The Cincinnati Reds, also known as the Cincinnati Red Stockings, were a professional baseball team based in

Cincinnati, Ohio Cincinnati ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Hamilton County. Settled in 1788, the city is located at the northern side of the confluence of the Licking and Ohio rivers, the latter of which marks the state line wit ...

that played from 1875–1879. The club predated 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 ...

of which it became a charter member.

History

John Joyce, who was an organizer of the Red Stockings club dismantled in 1870, reformed the club through a new company in 1875. Two players from the 1870 season returned as part of a new professional nine which played local amateur clubs. Joyce then sold the Reds to wealthy Cincinnati meat packer Josiah "Si" Keck during the winter. When the National League was formed on February 2, 1876 at the Grand Central Hotel in New York City, eight cities were selected to compete in the new major league: St. Louis, Hartford, Louisville, New York, Philadelphia, Chicago, Boston and Keck's Cincinnati club. The Reds played at Avenue Grounds. They were managed by player/manager

Charlie Gould Charles Harvey Gould (August 21, 1847 – April 9, 1917), nicknamed "The Bushel Basket",Guschov, p. 31 was an American Major League Baseball player during the 1860s and 1870s. He was the first baseman for the original Cincinnati Red Stockings ...

, and

outfielder An outfielder is a person playing in one of the three defensive positions in baseball or softball, farthest from the batter. These defenders are the left fielder, the center fielder, and the right fielder. As an outfielder, their duty is to cat ...

Charley Jones Charles Wesley Jones (born Benjamin Wesley Rippay on April 30, 1852 – June 6, 1911) was an American left fielder in the National Association and Major League Baseball who hit 56 home runs and batted .298 during his twelve-year career. He wa ...

led the Cincinnati offense with 4

home run In baseball, a home run (abbreviated HR) is scored when the ball is hit in such a way that the batter is able to circle the bases and reach home plate safely in one play without any errors being committed by the defensive team. A home run i ...

s and 38

runs batted in A run batted in (RBI; plural RBIs ) is a statistic in baseball and softball that credits a batter for making a play that allows a run to be scored (except in certain situations such as when an error is made on the play). For example, if the bat ...

. The 1876 team finished a dismal 9–56, last in the new eight-team National League; its winning percentage was the lowest in major-league history until the 1899 Cleveland Spiders surpassed it with a 20-134 record (.130). In 1877, helmed by the managing trio of

Lip Pike Lipman Emanuel "Lip" Pike (May 25, 1845 – October 10, 1893) the "Iron Batter", was an American who was one of the stars of 19th-century baseball in the United States. His brother, Israel Pike, played briefly for the Hartford Dark Blues during ...

Bob Addy Robert Edward Addy (February 1842 – April 9, 1910), nicknamed "The Magnet", was a Canadian right fielder and second baseman in Major League Baseball, whose professional career spanned from in the National Association to in the National Leag ...

, and Jack Manning, the Reds finished 6th in the National League. Pike, the second baseman, led the team with 4 home runs and rookie

pitcher In baseball, the pitcher is the player who throws ("pitches") the baseball from the pitcher's mound toward the catcher to begin each play, with the goal of retiring a batter, who attempts to either make contact with the pitched ball or draw ...

Bobby Mitchell Robert Cornelius Mitchell (June 6, 1935 – April 5, 2020) was an American professional football player who was a halfback and flanker in the National Football League (NFL) for the Cleveland Browns and the Washington Redskins. Mitchell becam ...

led the team with 41

strikeout In baseball or softball, a strikeout (or strike-out) occurs when a batter accumulates three strikes during a time at bat. It usually means that the batter is out. A strikeout is a statistic recorded for both pitchers and batters, and is deno ...

s. In the 1878 season, player/manager

Cal McVey Calvin Alexander McVey (August 30, 1849 – August 20, 1926) was an American professional baseball player during the 1860s and 1870s. McVey's importance to the game stems from his play on two of the earliest professional baseball teams, the origin ...

