1974 Cincinnati Reds season
| 1974 Cincinnati Reds | |
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| Owner(s) | Louis Nippert |
| General manager(s) | Bob Howsam |
| Manager(s) | Sparky Anderson |
| Local television |
WLWT (Charlie Jones, Woody Woodward) |
| Local radio |
WLW (Marty Brennaman, Joe Nuxhall) |
| < Previous season Next season > | |
The 1974 Cincinnati Reds season saw the Reds finishing in second place in the National League West with a record of 98–64, four games behind the NL West and pennant-winning Los Angeles Dodgers. The Reds were managed by Sparky Anderson and played their home games at Riverfront Stadium.
The Reds' second-place finish was really more about the Los Angeles Dodgers improvements more than any perceived failures by Cincinnati. The Reds' 98 victories were second-best in all of 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. In the offseason, the Dodgers added center fielder Jimmy Wynn in a trade from Houston and acquired future Cy Young Award winning reliever Mike Marshall from Montreal. The Reds did add a solid starter in 12-game winner Clay Kirby in the offseason. With All-Star shortstop Dave Concepcion fully recovered from a broken ankle he suffered at mid-season in '73, and All-Star catcher Johnny Bench having another MVP caliber season, the Reds were not going to relinquish their divisional crown easily.
Just as they had done the previous season, the Dodgers started hot and gained a large lead on the Reds in the National League West 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 7 1/2 games despite a solid 66–45 record. By Aug. 15, the Reds had cut the lead to 1 1/2 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, Jimmy 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.
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