# 1980 Cincinnati Reds season

The 1980 Cincinnati Reds season was the 111th season for the franchise in Major League Baseball, and their 11th and 10th full season at Riverfront Stadium. The Reds finished in third place in the National League West with a record of 89-73, 3½ games behind the Houston Astros, marking the first time since 1971 that the Reds did not finish in either first or second place. The Reds were managed by John McNamara and played their home games at Riverfront Stadium.

## Offseason

* December 3, 1979: Doug Corbett was drafted from the Reds by the Minnesota Twins in the 1979 rule 5 draft.

## Regular season

On July 4, pitcher Nolan Ryan of the Houston Astros recorded the 3000th strikeout of his career by striking out Reds player César Gerónimo.

### Season standings

vteNL West :
| Team | W | L | Pct. | GB | Home | Road |
| Houston Astros | 93 | 70 | .571 | — | 55‍–‍26 | 38‍–‍44 |
| Los Angeles Dodgers | 92 | 71 | .564 | 1 | 55‍–‍27 | 37‍–‍44 |
| Cincinnati Reds | 89 | 73 | .549 | 3½ | 44‍–‍37 | 45‍–‍36 |
| Atlanta Braves | 81 | 80 | .503 | 11 | 50‍–‍30 | 31‍–‍50 |
| San Francisco Giants | 75 | 86 | .466 | 17 | 44‍–‍37 | 31‍–‍49 |
| San Diego Padres | 73 | 89 | .451 | 19½ | 45‍–‍36 | 28‍–‍53 |

### Record vs. opponents

1980 National League recordvte Sources: :
| Team | ATL | CHC | CIN | HOU | LAD | MON | NYM | PHI | PIT | SD | SF | STL |
| Atlanta | — | 8–4 | 2–16 | 7–11 | 11–7 | 5–7 | 3–9 | 5–7 | 11–1 | 12–6 | 11–6 | 6–6 |
| Chicago | 4–8 | — | 7–5 | 1–11 | 5–7 | 6–12 | 10–8 | 5–13 | 8–10 | 4–8 | 5–7 | 9–9 |
| Cincinnati | 16–2 | 5–7 | — | 8–10 | 9–9 | 3–9 | 8–4 | 7–5 | 6–6 | 15–3–1 | 7–11 | 5–7 |
| Houston | 11–7 | 11–1 | 10–8 | — | 9–10 | 5–7 | 8–4 | 3–9 | 7–5 | 11–7 | 11–7 | 7–5 |
| Los Angeles | 7–11 | 7–5 | 9–9 | 10–9 | — | 11–1 | 7–5 | 6–6 | 6–6 | 9–9 | 13–5 | 7–5 |
| Montreal | 7–5 | 12–6 | 9–3 | 7–5 | 1–11 | — | 10–8 | 9–9 | 6–12 | 10–2 | 7–5 | 12–6 |
| New York | 9–3 | 8–10 | 4–8 | 4–8 | 5–7 | 8–10 | — | 6–12 | 10–8 | 1–11 | 3–9 | 9–9 |
| Philadelphia | 7-5 | 13–5 | 5–7 | 9–3 | 6–6 | 9–9 | 12–6 | — | 7–11 | 8–4 | 6–6 | 9–9 |
| Pittsburgh | 1–11 | 10–8 | 6–6 | 5–7 | 6–6 | 12–6 | 8–10 | 11–7 | — | 6–6 | 8–4 | 10–8 |
| San Diego | 6–12 | 8–4 | 3–15–1 | 7–11 | 9–9 | 2–10 | 11–1 | 4–8 | 6–6 | — | 10–8 | 7–5 |
| San Francisco | 6–11 | 7–5 | 11–7 | 7–11 | 5–13 | 5–7 | 9–3 | 6–6 | 4–8 | 8–10 | — | 7–5 |
| St. Louis | 6–6 | 9–9 | 7–5 | 5–7 | 5–7 | 6–12 | 9–9 | 9–9 | 8–10 | 5–7 | 5–7 | — |

### Notable transactions

* June 3, 1980: 1980 Major League Baseball Draft
** Ron Robinson was drafted by the Reds in the 1st round (19th pick).
** Danny Tartabull was drafted by the Reds in the 3rd round. Player signed June 10, 1980.
** Eric Davis was drafted by the Reds in the 8th round. Player signed June 8, 1980.
* June 13, 1980: Joe Nolan was signed as a free agent by the Reds.

