Editing Cincinnati Reds (section)

===The Machine dismantled (1977–1989)===
The late 1970s brought turmoil and change to the Reds. Popular [[Tony Pérez]] was sent to the [[Montreal Expos]] after the 1976 season, breaking up the Big Red Machine's starting lineup. Manager Sparky Anderson and general manager [[Bob Howsam]] later considered this trade to be the biggest mistake of their careers. Starting pitcher [[Don Gullett]] left via free agency and signed with the New York Yankees. In an effort to fill that gap, a trade with the [[Oakland Athletics]] for starting ace [[Vida Blue]] was arranged during the 1977–78 offseason. However, then-commissioner Bowie Kuhn vetoed the trade in order to maintain competitive balance in baseball; some have suggested that the actual reason had more to do with Kuhn's continued feud with Athletics owner Charlie Finley. On June 15, 1977, the Reds acquired pitcher [[Tom Seaver]] from the [[New York Mets]] for Pat Zachry, [[Doug Flynn]], Steve Henderson and Dan Norman. In other deals that proved to be less successful, the Reds traded Gary Nolan to the [[Los Angeles Angels|California Angels]] for Craig Hendrickson; Rawly Eastwick to the [[St. Louis Cardinals]] for [[Doug Capilla]]; and [[Mike Caldwell (baseball)|Mike Caldwell]] to the [[Milwaukee Brewers]] for Rick O'Keeffe and Garry Pyka, as well as [[Rick Auerbach]] from Texas. The end of the Big Red Machine era was heralded by the replacement of general manager Bob Howsam with [[Dick Wagner (baseball)|Dick Wagner]].

In his last season as a Red, Rose gave baseball a thrill as he challenged [[Joe DiMaggio]]'s [[Joe DiMaggio's 56-game hitting streak|56-game hitting streak]], tying for the second-longest streak ever at 44 games. The streak came to an end in Atlanta after striking out in his fifth at-bat in the game against [[Gene Garber]]. Rose also earned his 3,000th hit that season, on his way to becoming baseball's all-time hits leader when he rejoined the Reds in the mid-1980s. The year also witnessed the only no-hitter of Hall of Fame pitcher Tom Seaver's career, coming against the [[1978 St. Louis Cardinals season|St. Louis Cardinals]] on June 16, 1978.

[[File:George Foster.png|thumb|upright|[[George Foster (baseball)|George Foster]] slugged 52 home runs in 1977, earning the [[NL MVP]] award.]]

After the [[1978 Major League Baseball season|1978 season]] and two straight second-place finishes, Wagner fired manager Anderson in a move that proved to be unpopular. Pete Rose, who had played almost every position for the team except pitcher, shortstop and catcher since 1963, signed with Philadelphia as a free agent. By {{baseball year|1979}}, the starters were Bench (catcher), [[Dan Driessen]] (first base), Morgan (second base), Concepción (shortstop) and [[Ray Knight]] (third base), with Griffey, Foster and Geronimo again in the outfield. The pitching staff had experienced a complete turnover since 1976, except for Fred Norman. In addition to ace starter [[Tom Seaver]], the remaining starters were [[Mike LaCoss]], [[Bill Bonham]] and [[Paul Moskau]]. In the bullpen, only Borbon had remained. [[Dave Tomlin]] and [[Mario Soto (baseball)|Mario Soto]] worked middle relief, with [[Tom Hume]] and [[Doug Bair]] closing. The [[1979 Cincinnati Reds season|Reds]] won the 1979 NL West behind the pitching of Seaver, but were dispatched in the [[1979 National League Championship Series|NL playoffs]] by the [[1979 Pittsburgh Pirates season|Pittsburgh Pirates]]. Game 2 featured a controversial play in which a ball hit by Pittsburgh's [[Phil Garner]] was caught by Reds outfielder [[Dave Collins (baseball)|Dave Collins]] but was ruled a trap, setting the Pirates up to take a 2–1 lead. The Pirates swept the series 3 games to 0 and went on to win the [[1979 World Series|World Series]] against the [[Baltimore Orioles]].

The [[1981 Cincinnati Reds season|1981 team]] fielded a strong lineup, with only Concepción, Foster and Griffey retaining their spots from the 1975–76 heyday.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.baseball-reference.com/teams/CIN/1976.shtml |title=1976 Cincinnati Reds Statistics and Roster |website=Baseball-Reference.com |access-date=March 30, 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080324024356/http://www.baseball-reference.com/teams/CIN/1976.shtml |archive-date=March 24, 2008 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.baseball-reference.com/teams/CIN/1981.shtml |title=1981 Cincinnati Reds Statistics and Roster |website=Baseball-Reference.com |access-date=March 30, 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080411004258/http://www.baseball-reference.com/teams/CIN/1981.shtml |archive-date=April 11, 2008 |url-status=live }}</ref> After Johnny Bench was able to play only a few games as catcher each year after 1980 due to ongoing injuries, [[Joe Nolan]] took over as starting catcher. Driessen and Bench shared first base, and Knight starred at third. Morgan and Geronimo had been replaced at second base and center field by [[Ron Oester]] and Dave Collins, respectively. Mario Soto posted a banner year starting on the mound, only surpassed by the outstanding performance of Seaver's Cy Young runner-up season. La Coss, [[Bruce Berenyi]] and [[Frank Pastore]] rounded out the starting rotation. Hume again led the bullpen as closer, joined by Bair and [[Joe Price (pitcher)|Joe Price]]. In {{baseball year|1981}}, the [[1981 Cincinnati Reds season|Reds]] had the best overall record in baseball, but finished second in the division in both of the half-seasons that resulted from a mid-season players' [[1981 Major League Baseball strike|strike]], and missed the playoffs. To commemorate this, a team photo was taken, accompanied by a banner that read "Baseball's Best Record 1981."

