, and Pete Rose left to sign with the Philadelphia Phillies for the 1979 season.

## Offseason

* October 31, 1977: Woodie Fryman and Bill Caudill were traded by the Reds to the Chicago Cubs for Bill Bonham.
* October 31, 1977: Joe Henderson was purchased from the Reds by the Toronto Blue Jays.
* December 9, 1977: Dave Collins was acquired by the Reds from the Seattle Mariners for Shane Rawley.
* February 25, 1978: Dave Revering and cash were traded by the Reds to the Oakland Athletics for Doug Bair.

## Spring training

In honor of Saint Patrick's Day, Reds general manager Dick Wagner had green versions of the Reds' uniforms made. The Reds hosted the New York Yankees at Al Lopez Field on March 17, 1978. This was the first time a major league team wore green trimmed uniforms on March 17, a practice adopted in subsequent years by multiple major league teams.

## Regular season

During the season, Pete Rose tied the National League record with a 44-game hitting streak held by Willie Keeler. The streak began on June 14, and came to an end on August 1.
On June 16, 1978 at Riverfront Stadium, Tom Seaver recorded a 4-0 no-hitter against the St. Louis Cardinals. It was the only no-hitter of his professional career.

### Season standings

vteNL West :
| Team | W | L | Pct. | GB | Home | Road |
| Los Angeles Dodgers | 95 | 67 | .586 | — | 54‍–‍27 | 41‍–‍40 |
| Cincinnati Reds | 92 | 69 | .571 | 2½ | 49‍–‍31 | 43‍–‍38 |
| San Francisco Giants | 89 | 73 | .549 | 6 | 50‍–‍31 | 39‍–‍42 |
| San Diego Padres | 84 | 78 | .519 | 11 | 50‍–‍31 | 34‍–‍47 |
| Houston Astros | 74 | 88 | .457 | 21 | 50‍–‍31 | 24‍–‍57 |
| Atlanta Braves | 69 | 93 | .426 | 26 | 39‍–‍42 | 30‍–‍51 |

### Record vs. opponents

1978 National League recordvte Sources: :
| Team | ATL | CHC | CIN | HOU | LAD | MON | NYM | PHI | PIT | SD | SF | STL |
| Atlanta | — | 5–7 | 6–12 | 8–10 | 5–13 | 5–7 | 6–6 | 8–4 | 2–10 | 8–10 | 11–7 | 5–7 |
| Chicago | 7–5 | — | 7–5 | 6–6 | 4–8 | 7–11 | 11–7 | 4–14 | 7–11 | 7–5 | 4–8 | 15–3 |
| Cincinnati | 12–6 | 5–7 | — | 11–7 | 9–9 | 8–4 | 7–5 | 7–5 | 4–7 | 9–9 | 12–6 | 8–4 |
| Houston | 10–8 | 6–6 | 7–11 | — | 7–11 | 6–6 | 7–5 | 6–6 | 4–8 | 8–10 | 6–12 | 7–5 |
| Los Angeles | 13–5 | 8–4 | 9–9 | 11–7 | — | 8–4 | 7–5 | 7–5 | 7–5 | 9–9 | 11–7 | 5–7 |
| Montreal | 7–5 | 11–7 | 4–8 | 6–6 | 4–8 | — | 8–10 | 9–9 | 7–11 | 6–6 | 5–7 | 9–9 |
| New York | 6–6 | 7–11 | 5–7 | 5–7 | 5–7 | 10–8 | — | 6–12 | 7–11 | 5–7 | 3–9 | 7–11 |
| Philadelphia | 4-8 | 14–4 | 5–7 | 6–6 | 5–7 | 9–9 | 12–6 | — | 11–7 | 8–4 | 6–6 | 10–8 |
| Pittsburgh | 10–2 | 11–7 | 7–4 | 8–4 | 5–7 | 11–7 | 11–7 | 7–11 | — | 5–7 | 4–8 | 9–9 |
| San Diego | 10–8 | 5–7 | 9–9 | 10–8 | 9–9 | 6–6 | 7–5 | 4–8 | 7–5 | — | 8–10 | 9–3 |
| San Francisco | 7–11 | 8–4 | 6–12 | 12–6 | 7–11 | 7–5 | 9–3 | 6–6 | 8–4 | 10–8 | — | 9–3 |
| St. Louis | 7–5 | 3–15 | 4–8 | 5–7 | 7–5 | 9–9 | 11–7 | 8–10 | 9–9 | 3–9 | 3–9 | — |

### Notable transactions

* June 6, 1978: 1978 Major League Baseball draft
** Skeeter Barnes was drafted by the Reds in the 16th round. Player signed June 8, 1978.
** Otis Nixon was drafted by the Reds in the 21st round, but did not sign.
* May 19, 1978: Dale Murray was traded by the Reds to the New York Mets for Ken Henderson.

