1981 Cincinnati Reds season

1981 Cincinnati Reds
Major League affiliations
National League (since 1890) Western Division (since 1969)
Location
Riverfront Stadium (since 1970) Cincinnati (since 1882)
Results
Record	66–42 (.611)
Divisional place	1st
Other information
Owner(s)	William & James Williams
General manager(s)	Dick Wagner
Manager(s)	John McNamara
Local television	WLWT (Ray Lane, Bill Brown, Dick Carlson)
Local radio	WLW (Marty Brennaman, Joe Nuxhall)
< Previous season     Next season >

The Cincinnati Reds' 1981 season consisted of the Reds finishing with an overall record of 66-42, giving them the best win–loss record in all of Major League Baseball. However, due to a split-season format, caused by a mid-season players' strike, they failed to make the MLB playoffs that year because they did not finish first in either half of the season. The Reds finished the first half of the season in second place with a record of 35-21, just one-half game behind the eventual World Champion Los Angeles Dodgers, and one-and-a-half games behind the Houston Astros in the second half, in which the Reds were 31-21, good for second place, again. The Reds were managed by John McNamara and played their home games at Riverfront Stadium.

Offseason[]

• January 22, 1981: Mike Grace and John Hale were traded by the Reds to the Baltimore Orioles for Joe Kerrigan and John Buffamoyer (minors).^[1]

Regular season[]

Season standings[]

v t NL West	W	L	Pct.	GB	Home	Road
Cincinnati Reds	66	42	0.611	—	32–22	34–20
Los Angeles Dodgers	63	47	0.573	4	33–23	30–24
Houston Astros	61	49	0.555	6	31–20	30–29
San Francisco Giants	56	55	0.505	11½	29–24	27–31
Atlanta Braves	50	56	0.472	15	22–27	28–29
San Diego Padres	41	69	0.373	26	20–35	21–34

Record vs. opponents[]

1981 National League Records v t Sources: [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] [8] [9] [10] [11] [12]
Team	ATL	CHC	CIN	HOU	LAD	MON	NYM	PHI	PIT	SD	SF	STL
Atlanta	—	3–2–1	6–5	4–8	7–7	3–7	3–3	4–5	2–3	9–6	5–7	4–3
Chicago	2–3–1	—	1–5	1–6	6–4	4–7	5–8–1	2–10	4–10	3–3	5–5	5–4–1
Cincinnati	5–6	5–1	—	8–4	8–8	5–4	7–3	5–2	4–2	10–2	9–5	0–5
Houston	8–4	6–1	4–8	—	4–8	5–2	6–3	4–6	2–4	11–3	9–6	2–4
Los Angeles	7–7	4–6	8–8	8–4	—	5–2	5–1	3–3	5–1	6–5	7–5	5–5
Montreal	7–3	7–4	4–5	2–5	2–5	—	9–3	7–4	10–3	4–2	2–5	6–9
New York	3–3	8–5–1	3–7	3–6	1–5	3–9	—	7–7	3–6–1	2–5	2–4	6–5
Philadelphia	5-4	10–2	2–5	6–4	3–3	4–7	7–7	—	7–5	4–2	4–3	7–6
Pittsburgh	3–2	10–4	2–4	4–2	1–5	3–10	6–3–1	5–7	—	6–4	3–7	3–8
San Diego	6–9	3–3	2–10	3–11	5–6	2–4	5–2	2–4	4–6	—	6–7	3–7
San Francisco	7–5	5–5	5–9	6–9	5–7	5–2	4–2	3–4	7–3	7–6	—	2–3
St. Louis	3–4	4–5–1	5–0	4–2	5–5	9–6	5–6	6–7	8–3	7–3	3–2	—

Notable transactions[]

• June 8, 1981: Terry McGriff was drafted by the Cincinnati Reds in the 8th round of the 1981 amateur draft. Player signed June 12, 1981.^[2]
• June 8, 1981: Paul O'Neill was drafted by the Cincinnati Reds in the 4th round of the 1981 amateur draft. Player signed June 11, 1981.^[3]
• September 10, 1981: Doug Bair was traded by the Reds to the St. Louis Cardinals for Joe Edelen and Neil Fiala.^[4]

Roster[]

1981 Cincinnati Reds roster
Roster
Pitchers 40 Doug Bair 38 Bruce Berenyi 53 Scott Brown 37 Geoff Combe 40 Joe Edelen 47 Tom Hume 51 Mike LaCoss 44 Charlie Leibrandt 31 Paul Moskau 35 Frank Pastore 49 Joe Price 41 Tom Seaver 36 Mario Soto		Catchers 17 Joe Nolan  9 Mike O'Berry Infielders  5 Johnny Bench 33 Larry Biittner 13 Dave Concepción 22 Dan Driessen 26 Junior Kennedy 25 Ray Knight  7 Rafael Landestoy 16 Ron Oester 12 Harry Spilman		Outfielders 29 Dave Collins 15 George Foster 30 Ken Griffey 21 Paul Householder 28 Sam Mejías 20 Eddie Milner 23 Mike Vail Other batters 12 Germán Barranca 19 Neil Fiala		Manager  3 John McNamara Coaches  4 Harry Dunlop  6 Bill Fischer  2 Russ Nixon 11 Ron Plaza

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
CF	Ken Griffey	101	396	123	.311	2	34

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
Germán Barranca	9	6	2	.333	0	1
Neil Fiala	2	2	1	.500	0	1

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
Bruce Berenyi	21	126	9	6	3.50	106

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

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	24	2	2	0	5.77	16
Joe Edelen	5	1	0	0	0.71	5

Awards and honors[]

• Johnny Bench, Hutch Award^[5]

Farm system[]

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

Notes[]

References[]

• 1981 Cincinnati Reds season at Baseball Reference
• Johnson, Lloyd; Wolff, Miles, eds. (1997). The Encyclopedia of Minor League Baseball (2nd ed.). Durham, North Carolina: Baseball America. ISBN 978-0-9637189-8-3.