Mr. Red is the first

mascot A mascot is any human, animal, or object thought to bring luck, or anything used to represent a group with a common public identity, such as a school, professional sports team, society, military unit, or brand name. Mascots are also used as fi ...

of the Cincinnati Reds baseball team. He is a humanoid figure dressed in a Reds uniform, with an oversized baseball for a head. Sometimes, Mr. Red is referred to by the team as "The Running Man" for the way he has posed on the logo c.

1968 The year was highlighted by protests and other unrests that occurred worldwide. Events January–February * January 5 – " Prague Spring": Alexander Dubček is chosen as leader of the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia. * Janu ...

. Mr. Red was created by Henry "Hank" Zureick, the Reds Publicity Director. The character first appeared on the cover of the 1953 Cincinnati Red Stockings yearbook, which was also produced by Mr. Zureick, along with many yearbooks and programs during his career. Mr. Red made his first appearance on a Reds uniform as a sleeve patch in 1955. The patch featured Mr. Red's head, clad in an old-fashioned white pillbox

baseball cap A baseball cap is a type of soft hat with a rounded crown and a stiff bill projecting in front. The front of the hat typically displays a design or a logo (historically, usually only a sports team, namely a baseball team, or names of relevant c ...

with red stripes. The following season,

1956 Events January * January 1 – The Anglo-Egyptian Condominium ends in Sudan. * January 8 – Operation Auca: Five U.S. evangelical Christian missionaries, Nate Saint, Roger Youderian, Ed McCully, Jim Elliot and Pete Fleming, ar ...

, saw the Reds adopt sleeveless jerseys, and Mr. Red was eliminated from the home uniform. He was moved to the left breast of the road uniform, and remained there for one season before being eliminated entirely. In

1999 File:1999 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The funeral procession of King Hussein of Jordan in Amman; the 1999 İzmit earthquake kills over 17,000 people in Turkey; the Columbine High School massacre, one of the first major school shoot ...

, the Reds re-designed their uniform and "Mr. Red" was reintroduced as a sleeve patch on the undershirt. A human version of the mascot had appeared in 1972 and went full time in 1973 season. By the end of 1973 Tom Kindig replaced his older brother Chuck as the day to day Mr. Red mascot for remainder of the 1970s. Many viewed Mr. Red nationally in Game 5 of 1975 World Series, when he appeared on screen during the

NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American English-language commercial broadcast television and radio network. The flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a division of Comcast, its headquarters are l ...

broadcast (see the DVD version available on A&E Video). The mascot disappeared in the late 1980s for unknown reasons. The costumed mascot was reintroduced in 1997. Mr. Red was joined by '' Gapper'', a new furry mascot created by David Raymond (the original Phillie Phanatic), as the franchise moved to

Great American Ballpark Great American Ball Park is a baseball stadium in Cincinnati, Ohio. It served as the home stadium of the Cincinnati Reds of Major League Baseball (MLB), and opened on March 31, 2003, replacing Cinergy Field (formerly Riverfront Stadium), the Red ...

in 2003. In 2007, the current Mr. Red has been supplemented by a retro 1950s version known as "Mr. Redlegs", complete with handlebar mustache and old fashioned baseball uniform. Throughout the 1970s and 1980s, Mr. Red wore uniform number 27. The humanoid Mr. Red retired in 2007 leaving "Gapper" and a mascoted "Mr. Redlegs" to take his place. In August 2008, a female companion named "Rosie Red" named in honor of the group that supports the team, the Rosie Reds, was introduced. A new Mr. Red Mascot was unveiled at Redsfest for the 2012 season, the mascot is now on the field with "Gapper" and "Rosie Red" and "Mr. Redlegs."

References

External links

{{Cincinnati Reds Major League Baseball team mascots Cincinnati Reds