### Pete Rose hitting streak

On May 5, 1978, Rose became the 13th and youngest player in major league history to collect his 3,000th career hit, with a single off Expos pitcher Steve Rogers. Three days later, due to an illness and back spasms, Rose was forced to snap a 678 consecutive games played streak, which was the longest active streak in the majors at the time.
On June 14 in Cincinnati, Rose singled in the first inning off Cubs pitcher Dave Roberts; Rose would proceed to get a hit in every game he played until August 1, making a run at Joe DiMaggio's record 56-game hitting streak, which had stood virtually unchallenged for 37 years. The streak started quietly, but by the time it had reached 30 games, the media took notice and a pool of reporters accompanied Rose and the Reds to every game. On July 19 against the Phillies, Rose was hitless going into the ninth with his team trailing. He ended up walking and the streak appeared over. But the Reds managed to bat through their entire lineup, giving Rose another chance. Facing Ron Reed, Rose laid down a perfect bunt single to extend the streak to 32 games.
He eventually tied Willie Keeler's single season National League record at 44 games; but on August 1, the streak came to an end as Gene Garber of the Braves struck out Rose in the ninth inning. The competitive Rose was sour after the game, blasting Garber and the Braves for treating the situation "like it was the ninth inning of the 7th game of the World Series" and adding that "Phil Niekro would have given me a fastball to hit."
| Game | Date | Pitcher | Team | Singles | Doubles |
| 1 | 06-14-1978 | Dave Roberts | Chicago Cubs | 2 | 0 |
| 2 | 06-16-1978 | John Denny | St. Louis Cardinals | 2 | 1 |
| 3 | 06-17-1978 | Pete Vukovich | St. Louis Cardinals | 2 | 0 |
| 4 | 06-18-1978 | Silvio Martinez | St. Louis Cardinals | 1 | 0 |
| 5 | 06-20-1978 | John Montefusco | San Francisco Giants | 2 | 1 |
| 6 | 06-21-1978 | Ed Halicki | San Francisco Giants | 1 | 0 |
| 7 | 06-22-1978 | Bob Knepper | San Francisco Giants | 1 | 0 |
| 8 | 06-23-1978 | Burt Hooton | Los Angeles Dodgers | 1 | 0 |
| 9 | 06-24-1978 | Bob Welch | Los Angeles Dodgers | 1 | 0 |
| 10 | 06-25-1978 | Tommy John | Los Angeles Dodgers | 2 | 0 |
| 11 | 06-26-1978 | Mark Lemongello | Houston Astros | 1 | 0 |
| 12 | 06-27-1978 | Joe Niekro | Houston Astros | 1 | 0 |
| 13 | 06-28-1978 | Tom Dixon | Houston Astros | 1 | 0 |
| 14 | 06-29-1978 | Floyd Bannister | Houston Astros | 1 | 1 |
| 15 | 06-30-1978 | Lance Rautzhan | Los Angeles Dodgers | 1 | 0 |
| 16 | 06-30-1978 | Bob Welch | Los Angeles Dodgers | 3 | 0 |
| 17 | 07-01-1978 | Rick Rhoden | Los Angeles Dodgers | 1 | 1 |
| 18 | 07-02-1978 | Doug Rau | Los Angeles Dodgers | 1 | 1 |
| 19 | 07-03-1978 | Floyd Bannister | Houston Astros | 3 | 1 |
| 20 | 07-04-1978 | J. R. Richard | Houston Astros | 1 | 0 |
| 21 | 07-05-1978 | Joe Niekro | Houston Astros | 1 | 0 |
| 22 | 07-07-1978 | Vida Blue | San Francisco Giants | 3 | 0 |
| 23 | 07-07-1978 | Jim Barr | San Francisco Giants | 1 | 0 |
| 24 | 07-08-1978 | John Montefusco | San Francisco Giants | 1 | 0 |
| 25 | 07-09-1978 | Ed Halicki | San Francisco Giants | 3 | 0 |
| 26 | 07-13-1978 | Jerry Koosman | New York Mets | 2 | 1 |
| 27 | 07-14-1978 | Pat Zachry | New York Mets | 2 | 0 |
| 28 | 07-15-1978 | Craig Swan | New York Mets | 1 | 0 |
| 29 | 07-16-1978 | Paul Siebert | New York Mets | 1 | 1 |
| 30 | 07-17-1978 | Stan Bahnsen | Montreal Expos | 1 | 0 |
| 31 | 07-18-1978 | Hal Dues | Montreal Expos | 2 | 1 |
| 32 | 07-19-1978 | Ron Reed | Philadelphia Phillies | 1 | 0 |
| 33 | 07-20-1978 | Jim Kaat | Philadelphia Phillies | 1 | 0 |
| 34 | 07-21-1978 | Ross Grimsley | Montreal Expos | 1 | 0 |
| 35 | 07-22-1978 | Dan Schatzeder | Montreal Expos | 1 | 0 |
| 36 | 07-22-1978 | Steve Rogers | Montreal Expos | 2 | 1 |
| 37 | 07-24-1978 | Pat Zachry | New York Mets | 1 | 0 |
| 38 | 07-25-1978 | Craig Swan | New York Mets | 3 | 1 |
| 39 | 07-26-1978 | Nino Espinosa | New York Mets | 1 | 1 |
| 40 | 07-28-1978 | Randy Lerch | Philadelphia Phillies | 1 | 1 |
| 41 | 07-28-1978 | Steve Carlton | Philadelphia Phillies | 1 | 0 |
| 42 | 07-29-1978 | Jim Lonborg | Philadelphia Phillies | 3 | 0 |
| 43 | 07-30-1978 | Larry Christenson | Philadelphia Phillies | 2 | 0 |
| 44 | 07-31-1978 | Phil Niekro | Atlanta Braves | 1 | 0 |