piloted Cincinnati to second place in the league. Charley Jones led the team with 3 homers and

Will White William Henry "Whoop-La" White (October 11, 1854 – August 31, 1911) was an American baseball pitcher and manager from 1875 to 1889. He played all or parts of 10 seasons in Major League Baseball, primarily for the Cincinnati Reds in the National ...

led the team with 169 strikeouts. Sharing the managing duties,

catcher Catcher is a Baseball positions, position in baseball and softball. When a Batter (baseball), batter takes their at bat, turn to hit, the catcher crouches behind home plate, in front of the (home plate, home) Umpire (baseball), umpire, and recei ...

Deacon White James Laurie "Deacon" White (December 2, 1847 – July 7, 1939) was an American baseball player who was one of the principal stars during the first two decades of the sport's professional era. The outstanding catcher of the 1870s during baseball ...

and McVey managed the team to 5th place.

Starting pitcher In baseball (hardball or softball), a starting pitcher or starter is the first pitcher in the game for each team. A pitcher is credited with a game started if they throw the first pitch to the opponent's first batter of a game. Starting pit ...

Will White hurled 232 strikeouts.

Baseball Hall of Fame The National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum is a history museum and hall of fame in Cooperstown, New York, operated by private interests. It serves as the central point of the history of baseball in the United States and displays baseball-r ...

member

King Kelly Michael Joseph "King" Kelly (December 31, 1857 – November 8, 1894), also commonly known as "$10,000 Kelly", was an American outfielder, catcher, and manager in various professional American baseball leagues including the National League, Inter ...

played on the 1878 and '79 Reds. Following the 1879 season, the club was disbanded.

Justus Thorner Justus Thorner (March 2, 1848 – October 10, 1928) was a German-born American businessman, the owner of three professional baseball teams; the Cincinnati Stars in 1880, the Cincinnati Red Stockings (AA), Cincinnati Red Stockings during 1882 and ...

, owner of the semi-professional

Cincinnati Stars The Cincinnati Stars were a Major League Baseball team that played in the National League for the 1880 season and were managed by John Clapp. The club finished their only season in 8th place with a record of 21–59. Following the 1880 campai ...

, purchased a new National League franchise and moved his club into the vacant spot left by the Reds. However, a new Reds franchise debuted in 1881, and has continued to play since.

Year-by-year records

{, class="wikitable" , style="align: left; margin: 0px" , , Season, , Manager, , Games, , W, , L, , T, , WP, , PL, , GB , - , , 1876, ,

, , 65, , 9, , 56, , 0, , .138, , 8th, , 42.5 , - , , 1877, ,

& Jack Manning , , 58, , 15, , 42, , 1, , .263, , 6th, , 25.5 , - , , 1878, ,

, , 61, , 37, , 23, , 1, , .617, , 2nd, , 4.0 , - , , 1879, ,

, , 81, , 43, , 37, , 1, , .538, , 5th, , 14.0

Baseball Hall of Famers

{, class="wikitable" style="text-align:center , - ! colspan=4 style="background:#c6011f; color:white;", Cincinnati Reds Hall of Famers , - ! style="background:black; color:white;", Inductee ! style="background:black; color:white;", Position ! style="background:black; color:white;", Tenure ! style="background:black; color:white;", Inducted , - ,

Candy Cummings William Arthur "Candy" Cummings (October 18, 1848 – May 17, 1924) was an American professional baseball player. He played as a pitcher in the National Association and National League. Cummings is widely credited with inventing the curveball. H ...

, , P , , 1877 , , 1939 , - ,

, , OF/ C , , 1878–1879 , , 1945 , - ,

, , 3B/ C , , 1878–1879 , , 2013

References

External links

Team index page at Retro SheetTeam index page at Baseball Reference
{{DEFAULTSORT:Cincinnati Reds (1876-1879) Cincinnati Reds Defunct Major League Baseball teams Defunct baseball teams in Ohio Baseball teams disestablished in 1879 Baseball teams established in 1876