1981 Cincinnati Reds season

The 1981 Cincinnati Reds 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 because they did not finish first in either half of the season; they finished in second place in both halves by scant margins. 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. Before the final game of the season against the Atlanta Braves, the team unveiled a banner which said "Cincinnati Reds: Baseball's best record 1981". The Reds were managed by John McNamara and played their home games at Riverfront Stadium.

1981 Cincinnati Reds
League	National League
Division	West
Ballpark	Riverfront Stadium
City	Cincinnati
Record	66–42 (.611)
Divisional place	1st
Owners	William & James Williams
General managers	Dick Wagner
Managers	John McNamara
Television	WLWT (Ray Lane, Bill Brown, Dick Carlson)
Radio	WLW (Marty Brennaman, Joe Nuxhall)
Seasons

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).

Regular season

Season standings

NL West

Team	W	L	Pct.	GB	Home	Road
Cincinnati Reds	66	42	.611	—	32‍–‍22	34‍–‍20
Los Angeles Dodgers	63	47	.573	4	33‍–‍23	30‍–‍24
Houston Astros	61	49	.555	6	31‍–‍20	30‍–‍29
San Francisco Giants	56	55	.505	11½	29‍–‍24	27‍–‍31
Atlanta Braves	50	56	.472	15	22‍–‍27	28‍–‍29
San Diego Padres	41	69	.373	26	20‍–‍35	21‍–‍34

NL West First Half Standings	W	L	Pct.	GB
Los Angeles Dodgers	36	21	.632	—
Cincinnati Reds	35	21	.625	1⁄2
Houston Astros	28	29	.491	8
Atlanta Braves	25	29	.463	9+1⁄2
San Francisco Giants	27	32	.458	10
San Diego Padres	23	33	.411	12+1⁄2

NL West Second Half Standings	W	L	Pct.	GB
Houston Astros	33	20	.623	—
Cincinnati Reds	31	21	.596	1+1⁄2
San Francisco Giants	29	23	.558	3+1⁄2
Los Angeles Dodgers	27	26	.509	6
Atlanta Braves	25	27	.481	7+1⁄2
San Diego Padres	18	36	.333	15+1⁄2

Record vs. opponents

1981 National League record 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.
• 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.
• September 10, 1981: Doug Bair was traded by the Reds to the St. Louis Cardinals for Joe Edelen and Neil Fiala.

