Knight made his major league debut with Cincinnati as a September call-up in . He spent all of and with the triple A Indianapolis Indians. In 1976, with only one home run coming into the final month of the season, Knight borrowed a bat from Reds star George Foster and hit nine in the remaining games of the year. He would later borrow Foster's bat again in the major leagues when Foster was injured. During those seasons, the Reds won two World Series titles. He returned to the majors in .