The 1974

Cincinnati Reds The Cincinnati Reds are an American professional baseball team based in Cincinnati. They compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) National League Central, Central division and were a charter member of ...

season saw the Reds finishing in second place in the

National League West The National League West is one of Major League Baseball's six divisions. This division was formed for the 1969 season when the National League expanded to 12 teams by adding the San Diego Padres and the Montreal Expos. For purpose of keeping a re ...

with a record of 98–64, four games behind the NL West and pennant-winning

Los Angeles Dodgers The Los Angeles Dodgers are an American professional baseball team based in Los Angeles. The Dodgers compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) West division. Established in 1883 in the city of Brooklyn ...

. The Reds were managed by

Sparky Anderson George Lee "Sparky" Anderson (February 22, 1934 – November 4, 2010) was an American Major League Baseball (MLB) player, coach, and manager. He managed the National League's Cincinnati Reds to the 1975 and 1976 championships, then added a third t ...

and played their home games at

Riverfront Stadium Riverfront Stadium, also known as Cinergy Field from 1996 to 2002, was a multi-purpose stadium in Cincinnati, Ohio, United States that was the home of the Cincinnati Reds of Major League Baseball from 1970 through 2002 and the Cincinnati Bengals o ...

. The Reds' 98 victories were second-best in all of Major League baseball to the Dodgers' 102 victories. The Dodgers had finished in second place from 1970–73, three of those years the Reds won the NL West, (except for 1971, when the

San Francisco Giants The San Francisco Giants are an American professional baseball team based in San Francisco, California. The Giants compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) West division. Founded in 1883 as the New Yor ...

won). In the offseason, the Dodgers added center fielder

Jimmy Wynn James Sherman Wynn (March 12, 1942March 26, 2020), nicknamed "The Toy Cannon", was an American professional baseball player. He played 15 seasons as a center fielder; he spent ten of his fifteen seasons with the Houston Colt .45s / Astros befor ...

in a trade from Houston and acquired future

Cy Young Award The Cy Young Award is given annually to the best pitchers in Major League Baseball (MLB), one each for the American League (AL) and National League (NL). The award was first introduced in 1956 by Baseball Commissioner Ford Frick in honor of Hall ...

winning reliever Mike Marshall from Montreal. The Reds added a solid starter in 12-game winner

Clay Kirby Clayton Laws Kirby, Jr. (June 25, 1948 – October 11, 1991) was a Major League Baseball (MLB) pitcher for the San Diego Padres (1969–73), Cincinnati Reds (1974–75) and Montreal Expos (1976). Early life Clayton Laws "Clay" Kirby, Jr, was b ...

in the offseason. Just as they had done the previous season, the Dodgers started hot and built a large lead on the Reds in the division, due largely to their success against the Reds heads-up. The Dodgers won nine of their first 10 games against the Reds. After losing 6–3 to the Dodgers on August 5, the Reds trailed the Dodgers by 7½ games despite a solid 66–45 record. By August 15, the Reds had cut the lead to 1½ games after winning the first two of a three-game set at Dodger Stadium marking 9 losses in 11 games for Los Angeles. In the third game, Wynn hit a seventh-inning grand-slam to break open a tight game as the Dodgers rallied to a 7–1 victory, which helped keep the Dodgers ahead in the NL West. The Reds would get no closer than two games the rest of the season.

Johnny Bench John Lee Bench (born December 7, 1947) is an American former professional baseball player. He played his entire Major League Baseball career, which lasted from through , with the Cincinnati Reds, primarily as a catcher. Bench was the leader of t ...

put up one of his best seasons (career-highs in 108 runs scored and 160 games played, 33 home runs, 129 RBI and 315 total bases) to finish fourth in the NL MVP voting to winner

Steve Garvey Steven Patrick Garvey (born December 22, 1948) is an American former professional baseball player. He played in Major League Baseball as a first baseman for the Los Angeles Dodgers and San Diego Padres from 1969 to 1987. Garvey was the National ...

, runnerup

Lou Brock Louis Clark Brock (June 18, 1939September 6, 2020) was an American professional baseball outfielder. He began his 19-year Major League Baseball (MLB) career with the 1961 Chicago Cubs but spent most of it as a left fielder for the St. Louis Car ...

, and Marshall. Wynn was fifth. The 1974 season also marked the first with future Hall of Fame broadcaster

Marty Brennaman Franchester Martin Brennaman (born July 28, 1942) is an American retired sportscaster, best known for his long tenure as the play-by-play voice of Major League Baseball's Cincinnati Reds on the Cincinnati Reds Radio Network. Known for his opini ...

. Brennaman replaced another nationally known broadcaster,

Al Michaels Alan Richard Michaels (born November 12, 1944) is an American television sportscaster currently working as the play-by-play announcer for ''Thursday Night Football'' on Prime Video and in an emeritus role for NBC Sports. He has worked on netwo ...

, who moved to San Francisco to take the same position with the Giants.

Offseason

* December 3, 1973: Mario Soto was signed as an amateur free agent by the Reds. * December 4, 1973:

Ross Grimsley Ross Albert Grimsley Jr.
Retrieved August 26, 2018 (born J ...

and Wally Williams (minors) were traded by the Reds to the

Baltimore Orioles The Baltimore Orioles are an American professional baseball team based in Baltimore. The Orioles compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League East, East division. As one of the American L ...

for

Merv Rettenmund Mervin Weldon Rettenmund (born June 6, 1943) is an American former professional baseball player and coach. He played in Major League Baseball as an outfielder from through , most notably as a member of the Baltimore Orioles dynasty that won three ...

Junior Kennedy Junior Raymond Kennedy (born August 9, 1950) is an American former professional baseball second baseman, who played during seven Major League Baseball (MLB) seasons. Junior's older brother, Jim Kennedy, played for the 1970 St.Louis Cardinals. ...

and Bill Wood (minors). * December 12, 1973: Steve Blateric was traded by the Reds to the

Cleveland Indians The Cleveland Guardians are an American professional baseball team based in Cleveland. The Guardians compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Central division. Since , they have played at Progressive F ...

for

Roger Freed Roger Vernon Freed (June 2, 1946 – January 9, 1996), was an American professional baseball outfielder, who played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Baltimore Orioles, Philadelphia Phillies, Cincinnati Reds, Montreal Expos, and St. Louis C ...

. * Prior to 1974 season: Dan Dumoulin was signed as an amateur free agent by the Reds.

Regular season

Season standings

Record vs. opponents

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''

Other batters

''Note: G = Games played; AB = At bats; H = Hits; Avg. = Batting average; HR = Home runs; RBI = Runs batted in''

Pitching

Starting pitchers

''Note: G = Games pitched; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts''

Other pitchers

''Note: G = Games pitched; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts''

Relief pitchers

''Note: G = Games pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; SV = Saves; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts''

Farm system

Johnson, Lloyd, and Wolff, Miles, ed., ''The Encyclopedia of Minor League Baseball, 3rd edition''. Durham, North Carolina: Baseball America, 2007

Notes

References

1974 Cincinnati Reds season at Baseball Reference
{{Cincinnati Reds Cincinnati Reds seasons Cincinnati Reds season

Cincinnati Cincinnati ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Hamilton County. Settled in 1788, the city is located at the northern side of the confluence of the Licking and Ohio rivers, the latter of which marks the state line wit ...