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

Game log

First half

1981 First half game log: 35–21 (Home: 17–11; Away: 18–10)
April: 11–7 (Home: 4–4; Away: 7–3) # Date Opponent Score Win Loss Save Attendance Record Streak 1 April 8 Phillies 3–2 Hume (1–0) Lyle (0–1) 51,716 1–0 W1 2 April 10 @ Braves 3–5 Garber (1–0) Soto (0–1) Camp (1) 34,929 1–1 L1 3 April 11 @ Braves 3–2 Bair (1–0) Garber (1–1) 15,973 2–1 W1 4 April 12 @ Braves 2–3 Bradford (1–0) Hume (1–1) Mahler (1) 12,227 2–2 L1 5 April 13 @ Padres 7–1 Seaver (1–0) Wise (0–1) 36,391 3–2 W1 6 April 14 @ Padres 4–0 Berenyi (1–0) Curtis (0–1) 12,198 4–2 W2 7 April 15 @ Padres 10–1 Soto (1–1) Mura (0–1) 10,801 5–2 W3 8 April 17 Cardinals 5–9 Sorensen (2–0) LaCoss (0–1) 22,961 5–3 L1 9 April 18 Cardinals 4–10 Shirley (1–0) Seaver (1–1) 22,529 5–4 L2 10 April 21 Braves 1–10 Boggs (1–1) Soto (1–2) 24,022 5–5 L3 11 April 22 Braves 3–7 Perry (1–1) LaCoss (0–2) 15,735 5–6 L4 12 April 23 @ Astros 5–4 (10) Price (1–0) D. Smith (0–2) Moskau (1) 23,173 6–6 W1 13 April 24 @ Astros 3–0 Pastore (1–0) Niekro (1–3) 27,087 7–6 W2 14 April 25 @ Astros 2–1 Berenyi (2–0) Ryan (1–1) Hume (1) 19,957 8–6 W3 15 April 26 @ Astros 0–1 Knepper (2–0) Soto (1–3) 23,428 8–7 L1 16 April 28 Padres 11–2 Seaver (2–1) Lollar (1–1) 13,103 9–7 W1 17 April 29 Padres 8–5 Moskau (1–0) Littlefield (0–2) Hume (2) 12,291 10–7 W2 18 April 30 Padres 4–3 LaCoss (1–2) Mura (0–3) Hume (3) 12,794 11–7 W3
May: 16–13 (Home: 10–7; Away: 6–6) # Date Opponent Score Win Loss Save Attendance Record Streak 19 May 1 @ Cardinals 6–7 Forsch (2–1) Soto (1–4) Sutter (5) 21,315 11–8 L1 20 May 2 @ Cardinals 3–7 Shirley (3–0) Berenyi (2–1) 16,677 11–9 L2 21 May 3 @ Cardinals 4–5 (11) Edelen (1–0) Hume (1–2) 21,855 11–10 L3 — May 5 Pirates Postponed (rain); Makeup: May 7 22 May 6 Pirates 9–8 Hume (2–2) Jackson (1–2) 14,551 12–10 W1 23 May 7 Pirates 1–3 Rhoden (4–0) Soto (1–5) Romo (3) – 12–11 L1 24 May 7 Pirates 1–7 Solomon (2–1) LaCoss (1–3) 20,301 12–12 L2 25 May 8 Astros 4–0 Seaver (3–1) Sutton (2–4) 31,961 13–12 W1 26 May 9 Astros 9–5 Berenyi (3–1) Andújar (1–2) 30,860 14–12 W2 27 May 10 Astros 5–7 Niekro (3–3) Pastore (1–1) LaCorte (2) 31,903 14–13 L1 28 May 11 Astros 0–5 Ryan (2–1) LaCoss (1–4) 11,795 14–14 L2 29 May 12 Cubs 2–1 Soto (2–5) Tidrow (1–4) 12,016 15–14 W1 30 May 13 Cubs 8–3 Seaver (4–1) Krukow (1–3) 12,528 16–14 W2 31 May 14 Cubs 6–1 Berenyi (4–1) Reuschel (1–4) 11,098 17–14 W3 32 May 15 @ Pirates 4–1 Price (2–0) Romo (0–2) Hume (4) 10,592 18–14 W4 33 May 16 @ Pirates 4–0 LaCoss (2–4) Scurry (1–2) 11,890 19–14 W5 34 May 17 @ Pirates 4–3 Soto (3–5) Solomon (2–3) 11,775 20–14 W6 35 May 19 @ Cubs 5–0 Seaver (5–1) Reuschel (1–5) Moskau (2) 5,896 21–14 W7 36 May 20 @ Cubs 10–7 Price (3–0) Smith (1–3) Hume (5) 5,914 22–14 W8 37 May 21 @ Cubs 1–5 Martz (2–2) Pastore (1–2) 7,132 22–15 L1 38 May 22 Dodgers 2–4 (12) Stewart (2–0) Bair (1–1) 27,943 22–16 L2 39 May 23 Dodgers 6–9 (10) Stewart (3–0) Moskau (1–1) Castillo (4) 40,928 22–17 L3 40 May 24 Dodgers 3–2 Moskau (2–1) Welch (2–3) Price (1) – 23–17 W1 41 May 24 Dodgers 3–10 Castillo (1–4) Berenyi (4–2) 36,113 23–18 L1 42 May 25 Giants 6–3 Combe (1–0) Holland (3–2) 15,684 24–18 W1 — May 26 Giants Postponed (rain); Makeup: August 14 43 May 27 Giants 3–2 Soto (4–5) Alexander (5–3) 12,223 25–18 W2 44 May 28 Giants 7–4 Price (4–0) Lavelle (0–3) 20,077 26–18 W3 45 May 29 @ Dodgers 2–5 Welch (3–3) LaCoss (2–5) Howe (5) 45,749 26–19 L1 46 May 30 @ Dodgers 9–1 Pastore (2–2) Hooton (7–1) 43,582 27–19 W1 47 May 31 @ Dodgers 4–16 Goltz (1–0) Soto (4–6) 46,411 27–20 L1
June: 8–1 (Home: 3–0; Away: 5–1) # Date Opponent Score Win Loss Save Attendance Record Streak 48 June 1 @ Giants 8–5 Hume (3–2) Minton (2–3) 4,620 28–20 W1 49 June 2 @ Giants 7–15 Whitson (2–5) LaCoss (2–6) Holland (4) 19,007 28–21 L1 50 June 3 @ Giants 6–2 Pastore (3–2) Blue (5–4) 7,114 29–21 W1 51 June 5 Expos 6–3 Soto (5–6) Rogers (6–4) 21,298 30–21 W2 52 June 6 Expos 9–3 Seaver (6–1) Lea (4–3) 26,016 31–21 W3 53 June 7 Expos 2–0 Berenyi (5–2) Burris (3–5) 40,010 32–21 W4 54 June 9 @ Mets 8–4 Hume (4–2) Falcone (1–3) 12,313 33–21 W5 55 June 10 @ Mets 2–0 Soto (6–6) Jones (1–7) 9,732 34–21 W6 56 June 11 @ Mets 5–2 Seaver (7–1) Zachry (5–7) 18,612 35–21 W7