### 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 | 114 | 360 | 90 | .250 | 24 | 68 |
| 1B | Dan Driessen | 154 | 524 | 139 | .265 | 14 | 74 |
| 2B | Junior Kennedy | 104 | 337 | 88 | .261 | 1 | 34 |
| 3B | Ray Knight | 162 | 618 | 163 | .264 | 14 | 78 |
| SS | Dave Concepción | 156 | 622 | 162 | .260 | 5 | 77 |
| LF | George Foster | 144 | 528 | 144 | .273 | 25 | 93 |
| CF | Dave Collins | 144 | 551 | 167 | .303 | 3 | 35 |
| RF | Ken Griffey | 146 | 544 | 160 | .294 | 13 | 85 |

#### 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 |
| Ron Oester | 100 | 303 | 84 | .277 | 2 | 20 |
| Joe Nolan | 53 | 154 | 48 | .312 | 3 | 24 |
| César Gerónimo | 103 | 145 | 37 | .255 | 2 | 9 |
| Sam Mejías | 71 | 108 | 30 | .278 | 1 | 10 |
| Harry Spilman | 65 | 101 | 27 | .267 | 4 | 19 |
| Héctor Cruz | 52 | 75 | 16 | .213 | 1 | 5 |
| Don Werner | 24 | 64 | 11 | .172 | 0 | 5 |
| Paul Householder | 20 | 45 | 11 | .244 | 0 | 7 |
| Rick Auerbach | 24 | 33 | 11 | .333 | 1 | 4 |
| Vic Correll | 10 | 19 | 8 | .421 | 0 | 3 |
| Eddie Milner | 6 | 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 |
| Frank Pastore | 27 | 184.2 | 13 | 7 | 3.27 | 110 |
| Charlie Leibrandt | 36 | 173.2 | 10 | 9 | 4.25 | 62 |
| Mike LaCoss | 34 | 169.1 | 10 | 12 | 4.62 | 59 |
| Tom Seaver | 26 | 168.0 | 10 | 8 | 3.64 | 101 |
| Bruce Berenyi | 6 | 27.2 | 2 | 2 | 7.81 | 19 |
| Bill Bonham | 4 | 19.0 | 2 | 1 | 4.74 | 13 |

#### 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 |
| Mario Soto | 53 | 190.1 | 10 | 8 | 3.07 | 182 |
| Paul Moskau | 33 | 152.2 | 9 | 7 | 4.01 | 94 |
| Joe Price | 24 | 111.1 | 7 | 3 | 3.56 | 44 |

#### 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 |
| Tom Hume | 78 | 9 | 10 | 25 | 2.56 | 68 |
| Doug Bair | 61 | 3 | 6 | 6 | 4.24 | 62 |
| Dave Tomlin | 27 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 5.54 | 6 |
| Sheldon Burnside | 7 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1.93 | 2 |
| Jay Howell | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 13.50 | 1 |
| Geoff Combe | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 10.80 | 10 |

## Farm system

| Level | Team | League | Manager |
| AAA | Indianapolis Indians | American Association | Jim Beauchamp |
| AA | Waterbury Reds | Eastern League | Mike Compton |
| A | Tampa Tarpons | Florida State League | George Scherger |
| A | Cedar Rapids Reds | Midwest League | Jim Lett |
| A-Short Season | Eugene Emeralds | Northwest League | Greg Riddoch |
| Rookie | Billings Mustangs | Pioneer League | Jim Hoff |
LEAGUE CO-CHAMPIONS: Eugene