1970 Cincinnati Reds season

The 1970 Cincinnati Reds season was the 101st season for the franchise in Major League Baseball. The Reds won the National League West title with a record of 102 wins and 60 losses, 14+1⁄2 games ahead of the Los Angeles Dodgers. The Reds defeated the Pittsburgh Pirates in three straight games in the NLCS to win their first National League pennant since 1961. The team then lost to the Baltimore Orioles in the World Series in five games.

1970 Cincinnati Reds
National League champion National League West Division champion
League	National League
Division	West
Ballpark	Crosley Field (since 1934) Riverfront Stadium
City	Cincinnati
Record	102–60 (.630)
Divisional place	1st
Owners	Francis Dale
General managers	Bob Howsam
Managers	Sparky Anderson
Television	WLWT (Ed Kennedy, Pee Wee Reese)
Radio	WLW (Jim McIntyre, Joe Nuxhall)
← 1969 Seasons 1971 →

The Reds were managed by first-year manager George "Sparky" Anderson and played their home games at Crosley Field during the first part of the year, before moving into the then-new Riverfront Stadium on June 30.

Offseason

• October 24, 1969: Mel Queen was purchased from the Reds by the California Angels.^[1]
• October 29, 1969: Pedro Ramos was released by the Reds.^[2]
• November 14, 1969: Joaquín Andújar was signed as an amateur free agent by the Reds.^[3]
• November 25, 1969: Alex Johnson and Chico Ruiz were traded by the Reds to the California Angels for Pedro Borbón, Vern Geishert and Jim McGlothlin.^[4]
• January 14, 1970: Jack Fisher was traded by the Reds to the California Angels for Bill Harrelson and Dan Loomer (minors).^[5]
• January 17, 1970: Joel Youngblood was drafted by the Reds in the 2nd round of the 1970 Major League Baseball draft.^[6]
• February 4, 1970: Dennis Ribant was traded by the Reds to the Pittsburgh Pirates for Bo Belinsky.^[7]

Regular season

Buoyed by a lineup that included third baseman Tony Pérez, NL MVP catcher Johnny Bench, right fielder Pete Rose, center fielder Bobby Tolan and first baseman Lee May, the Reds got off to a 70–30 start. The Reds, who had been near the bottom of the NL in pitching in 1969, were aided by a young staff that included 18-game winner Gary Nolan (22), rookies Wayne Simpson (21) and Don Gullett (19), 20-game winner Jim Merritt (26) and record-setting reliever Wayne Granger, who appeared in a then-record 90 games in 1969.^[8] Simpson, a hard-throwing former first-round draft pick, started the season 9–1 and earned an all-star berth. He was 14–3 before he suffered a season-ending arm injury with 30 games left.^{[citation needed]}

Season standings

• v
• t
• e

NL West

Team	W	L	Pct.	GB	Home	Road
Cincinnati Reds	102	60	.630	—	57‍–‍24	45‍–‍36
Los Angeles Dodgers	87	74	.540	14½	39‍–‍42	48‍–‍32
San Francisco Giants	86	76	.531	16	48‍–‍33	38‍–‍43
Houston Astros	79	83	.488	23	44‍–‍37	35‍–‍46
Atlanta Braves	76	86	.469	26	42‍–‍39	34‍–‍47
San Diego Padres	63	99	.389	39	31‍–‍50	32‍–‍49

