1988 Cincinnati Reds
LeagueNational League
DivisionWest
BallparkRiverfront Stadium
CityCincinnati
Record87–74 (.540)
Divisional place2nd
OwnersMarge Schott
General managersMurray Cook
ManagersPete Rose
TelevisionWLWT
(Jay Randolph, Johnny Bench)
RadioWLW
(Marty Brennaman, Joe Nuxhall)
← 1987 Seasons 1989 →

The Cincinnati Reds' 1988 season marked the last of four consecutive winning seasons for the Reds, all of which resulted in second place finishes in the National League West. Led by manager Pete Rose, the Reds finished with the best record of these four seasons at 87 wins and 74 losses, but finished seven games back of the eventual World Series champion Los Angeles Dodgers. The 1988 season would be Pete Rose's last full season as Reds manager.

Offseason

Regular season

Danny Jackson became the last pitcher to win at least 20 games in one season for the Reds in the 20th Century. The 1988 season also marked the final season for the gifted shortstop, Dave Concepción, an integral member of the Big Red Machine of the 1970s in which he played the last of 19 years with the club.[2]

Suspension of Pete Rose

The stage was set in a dramatic end of a home game on April 30 against the New York Mets, in which the score was tied 5–5 leading into the ninth inning. The game had been contentious throughout, with two hit batsman and a bench-clearing brawl in the seventh inning that resulted in the ejections of both Tom Browning and Darryl Strawberry.[3][4] With the Mets batting with two outs in the top of the ninth, Mookie Wilson hit a ground ball to shortstop Barry Larkin, whose throw to first base was wide and pulled first baseman Nick Esasky's foot from the bag. First-base umpire Dave Pallone, who'd long been seen as unfair by the Reds, hesitated before making a delayed safe call. Esasky, waiting for the call, failed to make a throw to the plate on Howard Johnson's attempt to score from second base. Johnson's bold baserunning proved to be the difference and stood as the game-winning run for the Mets. A furious Pete Rose rushed from the dugout, vehemently arguing the call. Rose later claimed that Pallone hit him in the cheek with his finger, prompting Rose to shove Pallone twice with his shoulder and forearm knocking him backward. Rose was then ejected and had to be restrained by his own coaches. At the same time, fans in the stadium began showering the field with debris, at which time Pallone left the field with the players retreating to the dugouts.

After a nearly 15-minute suspension of play, the game was resumed with the remaining three umpires.[5][6] National League president A. Bartlett Giamatti suspended Rose for thirty days, which was the longest suspension ever levied for an on-field incident involving a manager. Rose was also fined. In addition, Reds radio announcers Marty Brennaman and Joe Nuxhall were criticized for inciting the fan response with what were characterized by "inflammatory and completely irresponsible remarks". At the time, especially given Brennaman's and Nuxhall's iconic status in Cincinnati, it was common for spectators at ballparks to listen to their teams' radio broadcasts using portable radios.[7]

Season standings

NL West 		W L Pct. GB Home Road
Los Angeles Dodgers 94 67 0.584 — 45–36 49–31
Cincinnati Reds 87 74 0.540 7 45–35 42–39
San Diego Padres 83 78 0.516 11 47–34 36–44
San Francisco Giants 83 79 0.512 11½ 45–36 38–43
Houston Astros 82 80 0.506 12½ 44–37 38–43
Atlanta Braves 54 106 0.338 39½ 28–51 26–55

