The 1896 Cincinnati Reds season was a season in American baseball. The team finished in third place in the

National League The National League of Professional Baseball Clubs, known simply as the National League (NL), is the older of two leagues constituting Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States and Canada, and the world's oldest extant professional team ...

with a record of 77–50, 12 games behind the

Baltimore Orioles The Baltimore Orioles are an American professional baseball team based in Baltimore. The Orioles compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East division. As one of the American League's eight charter ...

Regular season

After a late season collapse by the Reds in

1895 Events January–March * January 5 – Dreyfus affair: French officer Alfred Dreyfus is stripped of his army rank, and sentenced to life imprisonment on Devil's Island. * January 12 – The National Trust for Places of Histor ...

, in which the team won only fourteen of their last thirty-nine games to fall completely out of the pennant race to an eighth-place finish, the club began to make changes to get younger players.

Buck Ewing William "Buck" Ewing (October 17, 1859 – October 20, 1906) was an American Major League Baseball player and manager. Renowned for his offensive and defensive skills, he was the first 19th-century catcher elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame. C ...

returned as player-manager, and the team made a big trade, as

Arlie Latham Walter Arlington Latham (March 15, 1860 – November 29, 1952) was an American third baseman in Major League Baseball. He played from through for the Buffalo Bisons, St. Louis Browns, Chicago Pirates, Cincinnati Reds, Washington Senators and ...

Ed McFarland Edward William McFarland (August 3, 1874 – November 28, 1959), born in Cleveland, Ohio, was a catcher for the Cleveland Spiders (1893), St. Louis Browns (1896–97), Philadelphia Phillies (1897–1901), Chicago White Sox (1902–07) and Boston ...

, Morgan Murphy and Tom Parrott were traded from Cincinnati to the

St. Louis Browns The St. Louis Browns were a Major League Baseball team that originated in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, as the Milwaukee Brewers. A charter member of the American League (AL), the Brewers moved to St. Louis, Missouri, after the 1901 season, where they p ...

for Red Ehret and

Heinie Peitz Henry Clement "Heinie" Peitz (November 28, 1870 – October 23, 1943) was an American professional baseball catcher. He played in Major League Baseball for the St. Louis Browns, Cincinnati Reds, Pittsburgh Pirates and St. Louis Cardinals. He was ...

. Ehret struggled in 1895, with a 6–19 record and a 6.02 ERA. His best season came in 1890 with the

Louisville Colonels The Louisville Colonels were a Major League Baseball team that also played in the American Association (AA) throughout that league's ten-year existence from 1882 until 1891. They were known as the Louisville Eclipse from 1882 to 1884, and as th ...

of the

American Association American Association may refer to: Baseball * American Association (1882–1891), a major league active from 1882 to 1891 * American Association (1902–1997), a minor league active from 1902 to 1962 and 1969 to 1997 * American Association of Profe ...

, when Ehret was 25–14 with a 2.53 ERA in 43 games. Ehret also led the

in shutouts with four during the 1893 season with the Pittsburgh Pirates. Peitz hit .284 with two home runs and 65 RBI with the Browns in 1895. The Reds also acquired

Charlie Irwin Charles Edwin Irwin (February 15, 1869 – September 21, 1925) was an American professional baseball third baseman. He played ten seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB) between 1893 and 1902 for the Chicago Colts, Cincinnati Reds, Brooklyn Supe ...

from the Chicago Colts to play third base. Irwin missed most of the 1895 season, but in 1894 he batted .296 with eight home runs and 100 RBI with Chicago. Offensively, Eddie Burke led the team with a .340 batting average and 120 runs scored, as well as hitting a homer and 52 RBI.

Dummy Hoy William Ellsworth "Dummy" Hoy (May 23, 1862 – December 15, 1961) was an American center fielder in Major League Baseball (MLB) who played for several teams from 1888 to 1902, most notably the Cincinnati Reds and two Washington, D.C. franc ...

also scored 120 runs, as he hit .298 with a team tying high four home runs and 57 RBI. Dusty Miller had a club high .321 average, 93 RBI and 76 stolen bases, as well as tying Hoy with four home runs.

Bid McPhee John Alexander "Bid" McPhee (November 1, 1859 – January 3, 1943) was an American 19th-century Major League Baseball second baseman. He played 18 seasons in the majors, from until , all for the Cincinnati Reds franchise. He was elected to the ...

had another solid season, as he hit .305 with a homer and 87 RBI while stealing 48 bases.

Frank Dwyer John Francis Dwyer (March 25, 1868 – February 4, 1943) was an American right-handed pitcher in Major League Baseball for the Chicago White Stockings (1888–1889), Chicago Pirates (1890), Cincinnati Kelly's Killers (1891), Milwaukee Brewers (1 ...

led the pitching staff with a 24–11 record and a 3.15 ERA in 36 games, 34 of them starts. Ehret went 18–14 with a 3.42 ERA in his first season with the Reds, which marked a big improvement over his horrible 1895 season with the Browns. Billy Rhines led the league with a 2.45 ERA, however, he missed some time due to injuries and finished the year with a record of 8–6 in 19 games.

Season summary

After starting the year with a 9–7 record and in fifth place, Cincinnati posted ten wins in their next twelve games to improve to 19–9, and sit in first place in the

. The Reds slipped out of first place with a 3–5 record in their next eight games, and continued to slump to a 27–20 record, fourth in the league. Cincinnati then rebounded, going 14–2 in their next sixteen games to push their record to 41–22, and be in a first place tie with the

. The club stayed hot, going 12–2 in their next fourteen games to push their record to 53–24, and take over first place by themselves, three games up on the Orioles. Cincinnati then went 8–2 in their next ten games, and pushed their first place lead to five games over Baltimore, and a 34–6 record in their last forty games. Despite a solid 8–5 record in their next thirteen games, Cincinnati saw their five-game lead evaporate to only a half game over the red hot Orioles. As the season was coming to a close, the Reds completely fell out of the pennant race, as they lost eleven games in a row and would eventually finish in third place with a 77–50 record, 12.5 games behind Baltimore.

Season standings

Record vs. opponents

Roster

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''

Other batters

''Note: G = Games played; AB = At bats; H = Hits; Avg. = Batting average; HR = Home runs; RBI = Runs batted in''

Pitching

Starting pitchers

''Note: G = Games pitched; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts''

Other pitchers

''Note: G = Games pitched; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts''

Relief pitchers

''Note: G = Games pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; SV = Saves; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts''

References

External links

1896 Cincinnati Reds season at Baseball Reference
{{Cincinnati Reds Cincinnati Reds seasons Cincinnati Reds season Cincinnati Reds