Record vs. opponents

1970 National League record v t e Sources:
Team	ATL	CHC	CIN	HOU	LAD	MTL	NYM	PHI	PIT	SD	SF	STL
Atlanta	—	8–4	5–13	9–9	6–12	6–6	6–6	7–5	6–6	9–9	7–11	7–5
Chicago	4–8	—	7–5	7–5	6–6	13–5	7–11	9–9	8–10	9–3	7–5	7–11
Cincinnati	13–5	5–7	—	15–3	13–5	7–5	8–4	7–5	8–4	8–10	9–9	9–3
Houston	9–9	5–7	3–15	—	8–10	8–4	6–6	4–8	6–6	14–4	10–8	6–6
Los Angeles	12–6	6–6	5–13	10–8	—	8–4	7–5	6–5	6–6	11–7	9–9	7–5
Montreal	6–6	5–13	5–7	4–8	4–8	—	10–8	11–7	9–9	6–6	6–6	7–11
New York	6–6	11–7	4–8	6–6	5–7	8–10	—	13–5	6–12	6–6	6–6	12–6
Philadelphia	5-7	9–9	5–7	8–4	5–6	7–11	5–13	—	4–14	9–3	8–4	8–10
Pittsburgh	6–6	10–8	4–8	6–6	6–6	9–9	12–6	14–4	—	6–6	4–8	12–6
San Diego	9–9	3–9	10–8	4–14	7–11	6–6	6–6	3–9	6–6	—	5–13	4–8
San Francisco	11–7	5–7	9–9	8–10	9–9	6–6	6–6	4–8	8–4	13–5	—	7–5
St. Louis	5–7	11–7	3–9	6–6	5–7	11–7	6–12	10–8	6–12	8–4	5–7	—

Notable transactions

• April 13, 1970: Al Jackson was released by the Reds.^[9]
• May 27, 1970: Arturo DeFreites was signed as an amateur free agent by the Reds.^[10]
• June 4, 1970: 1970 Major League Baseball draft
  • Will McEnaney was drafted by the Reds in the 8th round.^[11]
  • Ray Knight was drafted by the Reds in the 10th round.^[12]
• June 15, 1970: Clyde Mashore was traded by the Reds to the Montreal Expos for Ty Cline.^[13]

Riverfront Stadium

Riverfront Stadium was opened in 1970, and it was the home of the Cincinnati Reds National League baseball team and the Cincinnati Bengals National Football League team. Located on the Ohio River in downtown Cincinnati, the stadium was best known as the home of "The Big Red Machine", as the Reds were often called in the 1970s. Construction began on February 1, 1968, and was completed at a cost of less than $50 million. On June 30, 1970, the Reds hosted the Atlanta Braves in their grand opening, with Hank Aaron hitting the first ever home run at Riverfront. Two weeks later on July 14, Riverfront hosted the 1970 Major League Baseball All-Star Game. This game is most remembered for the often-replayed collision at home plate between the home-grown Pete Rose and catcher Ray Fosse of the Cleveland Indians.

Roster

1970 Cincinnati Reds
Roster
Pitchers 33 Mel Behney 34 Bo Belinsky 34 Pedro Borbón 36 Clay Carroll 40 Tony Cloninger 37 Wayne Granger 35 Don Gullett 46 Jim Maloney 31 Jim McGlothlin 30 Jim Merritt 38 Gary Nolan 42 John Noriega 45 Wayne Simpson 39 Ray Washburn 43 Milt Wilcox		Catchers  5 Johnny Bench  7 Pat Corrales  9 Bill Plummer Infielders 12 Darrel Chaney 13 Dave Concepción 15 Frank Duffy 19 Tommy Helms 23 Lee May 24 Tony Pérez 17 Jay Ward  6 Woody Woodward		Outfielders 22 Ángel Bravo 25 Bernie Carbo 17 Ty Cline 11 Hal McRae 14 Pete Rose 16 Jimmy Stewart 28 Bobby Tolan		Manager 10 Sparky Anderson Coaches  2 Alex Grammas 18 Ted Kluszewski  3 George Scherger  4 Larry Shepard

Player stats

= Indicates team leader

= Indicates league 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; SB = Stolen bases

Pos	Player	G	AB	H	Avg.	HR	RBI	SB
C	Johnny Bench	158	605	177	.293	45	148	5
1B	Lee May	153	605	153	.253	34	94	1
2B	Tommy Helms	150	575	136	.237	1	45	2
3B	Tony Pérez	158	587	186	.317	40	129	8
SS	Dave Concepción	101	265	69	.260	1	19	10
LF	Bernie Carbo	125	365	113	.310	21	63	10
CF	Bobby Tolan	152	589	186	.316	16	80	57
RF	Pete Rose	159	649	205*	.316	15	52	12