Record vs. opponents

1988 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 — 5–7 5–13 5–13 4–14 4–8 4–8 6–6 5–5 8–10 5–13 3–9
Chicago 7–5 — 6–6 7–5 4–8–1 9–9 9–9 8–10 7–11 8–4 5–7 7–11
Cincinnati 13–5 6–6 — 9–9 7–11 5–7 4–7 9–3 7–5 10–8 11–7 6–6
Houston 13–5 5–7 9–9 — 9–9 6–6 5–7 8–4 8–4 6–12 7–11 6–6
Los Angeles 14–4 8–4–1 11–7 9–9 — 8–4 1–10 11–1 6–6 7–11 12–6 7–5
Montreal 8–4 9–9 7–5 6–6 4–8 — 6–12 9–9–1 8–10 4–8 7–5 13–5
New York 8–4 9–9 7–4 7–5 10–1 12–6 — 10–8 12–6 7–5 4–8 14–4
Philadelphia 6-6 10–8 3–9 4–8 1–11 9–9–1 8–10 — 7–11 4–7 7–5 6–12
Pittsburgh 5–5 11–7 5–7 4–8 6–6 10–8 6–12 11–7 — 8–4 8–4 11–7
San Diego 10–8 4–8 8–10 12–6 11–7 8–4 5–7 7–4 4–8 — 8–10 6–6
San Francisco 13–5 7–5 7–11 11–7 6–12 5–7 8–4 5–7 4–8 10–8 — 7–5
St. Louis 9–3 11–7 6–6 6–6 5–7 5–13 4–14 12–6 7–11 6–6 5–7 —


Notable transactions

Roster

1988 Cincinnati Reds
Roster
Pitchers Catchers

Infielders

Outfielders

Manager

Coaches

All-Star Game

The 1988 Major League Baseball All-Star Game was the 59th playing of the midsummer classic between the all-stars of the American League (AL) and National League (NL), the two leagues comprising Major League Baseball. The game was held on July 12, 1988, at Riverfront Stadium in Cincinnati, the home of the Cincinnati Reds of the National League. The game resulted in the American League defeating the National League 2-1.

The Perfect Game

A ticket from Browning's perfect game.

Tom Browning pitched a perfect game on September 16, 1988 against the Los Angeles Dodgers. [15]

Scorecard

September 16, 1988, Riverfront Stadium, Cincinnati, Ohio

Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
Los Angeles 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1
Cincinnati 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 X 1 3 0
W: Tom Browning (16-5)  L: Tim Belcher (10-5)  
Attendance: 16,591, Time: 1:51

Batting

Los Angeles Dodgers AB R H RBI Cincinnati Reds AB R H RBI
Griffin, ss 3 0 0 0 Larkin, ss 3 1 1 0
Hatcher, 1b 3 0 0 0 Sabo, 3b 3 0 1 0
Gibson, lf 3 0 0 0 Daniels, lf 3 0 0 0
Gonzalez, lf 0 0 0 0 Davis, cf 2 0 0 0
Marshall, rf 3 0 0 0 O'Neill, rf 3 0 0 0
Shelby, cf 3 0 0 0 Esasky, 1b 3 0 0 0
Hamilton, 3b 3 0 0 0 Reed, c 3 0 0 0
Dempsey, c 3 0 0 0 Oester, 2b 3 0 1 0
Sax, 2b 3 0 0 0 Browning, p 3 0 0 0
Belcher, p 2 0 0 0 None 0 0 0 0
Woodson, ph 1 0 0 0 None 0 0 0 0
Totals 27 0 0 0 Totals 26 1 3 0

Pitching

Los Angeles Dodgers IP H R ER BB SO Cincinnati Reds IP H R ER BB SO
Belcher, L (10-5) 8.0 3 1 0 1 7 Browning, W (16-5) 9.0 0 0 0 0 7

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 Bo Díaz 92 315 69 .219 10 35
1B Nick Esasky 122 391 95 .243 15 62
2B Jeff Treadway 103 301 76 .252 2 23
SS Barry Larkin 151 588 174 .296 12 56
3B Chris Sabo 137 538 146 .271 11 44
LF Kal Daniels 140 495 144 .291 18 64
CF Eric Davis 135 472 129 .273 26 93
RF Paul O'Neill 145 485 122 .252 16 73

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
Dave Concepción 84 197 39 .198 0 8
Dave Collins 99 174 41 .236 0 14
Ron Oester 54 150 42 .280 0 10
Jeff Reed 49 142 33 .232 1 7
Lloyd McClendon 72 137 30 .219 3 14
Herm Winningham 53 113 26 .230 0 15
Terry McGriff 35 96 19 .198 1 4
Tracy Jones 37 83 19 .229 1 9
Buddy Bell 21 54 10 .185 0 3
Luis Quiñones 23 52 12 .231 1 11
Leon Durham 21 51 11 .216 1 2
Eddie Milner 23 51 9 .176 0 2
Ken Griffey Sr. 25 50 14 .280 2 4
Lenny Harris 16 43 16 .372 0 8
Ron Roenicke 14 37 5 .135 0 5
Leo García 23 28 4 .143 0 0
Van Snider 11 28 6 .214 1 6
Marty Brown 10 16 3 .188 0 2