Second half

1981 Second half game log: 31–21 (Home: 15–11; Away: 16–10)
August: 10–10 (Home: 7–4; Away: 3–6) # Date Opponent Score Win Loss Save Attendance Record Streak ASG August 9 All-Star Game AL 4–5 NL Blue (1–0) Fingers (0–1) Sutter (1) 72,086 57 August 10 @ Dodgers 0–4 Reuss (6–2) Pastore (3–3) Howe (6) 35,120 35–22 L1 58 August 11 @ Dodgers 7–6 Brown (1–0) Forster (0–1) Hume (6) 45,817 36–22 W1 59 August 12 @ Dodgers 5–8 Stewart (4–1) Seaver (7–2) Howe (7) 36,494 36–23 L1 60 August 14 Giants 0–4 Whitson (3–5) Berenyi (5–3) – 36–24 L2 61 August 14 Giants 7–6 (10) Hume (5–2) Holland (3–4) 22,404 37–24 W1 62 August 15 Giants 2–5 Alexander (6–4) Pastore (3–4) Minton (11) 20,671 37–25 L1 63 August 16 Giants 2–1 Soto (7–6) Griffin (5–6) Hume (7) 20,309 38–25 W1 64 August 18 Phillies 3–1 Seaver (8–2) Carlton (9–3) Hume (8) 25,363 39–25 W2 65 August 19 Phillies 6–3 Hume (6–2) Lyle (5–2) 23,133 40–25 W3 66 August 21 Mets 2–0 Soto (8–6) Zachry (6–8) 20,410 41–25 W4 67 August 22 Mets 4–7 Boitano (1–0) Pastore (3–5) Allen (11) 25,949 41–26 L1 68 August 23 Mets 2–3 (10) Allen (5–3) Hume (6–3) 20,761 41–27 L2 69 August 24 Mets 2–0 Berenyi (6–3) Scott (3–7) 19,506 42–27 W1 70 August 25 @ Expos 1–9 Sanderson (7–4) LaCoss (2–7) 40,162 42–28 L1 71 August 26 @ Expos 0–6 Gullickson (4–6) Soto (8–7) 23,126 42–29 L2 72 August 27 @ Expos 0–12 Burris (6–5) Pastore (3–6) 30,874 42–30 L3 73 August 28 @ Mets 5–2 Seaver (9–2) Allen (5–4) 23,061 43–30 W1 74 August 29 @ Mets 2–3 Scott (4–7) Berenyi (6–4) Allen (13) 44,598 43–31 L1 75 August 30 @ Mets 6–3 LaCoss (3–7) Harris (2–4) 18,770 44–31 W1 76 August 31 Expos 9–8 Bair (2–1) Lee (2–4) 20,506 45–31 W2
September: 20–8 (Home: 7–4; Away: 13–4) # Date Opponent Score Win Loss Save Attendance Record Streak 77 September 1 Expos 3–4 Lea (5–4) Price (4–1) Reardon (4) 15,978 45–32 L1 78 September 2 Expos 7–0 Seaver (10–2) Bahnsen (2–1) 12,926 46–32 W1 79 September 3 @ Phillies 9–3 Berenyi (7–4) M. Davis (0–3) 26,540 47–32 W2 80 September 4 @ Phillies 6–7 Lyle (7–4) Bair (2–2) McGraw (9) 25,020 47–33 L1 81 September 5 @ Phillies 4–5 R. Reed (3–1) Soto (8–8) 41,845 47–34 L2 82 September 6 @ Phillies 5–4 Hume (7–3) Lyle (7–5) Price (2) 30,366 48–34 W1 83 September 7 Padres 8–7 Seaver (11–2) Show (0–1) Price (3) 14,443 49–34 W2 84 September 8 Padres 1–6 Eichelberger (7–6) Berenyi (7–5) 11,739 49–35 L1 85 September 9 Padres 5–4 Hume (8–3) Urrea (2–2) 16,328 50–35 W1 86 September 11 Dodgers 3–2 (10) Price (5–1) Peña (1–1) 25,237 51–35 W2 87 September 12 Dodgers 6–5 (11) LaCoss (4–7) Power (0–1) 34,090 52–35 W3 88 September 13 Dodgers 2–4 Castillo (2–4) Pastore (3–7) Stewart (5) 27,858 52–36 L1 89 September 14 @ Astros 4–2 Berenyi (8–5) Ruhle (3–4) 19,742 53–36 W1 90 September 15 @ Astros 4–0 Leibrandt (1–0) Ryan (8–5) 16,354 54–36 W2 91 September 16 @ Giants 7–12 Breining (4–2) Soto (8–9) 4,168 54–37 L1 92 September 17 @ Giants 1–0 (10) Seaver (12–2) Holland (6–5) Hume (9) 4,721 55–37 W1 93 September 18 @ Dodgers 5–4 Price (6–1) Stewart (4–3) Hume (10) 44,258 56–37 W2 94 September 19 @ Dodgers 7–3 Edelen (2–0) Hooton (10–6) 48,352 57–37 W3 95 September 20 @ Dodgers 5–1 Soto (9–9) Power (1–2) 39,560 58–37 W4 96 September 21 @ Padres 0–6 Welsh (6–6) Leibrandt (1–1) 5,501 58–38 L1 97 September 22 @ Padres 3–2 Seaver (13–2) Eichelberger (8–7) Hume (11) 4,764 59–38 W1 98 September 23 @ Padres 5–1 Pastore (4–7) Wise (3–8) Price (4) 4,831 60–38 W2 99 September 25 @ Braves 10–2 Soto (10–9) Boggs (3–12) 7,817 61–38 W3 100 September 26 @ Braves 2–0 Berenyi (9–5) Niekro (7–6) Hume (12) 5,117 62–38 W4 101 September 27 @ Braves 4–2 Seaver (14–2) Perry (7–9) LaCoss (1) 7,455 63–38 W5 102 September 28 Giants 0–4 Hargesheimer (1–1) Pastore (4–8) 12,944 63–39 L1 103 September 29 Giants 4–3 Hume (9–3) Minton (4–5) 13,117 64–39 W1 104 September 30 Astros 5–2 Soto (11–9) Ruhle (4–6) Hume (13) 24,394 65–39 W2
October: 1–3 (Home: 1–3; Away: 0–0) # Date Opponent Score Win Loss Save Attendance Record Streak 105 October 1 Astros 1–8 Ryan (11–5) Berenyi (9–6) 26,484 65–40 L1 106 October 2 Braves 5–11 Perry (8–9) Pastore (4–9) 14,793 65–41 L2 107 October 3 Braves 3–4 Mahler (8–6) Hume (9–4) Camp (17) 17,544 65–42 L3 108 October 4 Braves 3–0 Soto (12–9) Boggs (3–13) 31,764 66–42 W1