By {{baseball year|1982}}, the [[1982 Cincinnati Reds season|Reds]] were a shell of the original Red Machine, having lost 101 games that year.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.baseball-reference.com/teams/CIN/1982_sched.shtml |title=1982 Cincinnati Reds Schedule, Box Scores and Splits |website=Baseball-Reference.com |access-date=March 30, 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080404075409/http://www.baseball-reference.com/teams/CIN/1982_sched.shtml |archive-date=April 4, 2008 }}</ref> Johnny Bench, after an unsuccessful transition to third base, retired a year later.

After the heartbreak of 1981, general manager Dick Wagner pursued the strategy of ridding the team of veterans, including third baseman Knight and the entire starting outfield of Griffey, Foster and Collins. Bench, after being able to catch only seven games in 1981, was moved from platooning at first base to be the starting third baseman; [[Alex Treviño]] became the regular starting catcher. The outfield was staffed with [[Paul Householder]], [[César Cedeño]] and future [[Colorado Rockies]] and Pittsburgh Pirates manager [[Clint Hurdle]] on Opening Day. Hurdle was an immediate bust, and rookie [[Eddie Milner]] took his place in the starting outfield early in the year. The highly touted Householder struggled throughout the year despite extensive playing time. Cedeno, while providing steady veteran play, was a disappointment, unable to recapture his glory days with the [[Houston Astros]]. The starting rotation featured the emergence of a dominant Mario Soto and featured strong years by Pastore and [[Bruce Berenyi]], but Seaver was injured all year, and their efforts were wasted without a strong offensive lineup. Tom Hume still led the bullpen along with Joe Price, but the colorful [[Brad Lesley|Brad "The Animal" Lesley]] was unable to consistently excel, and former All-Star [[Jim Kern]] was also a disappointment. Kern was also publicly upset over having to shave off his prominent beard to join the Reds, and helped force the issue of getting traded during mid-season by growing it back. The season also saw the midseason firing of manager [[John McNamara (baseball)|John McNamara]], who was replaced as skipper by [[Russ Nixon]].

The Reds fell to the bottom of the Western Division for the next few years. After the 1982 season, Seaver was traded back to the Mets. {{baseball year|1983}} found [[Dann Bilardello]] behind the plate, Bench returning to part-time duty at first base, rookie [[Nick Esasky]] taking over at third base and [[Gary Redus]] taking over from Cedeno. Tom Hume's effectiveness as a closer had diminished, and no other consistent relievers emerged. Dave Concepción was the sole remaining starter from the Big Red Machine era.

Wagner's tenure ended in 1983, when Howsam, the architect of the Big Red Machine, was brought back. The popular Howsam began his second term as the Reds' general manager by signing Cincinnati native [[Dave Parker]] as a free agent from Pittsburgh. In {{baseball year|1984}}, the Reds began to move up, depending on trades and some minor leaguers. In that season, Dave Parker, [[Dave Concepción]] and [[Tony Pérez]] were in Cincinnati uniforms. In August of the same year, [[Pete Rose]] was reacquired and hired to be the Reds player-manager. After raising the franchise from the grave, Howsam gave way to the administration of [[Bill Bergesch]], who attempted to build the team around a core of highly regarded young players in addition to veterans like Parker. However, he was unable to capitalize on an excess of young and highly touted position players including [[Kurt Stillwell]], [[Tracy Jones]] and [[Kal Daniels]] by trading them for pitching. Despite the emergence of Tom Browning as Rookie of the Year in {{baseball year|1985}}, when he won 20 games, the rotation was devastated by the early demise of Mario Soto's career to arm injury.

Under Bergesch, the Reds finished second four times from 1985 to {{baseball year|1989}}. Among the highlights, Rose became the all-time hits leader, [[Tom Browning]] threw a [[Perfect game (baseball)|perfect game]], [[Eric Davis (baseball)|Eric Davis]] became the first player in baseball history to hit at least 35 home runs and steal 50 bases, and [[Chris Sabo]] was the [[Major League Baseball Rookie of the Year Award|1988 National League Rookie of the Year]]. The Reds also had a bullpen star in [[John Franco]], who was with the team from 1984 to 1989. Rose once had Concepción pitch late in a game at Dodger Stadium. In {{baseball year|1989}}, following the release of the [[Dowd Report]], which accused Rose of betting on baseball games, Rose was banned from baseball by [[Commissioner of Baseball|Commissioner]] [[A. Bartlett Giamatti|Bart Giamatti]], who declared him guilty of "conduct detrimental to baseball."