The Boston Reds were a

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball league composed of 30 teams, divided equally between the National League (baseball), National League (NL) and the American League (AL), with 29 in the United States and 1 in Canada. MLB i ...

franchise that played in the

Players' League The Players' National League of Professional Base Ball Clubs, popularly known as the Players' League (PL), was a short-lived but star-studded American professional baseball league of the 19th century. The PL was formed by the Brotherhood of Pr ...

(PL) in 1890, and one season in the American Association (AA) in 1891. In both seasons, the Reds were their league's champion, making them the second team to win back-to-back championships in two different leagues. The first franchise to accomplish this feat was the

Brooklyn Bridegrooms The Brooklyn Dodgers were a Major League Baseball team founded in 1883 as the Brooklyn Grays. In 1884, it became a member of the American Association as the Brooklyn Atlantics before joining the National League in 1890. They remained in Brookl ...

, who won the AA championship in 1889 and the

National League National League often refers to: *National League (baseball), one of the two baseball leagues constituting Major League Baseball in the United States and Canada *National League (division), the fifth division of the English football (soccer) system ...

(NL) championship in 1890. The Reds played their home games at the

Congress Street Grounds Congress Street Grounds is a former baseball ground located in Boston, Massachusetts. The ballpark, as the name implies, was along Congress Street, near the intersection of Thompson Place, and not far from the Fort Point Channel on South Bost ...

. The Reds were an instant success on the field and in the public's opinion.Foulds, p. 140 The team signed several top-level players, and they played in a larger, more comfortable and modern ballpark than the

Boston Beaneaters Boston is the capital and most populous city in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts in the United States. The city serves as the cultural and financial center of New England, a region of the Northeastern United States. It has an area of and a ...

, the popular and well established cross-town rival. Player signings that first year included future

Hall of Famers A hall, wall, or walk of fame is a list of individuals, achievements, or other entities, usually chosen by a group of electors, to mark their excellence or fame in their field. In some cases, these halls of fame consist of actual halls or muse ...

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 (baseball), manager in various professional American baseball leagues including the Na ...

Dan Brouthers Dennis Joseph "Dan" Brouthers (; May 8, 1858 – August 2, 1932) was an American first baseman in Major League Baseball whose career spanned the period from to , with a brief return in . Nicknamed "Big Dan" for his size, he was and weighed , w ...

, and

Charles Radbourn Charles Gardner Radbourn (December 11, 1854 – February 5, 1897), nicknamed "Old Hoss", was an American professional baseball pitcher who played 12 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB). He played for Buffalo (1880), Providence (1881–1885), ...

, along with other veterans such as

Hardy Richardson Abram Harding "Hardy" Richardson (April 21, 1855 – January 14, 1931), also known as "Hardie" and "Old True Blue", was an American professional baseball player whose career spanned from 1875 to 1892 with a brief minor league comeback in 1898. H ...

Matt Kilroy Matthew Aloysius "Matches" Kilroy (June21, 1866March2, 1940) was an American left-handed pitcher in Major League Baseball. During his rookie season in 1886, he had 513 strikeouts, which remains the MLB single-season record. Early life Kilroy was ...

Harry Stovey Harry Duffield Stovey (''né'' Stowe; December 20, 1856 – September 20, 1937) was an American 19th-century Major League Baseball player and the first player in major league history to hit 100 home runs. Born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Stove ...

, and

Tom Brown Tom Brown may refer to: Arts and entertainment *Tom Brown (satirist) (1662–1704), English satirical writer *Tom Brown (trombonist) (1888–1958), American jazz trombonist and bandleader *Tom Brown (actor) (1913–1990), American film and televi ...

. The PL ended after one season, leaving most of its teams without a league.Nemec, p. 214 After the dissolution of the PL, the AA voted to allow the Reds into the new combined league. This was based on the condition that all players be returned to their former clubs via the

reserve clause The reserve clause, in North American professional sports, was part of a player contract which stated that the rights to players were retained by the team upon the contract's expiration. Players under these contracts were not free to enter into ano ...

. Although the team's on-field captain, Kelly, became the

player-manager A player–coach (also playing coach, captain–coach, or player–manager) is a member of a sports team who simultaneously holds both playing and coaching duties. Player–coaches may be head coaches or assistant coaches, and they may make chang ...

for a new AA club, the

Cincinnati Kelly's Killers Kelly's Killers were a Major League baseball team that played in Cincinnati, Ohio, during the 1891 baseball season. The team played in the American Association, which was a major league from 1882 to 1891. The team nickname By contemporary ...

, the Reds stayed intact by keeping several of their top players.Nemec, p. 213 Of the club's key players from the previous year's team, Brouthers, Richardson, and Brown were retained. To fill the void of the departing players, the team brought in future Hall of Famers

Hugh Duffy Hugh Duffy (November 26, 1866 – October 19, 1954) was an American outfielder and manager in Major League Baseball. He was a player or player-manager for the Chicago White Stockings, Chicago Pirates, Boston Reds, Boston Beaneaters, Milwau ...

and

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 Re ...

, along with solid veterans

Paul Radford Paul Revere Radford (October 14, 1861 – February 21, 1945) was an American Major League Baseball player in the late 19th century. Paul, nicknamed "Shorty", played with many teams over his 12-season career. He was a starting outfielder with the ...

Charlie Buffinton Charles G. Buffinton (June 14, 1861 – September 23, 1907) was an American right-handed pitcher in Major League Baseball from 1882 to 1892. One of the workhorse pitchers of the 1880s, he won 20 games seven times and his 1,700 career strikeouts ...

, and George Haddock. When the 1891 season ended, the AA folded as well, leaving the NL as the sole major league, and the Reds were bought out by the surviving NL clubs.Nemec, p. 235

Players

References

;General *Foulds, Allen E. 2005. ''Boston's Ballparks & Arenas''. UPNE. . *Nemec, David. Rucker, Mark. 2004.
The Beer and Whisky League: The Illustrated History of the American Association—Baseball's Renegade Major League.
' Globe Pequot. . ;Specific

External links

*Franchise index a
Baseball-Reference
an

{{DEFAULTSORT:Boston Reds (1890-91) all-time roster * * Major League Baseball all-time rosters