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	Joe Nolan	81	236	73	.309	1	26
1B	Dan Driessen	82	233	55	.236	7	33
2B	Ron Oester	105	354	96	.271	5	42
SS	Dave Concepción	106	421	129	.306	5	67
3B	Ray Knight	106	386	100	.259	6	34
LF	George Foster	108	414	122	.295	22	90
CF	Ken Griffey	101	396	123	.311	2	34
RF	Dave Collins	95	360	98	.272	3	23

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
Johnny Bench	52	178	55	.309	8	25
Mike O'Berry	55	111	20	.180	1	5
Paul Householder	23	69	19	.275	2	9
Larry Biittner	42	61	13	.213	0	8
Sam Mejías	66	49	14	.286	0	7
Junior Kennedy	27	44	11	.250	0	5
Mike Vail	31	31	5	.161	0	3
Harry Spilman	23	24	4	.167	0	3
Rafael Landestoy	12	11	2	.182	0	1
Germán Barranca	9	6	2	.333	0	1
Eddie Milner	8	5	1	.200	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
Mario Soto	25	175.0	12	9	3.29	151
Tom Seaver	23	166.1	14	2	2.54	87
Frank Pastore	22	132.0	4	9	4.02	81
Bruce Berenyi	21	126.0	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
Mike LaCoss	20	78.0	4	7	6.12	22
Charlie Liebrandt	7	30.0	1	1	3.60	9

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	51	9	4	13	3.46	27
Joe Price	41	6	1	4	2.52	41
Paul Moskau	27	2	1	2	.494	32
Doug Bair	24	2	2	0	5.77	16
Geoff Combe	14	1	0	0	7.64	9
Scott Brown	10	1	0	0	2.77	7
Joe Edelen	5	1	0	0	0.71	5

Awards and honors

• Johnny Bench, Hutch Award

Farm system

See also: Minor League Baseball

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	Randy Davidson
A-Short Season	Eugene Emeralds	Northwest League	Greg Riddoch
Rookie	Billings Mustangs	Pioneer League	Jim Hoff

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.