### 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 | 120 | 393 | 102 | .260 | 23 | 73 |
| 1B | Dan Driessen | 153 | 524 | 131 | .250 | 16 | 70 |
| 2B | Joe Morgan | 132 | 441 | 104 | .236 | 13 | 75 |
| 3B | Pete Rose | 159 | 655 | 198 | .302 | 7 | 52 |
| SS | Dave Concepción | 153 | 565 | 170 | .301 | 6 | 67 |
| LF | George Foster | 158 | 604 | 170 | .281 | 40 | 120 |
| CF | César Gerónimo | 122 | 296 | 67 | .226 | 5 | 27 |
| RF | Ken Griffey | 158 | 614 | 177 | .288 | 10 | 63 |

#### 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 |
| Junior Kennedy | 89 | 157 | 40 | .255 | 0 | 11 |
| Mike Lum | 86 | 146 | 39 | .267 | 6 | 23 |
| Ken Henderson | 64 | 144 | 24 | .167 | 3 | 19 |
| Don Werner | 50 | 113 | 17 | .150 | 0 | 11 |
| Vic Correll | 52 | 105 | 25 | .238 | 1 | 6 |
| Dave Collins | 102 | 102 | 22 | .216 | 0 | 7 |
| Ray Knight | 83 | 65 | 13 | .200 | 1 | 4 |
| Rick Auerbach | 63 | 55 | 18 | .327 | 2 | 5 |
| Champ Summers | 13 | 35 | 9 | .257 | 1 | 3 |
| Arturo DeFreites | 9 | 19 | 4 | .211 | 1 | 2 |
| Ron Oester | 6 | 8 | 3 | .375 | 0 | 1 |
| Harry Spilman | 4 | 4 | 1 | .250 | 0 | 0 |
| Mike Grace | 5 | 3 | 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 |
| Tom Seaver | 36 | 259.2 | 16 | 14 | 2.88 | 226 |
| Fred Norman | 31 | 177.1 | 11 | 9 | 3.70 | 111 |
| Paul Moskau | 26 | 145.0 | 6 | 4 | 3.97 | 88 |
| Bill Bonham | 23 | 140.1 | 11 | 5 | 3.53 | 83 |
| Mike LaCoss | 16 | 96.0 | 4 | 8 | 4.50 | 31 |

#### 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 | 42 | 174.0 | 8 | 11 | 4.14 | 90 |
| Mario Soto | 5 | 18.0 | 1 | 0 | 2.50 | 13 |
| Doug Capilla | 6 | 11.0 | 0 | 1 | 9.82 | 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 |
| Doug Bair | 70 | 7 | 6 | 28 | 1.97 | 91 |
| Manny Sarmiento | 63 | 9 | 7 | 5 | 4.38 | 72 |
| Pedro Borbón | 62 | 8 | 2 | 4 | 4.98 | 35 |
| Dave Tomlin | 57 | 9 | 1 | 4 | 5.78 | 32 |
| Dale Murray | 15 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 4.13 | 25 |
| Dan Dumoulin | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1.80 | 2 |

## Farm system

| Level | Team | League | Manager |
| AAA | Indianapolis Indians | American Association | Roy Majtyka |
| AA | Nashville Sounds | Southern League | Chuck Goggin |
| A | Tampa Tarpons | Florida State League | Mike Compton |
| A | Shelby Reds | Western Carolinas League | Jim Lett |
| A-Short Season | Eugene Emeralds | Northwest League | Greg Riddoch |
| Rookie | Billings Mustangs | Pioneer League | Jim Hoff |
LEAGUE CHAMPIONS: Billings