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

Cincinnati, Ohio Cincinnati ( ; colloquially nicknamed Cincy) is a city in Hamilton County, Ohio, United States, and its county seat. Settled in 1788, the city is located on the northern side of the confluence of the Licking River (Kentucky), Licking and Ohio Ri ...

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

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, 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 catch ...

Charley Jones led the Cincinnati offense with 4

home run In baseball, a home run (abbreviated HR) is scored when the Baseball (ball), ball is hit in such a way that the batting (baseball), batter is able to circle the bases and reach home plate safe (baseball), safely in one play without any error ( ...

s and 38

runs batted in A run batted in or runs batted in (RBI) 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 th ...

. 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, Bob Addy, and Jack Manning, the Reds finished 6th in the National League. Pike, the

second baseman In baseball and softball, second baseman, abbreviated 2B, is a fielding position in the Infielder, infield, between Baseball field#Second base, second and Baseball field#First base, first base. The second baseman often possesses quick hands and f ...

, led the team with 4 home runs and rookie

pitcher In baseball, the pitcher is the player who throws ("Pitch (baseball), pitches") the Baseball (ball), baseball from the pitcher's mound toward the catcher to begin each play, with the goal of out (baseball), retiring a batter (baseball), batter, ...

Bobby Mitchell 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 means the batter is out, unless the third strike is not caught by the catcher and the batter reaches first base safe ...

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 origi ...

piloted Cincinnati to second place in the league. Charley Jones led the team with 3 homers and Will White led the team with 169 strikeouts. Sharing the managing duties,

catcher Catcher is a position in baseball and softball. When a batter takes their turn to hit, the catcher crouches behind home plate, in front of the (home) umpire, and receives the ball from the pitcher. In addition to this primary duty, the catc ...

Deacon White 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 a private foundation. It serves as the central collection and gathering space for the history of baseball in the United S ...

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

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

, purchased a new National League franchise and moved his club into the vacant spot left by the Reds; the Stars folded after the 1880 season. A new Reds franchise debuted in 1882 in the American Association, and joined the National League in 1890.

Year-by-year records

{, class="wikitable" , style="align: left; margin: 0px" , , Season, , Manager, , Games, , W, , L, , T, , WP, , PL, , GB , - , , 1876, , Charlie Gould , , 65, , 9, , 56, , 0, , .138, , 8th, , 42.5 , - , , 1877, , Lip Pike, Bob Addy & Jack Manning , , 58, , 15, , 42, , 1, , .263, , 6th, , 25.5 , - , , 1878, ,

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

& Deacon White , , 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 , , P , , 1877 , , 1939 , - ,

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