History of the Reds in the Postseason

(updated 4/7/15)

The Cincinnati Reds are widely considered one of the most "history-rich" franchises in baseball.  Unfortunately, the decade of the 1970s was the only one in which the team enjoyed sustained success in the form of postseason appearances.  

Of course, it was more difficult to make it to October baseball in the past.  Until 1969, there was no League Championship Series - only a World Series for the top team in each league.  And the first Division Series (other than its temporary implementation in 1981 strike year) didn't occur until 1995.

The Reds have made it to the playoffs 15 times.  They've won 9 NL pennants (5 by winning a series, 4 by simply having the best regular season record).  

And of course, the Reds have 5 World Championships - 1919, 1940, 1975, 1976 and 1990.

In their 15 appearances, the Reds' records are as follows:

11 series wins, 9 series losses overall

49 game wins, 46 game losses overall

0-1 record in the Wild Card play-in matchup

1 series win, 2 series losses (5-6 game record) in NLDS

5 series wins, 3 series losses (18-14 game record) in NLCS

5 series wins, 4 series losses (26-25 game record) in World Series


The teams the Reds have met, listed by most wins against them:

13-8 vs. Pittsburgh Pirates (beat them in NLCS in 1970, 1972, 1990, but swept by them in 1979, lost 2013 play-in)

7-4 vs. Oakland Athletics (lost World Series in 7 games in 1972, swept them in 1990)

5-3 vs. Chicago White Sox (won 1919 "Black Sox Scandal" World Series)

5-8 vs. New York Yankees (lost 1939 and 1961 World Series, won 1976 World Series)

4-3 vs. Detroit Tigers (won 1940 World Series in 7 games)

4-3 vs. Boston Red Sox (won 1975 World Series in 7 games)

3-0 vs. Los Angeles Dodgers (won 1995 NLDS)

3-3 vs. Philadelphia Phillies (won 1976 NLCS, lost 2010 NLDS)

2-3 vs. San Francisco Giants (lost 2012 NLDS)

2-3 vs. New York Mets (lost 1973 NLCS)

1-4 vs. Baltimore Orioles (lost 1970 World Series)

0-4 vs. Atlanta Braves (lost 1995 NLCS)

As you can see, the Reds have actually played more playoff games against American League competition (51 games, with a 26-25 record) than against the NL (44 games, with a 23-21 record).  That's because a few of their appearances came before the existence of the NLCS - plus, until 1985, the NLCS was only best-of-five.

Finally, here are the specific series results listed chronologically:

1919 - Won World Series 5-3 vs. Chicago

1939 - Lost World Series 0-4 vs. New York

1940 - Won World Series 4-3 vs. Detroit

1961 - Lost World Series 1-4 vs. New York

1970 - Won NLCS 3-0 vs. Pittsburgh, Lost World Series 1-4 vs. Baltimore

1972 - Won NLCS 3-2 vs. Pittsburgh, Lost World Series 3-4 vs. Oakland

1973 - Lost NLCS 2-3 vs. New York

1975 - Won NLCS 3-0 vs. Pittsburgh, Won World Series 4-3 vs. Boston

1976 - Won NLCS 3-0 vs. Philadelphia, Won World Series 4-0 vs. New York

1979 - Lost NLCS 0-3 vs. Pittsburgh

1990 - Won NLCS 4-2 vs. Pittsburgh, Won World Series 4-0 vs. Oakland

1995 - Won NLDS 3-0 vs. Los Angeles, Lost NLCS 0-4 vs. Atlanta

2010 - Lost NLDS 0-3 vs. Philadelphia

2012 - Lost NLDS 2-3 vs. San Francisco

2013 - Lost Wild Card play-in game to Pittsburgh