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
Danny Jackson 35 261.0 23 8 2.73 161
Tom Browning 36 250.2 18 5 3.41 124
Mario Soto 14 87.0 3 7 4.66 34
Ron Robinson 17 78.2 3 7 4.12 38
Jack Armstrong 14 65.1 4 7 5.79 45
Norm Charlton 10 61.1 4 5 3.96 39
Dennis Rasmussen 11 56.1 2 6 5.75 27

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
José Rijo 49 162.0 13 8 2.39 160
Keith Brown 4 16.1 2 1 2.76 6

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
John Franco 70 6 6 39 1.57 46
Rob Murphy 76 0 6 3 3.08 74
Frank Williams 60 3 2 1 2.59 43
Rob Dibble 37 1 1 0 1.82 59
Tim Birtsas 36 1 3 0 4.20 38
Pat Perry 12 2 2 0 5.66 11
Randy St. Claire 10 1 0 0 2.63 8
Pat Pacillo 6 1 0 0 5.06 11
Jeff Gray 5 0 0 0 3.86 5
Candy Sierra 1 0 0 0 4.50 4
Dave Concepción 1 0 0 0 0.00 1

Farm system

See also: Minor League Baseball
Level Team League Manager
AAA Nashville Sounds American Association Jack Lind, Wayne Garland, Jim Hoff,
George Scherger and Frank Lucchesi
AA Chattanooga Lookouts Southern League Tom Runnells
A Cedar Rapids Reds Midwest League Dave Miley
A Greensboro Hornets South Atlantic League Marc Bombard
Rookie GCL Reds Gulf Coast League Sam Mejías
Rookie Billings Mustangs Pioneer League Dave Keller

LEAGUE CHAMPIONS: Chattanooga, Cedar Rapids[16]

Awards and honors

References

  1. ^ Dave Parker page at Baseball Reference
  2. ^ Great Baseball Feats, Facts and Figures, 2008 Edition, p.98, David Nemec and Scott Flatow, A Signet Book, Penguin Group, New York, ISBN 978-0-451-22363-0
  3. ^ Hoard, Greg (May 1, 1988). "Mets frustrate Reds (Part 1)". The Cincinnati Enquirer. p. 13. Retrieved September 28, 2018 – via Newspapers.com.Open access icon
  4. ^ Hoard, Greg (May 1, 1988). "Mets frustrate Reds (Part 2)". The Cincinnati Enquirer. p. 15. Retrieved September 28, 2018 – via Newspapers.com.Open access icon
  5. ^ Hoard, Greg; Erardi, John (May 1, 1988). "Stadium uproar (Part 1)". The Cincinnati Enquirer. p. 1. Retrieved September 28, 2018 – via Newspapers.com.Open access icon
  6. ^ Hoard, Greg; Erardi, John (May 1, 1988). "Stadium uproar (Part 2)". The Cincinnati Enquirer. p. 9. Retrieved September 28, 2018 – via Newspapers.com.Open access icon
  7. ^ Chass, Murray (May 3, 1988). "Pete Rose Is Suspended 30 Days". The New York Times. Retrieved May 15, 2015.
  8. ^ Guy Hoffman page at Baseball Reference
  9. ^ Skeeter Barnes page at Baseball Reference
  10. ^ Paul Byrd page at Baseball Reference
  11. ^ Mario Soto page at Baseball Reference
  12. ^ Max Venable page at Baseball Reference
  13. ^ Tracy Jones page at Baseball Reference
  14. ^ Ken Griffey page at Baseball Reference
  15. ^ "Los Angeles Dodgers at Cincinnati Reds, Box Score, September 16, 1988". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved September 20, 2021.
  16. ^ Johnson, Lloyd, and Wolff, Miles, ed., The Encyclopedia of Minor League Baseball, 3rd edition. Durham, North Carolina: Baseball America, 2007
  17. ^ "Hutch Award". Baseball-almanac.com. Retrieved August 24, 2012.
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