The 1912

Cincinnati Reds The Cincinnati Reds are an American professional baseball team based in Cincinnati. They compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) National League Central, Central division and were a charter member of ...

season was a season in American

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each, taking turns batting and fielding. The game occurs over the course of several plays, with each play generally beginning when a player on the fielding tea ...

. The team finished fourth 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 s ...

with a record of 75–78, 29 games behind the

New York Giants The New York Giants are a professional American football team based in the New York metropolitan area. The Giants compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) East division. ...

. This was the inaugural year of the Reds' new stadium,

Redland Field Crosley Field was a Major League Baseball park in Cincinnati, Ohio. It was the home field of the National League's Cincinnati Reds from 1912 in baseball, 1912 through June 24, 1970, and the original Cincinnati Bengals (AFL), Cincinnati Bengals fo ...

, later known as Crosley Field.

Offseason

The Reds moved into a new stadium beginning in the 1912 season, as the club moved from the

Palace of the Fans Palace of the Fans was a Major League baseball park located in Cincinnati, Ohio. It was the home of the Cincinnati Reds from 1902 through 1911. The ballpark was on an asymmetrical block bounded by Findlay Street (south), Western Avenue (northea ...

. The new stadium had a seating capacity of 20,696, which was up from the 12,000 capacity at

. Cincinnati replaced their manager

Clark Griffith Clark Calvin Griffith (November 20, 1869 – October 27, 1955), nicknamed "The Old Fox", was an American Major League Baseball (MLB) pitcher, manager and team owner. He began his MLB playing career with the St. Louis Browns (1891), Boston Reds ...

, following a disappointing 1911 season, and replaced him with

Hank O'Day Henry M. O'Day (July 8, 1859 – July 2, 1935), nicknamed "The Reverend", was an American right-handed pitcher and later an umpire and manager in Major League Baseball. After a seven-year major league playing career, he worked as a National ...

. O'Day, a former pitcher from 1884-1890, had a 73-110 record and a 3.74 ERA in his career. O'Day was also a former umpire, and notably was behind the plate in the first ever

World Series The World Series is the annual championship series of Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States and Canada, contested since 1903 between the champion teams of the American League (AL) and the National League (NL). The winner of the World ...

game in 1903. He was also the home plate umpire who made the initial ruling on

Merkle's Boner Merkle's Boner refers to the notorious base-running mistake committed by rookie Fred Merkle of the New York Giants in a game against the Chicago Cubs on September 23, 1908. Merkle's failure to advance to second base on what should have been a ga ...

. He did not have any previous managerial experience. The Reds sold shortstop

Tom Downey Thomas Edward Downey (January 1, 1884 – August 3, 1961) was a major league baseball player. Born in Lewiston, Maine, Downey played on several baseball teams after his first professional appearance at age 25 on May 7, 1909. Downey played for t ...

to the

Philadelphia Phillies The Philadelphia Phillies are an American professional baseball team based in Philadelphia. They compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member of the National League (NL) National League East, East division. Since 2004, the team's home sta ...

on December 29. Cincinnati shifted third baseman Eddie Grant to shortstop, where he split playing time with

Jimmy Esmond James Joseph Esmond (October 8, 1889 in Albany, New York – June 26, 1948 in Troy, New York) was a professional baseball player who played shortstop in the Major Leagues from 1911 to 1915. He would play for the Cincinnati Reds, Indianapolis Hoosi ...

, as the club named

Art Phelan Arthur Thomas Phelan (August 14, 1887 – December 27, 1964) was a professional baseball infielder An infielder is a baseball player stationed at one of four defensive "infield" positions on the baseball field. Standard arrangement of positio ...

their new third baseman. Phelan, only 23 years old, saw limited action with Cincinnati in 1910, before spending the 1911 season in the minors.

Regular season

Cincinnati had a tough season offensively, as the club ranked last in batting average (.256), on base percentage (.323), hits (1310), doubles (183) and home runs (21). First baseman

Dick Hoblitzell Richard Carleton "Dick" Hoblitzell (October 26, 1888 – November 14, 1962) played first base in the major leagues from 1908 to 1918. He played for the Cincinnati Reds and Boston Red Sox. Nicknamed "Doc" by his teammates, Hoblitzell's baseball car ...

hit .294 and had 85 RBI, however, his home run total dropped from eleven in 1911 to only two in 1912. Outfielder

Armando Marsans Armando Marsans Mendiondo (October 3, 1887 – September 3, 1960) was a Cuban professional baseball player who played as an outfielder in Major League Baseball from 1911 to 1918. He played in three different major leagues in his career: with the ...

led the Reds with a .317 batting average, while hitting one home run and 38 RBI in 110 games. Outfielder

Bob Bescher Robert Henry Bescher (February 25, 1884 – November 29, 1942) was a baseball outfielder who played 11 seasons in the major leagues. Born in London, Ohio, he played his best seasons with the Cincinnati Reds, and was one of the National League' ...

led the National League in stolen bases with 67, and he had a .281 batting average with four home runs and 38 RBI, and scored 120 runs. Outfielder Mike Mitchell batted .283 with four home runs and 78 RBI in 147 games. The pitching rotation was led by

Rube Benton John Cleave "Rube" Benton (June 27, 1890 – December 12, 1937) was a pitcher for Major League Baseball's Cincinnati Reds (1910–15, 1923–25) and New York Giants (1915–21). He pitched in the minor leagues for the Minneapolis Millers of the Am ...

, as in his first full season as a starting pitcher, he appeared in a National League high 50 games, starting 39 of them. Benton had a record of 18-20 with a 3.10 ERA while pitching 302 innings, striking out 162 batters and had 22 complete games.

George Suggs George Franklin Suggs (July 7, 1882 – April 4, 1949) was a major league baseball pitcher. On September 8, 1906, Suggs, pitching for the Southern Association's Memphis Egyptians, pitched an 11-inning no-hitter against the Nashville Baseball Club ...

led Cincinnati in wins, as he was 19-16 with a 2.94 ERA in 42 games, pitching 303 innings and recording a team high 25 complete games.

Art Fromme Arthur Henry Fromme (September 3, 1883 – August 24, 1956) was a professional baseball player who pitched in the Major Leagues from -. He played for the St. Louis Cardinals The St. Louis Cardinals are an American professional baseball team ...

finished the year with a 16-18 record in 43 games, throwing 296 innings and 23 complete games, while having a team best 2.74 ERA.

Season Summary

The club got off to a surprising start of the season, as Cincinnati had a 22-6 record in their first 28 games, leading the National League by 1.5 games over the

. The Reds lost 10 of their next 11 games to fall out of first place, and could never recover. Cincinnati would eventually fall under .500, and finished the season with a 75-78 record, an improvement of five games over 1911, but finished 29 games behind the

for the pennant.

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''

External links

1912 Cincinnati Reds season at Baseball Reference
{{Cincinnati Reds Cincinnati Reds seasons Cincinnati Reds season