• Tied with Billy Williams (CHC)

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
Woody Woodward	100	264	59	.223	1	14
Hal McRae	70	165	41	.248	8	23
Pat Corrales	43	106	25	.236	1	10
Jimmy Stewart	101	105	28	.267	1	8
Darrel Chaney	57	95	22	.232	1	4
Angel Bravo	65	65	18	.277	0	3
Ty Cline	48	63	17	.270	0	8
Frank Duffy	6	11	2	.182	0	0
Bill Plummer	4	8	1	.125	0	0
Jay Ward	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
Gary Nolan	37	250.2	18	7	3.27	181
Jim Merritt	35	234.0	20	12	4.08	136
Jim McGlothlin	35	210.2	14	10	3.59	97
Wayne Simpson	26	176.0	14	3	3.02	119

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
Tony Cloninger	30	148.0	9	7	3.83	56
Milt Wilcox	5	22.1	3	1	2.42	13
Jim Maloney	7	16.2	0	1	11.34	7
Mel Behney	5	10.0	0	2	4.50	2

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
Wayne Granger	67	6	5	35	2.66	38
Clay Carroll	65	9	4	16	2.59	63
Don Gullett	44	5	2	6	2.43	76
Ray Washburn	35	4	4	0	6.92	37
Pedro Borbón	12	0	2	0	6.75	6
John Noriega	8	0	0	0	8.00	6
Bo Belinsky	3	0	0	0	4.50	6

Postseason

1970 National League Championship Series

Main article: 1970 National League Championship Series

Game One

October 3, Three Rivers Stadium

Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	R	H	E
Cincinnati	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	3	3	9	0
Pittsburgh	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	8	0
W: Gary Nolan (1–0)  L: Dock Ellis (0–1)  SV: Clay Carroll (1)
HRs: None

Game Two

October 4, Three Rivers Stadium

Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
Cincinnati	0	0	1	0	1	0	0	1	0	3	8	1
Pittsburgh	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	0	0	1	5	2
W: Jim Merritt (1–0)  L: Luke Walker (0–1)  SV: Don Gullett (1)
HRs: CIN – Bobby Tolan (1)

Game Three

October 5, Riverfront Stadium

Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
Pittsburgh	1	0	0	0	1	0	0	0	0	2	10	0
Cincinnati	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	X	3	5	0
W: Milt Wilcox (1–0)  L: Bob Moose (0–1)  SV: Don Gullett (2)
HRs: CIN – Tony Pérez (1), Johnny Bench (1)

1970 World Series

Main article: 1970 World Series

After their win in the NLCS, additional injuries to Merritt and Granger caught up to the Reds against the Orioles. In three of their losses, the Reds had leads of 3–0, 4–0 and 3–0. The Reds' only win came in Game 4 on a Lee May 3-run home run in the eighth inning.

1970 World Series (4–1): Baltimore Orioles (A.L.) over Cincinnati Reds (N.L.)

Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
Baltimore Orioles	4	3	6	3	8	5	2	2	0	33	50	5
Cincinnati Reds	7	2	4	0	1	1	2	3	0	20	35	3
Total Attendance: 253,183   Average Attendance: 50,637
Winning Player's Share: – $18,216,   Losing Player's Share– $13,688 *Includes Playoffs and World Series

Awards and honors

• Johnny Bench, National League MVP Award (He was the youngest National League player in the 20th century to win the MVP Award.)^[14]

All-Star Game

• Johnny Bench, Catcher, Starter
• Tony Perez, Third Base, Starter
• Jim Merritt, Pitcher, Reserve
• Pete Rose, Outfield, Reserve

Farm system

See also: Minor League Baseball

Level	Team	League	Manager
AAA	Indianapolis Indians	American Association	Vern Rapp
AA	Asheville Tourists	Southern League	Jim Snyder
A	Tampa Tarpons	Florida State League	Dick Kennedy
A-Short Season	Sioux Falls Packers	Northern League	Russ Nixon
Rookie	GCL Reds	Gulf Coast League	Ron Plaza

^[15]