Cincinnati, Ohio: The Cincinnati Reds are a major league baseball team from Cincinnati, Ohio and are a member of the central division of the National League. The Reds are five time world champions and won the National League pennant nine times in their history.
They are the oldest team in professional baseball. They began play in 1866 as the Cincinnati Red Stocking and were originally an amateur team and gained professional status in 1869. The Red Stockings went 130 games in a row without a loss from 1869 to 1870 with the 1869 season being an undefeated season at 57-0.
In 1870, the team relocated to Boston and became the Boston Red Stockings. The city of Cincinnati returned to professional with a new Red Stockings team in 1876. However the team was banned from the league in 1880 for serving beer to fans and renting their ballpark out on Sundays.
The Red Stocking resurfaced again in 1882, this time in the American Association where they won the league title their first season. They played in the American Association for eight years before rejoining the National League in 1890 when they became the Reds.
The Reds began their climb to greatness in the early 1900’s. By 1919, the Reds won their first NL pennant and their first World Series title over the Chicago White Sox. But following the championship, the Reds returned to the basement of the division and the franchise was on the brink of bankruptcy.
Powel Crosley Jr brought the Reds out of bankruptcy in 1933 and help the Reds accomplish a series of firsts throughout the 1930’s. They became the first to play a night game, the first to have fireworks at a game and have the first pitcher to throw back to back no-hitters. The new and improved Reds won back to back NL pennants in 1939 and 1940 and brought home the World Series 1940.
The Reds continued to produce a winning ball club, finishing near the top of the division for the next few years. But they were unable to capture another title and by the 1960’s, they began to sell off the star players.
Since the star players were traded away, the Reds began to rebuild from the ground up, focusing on its minor league farm system. Players like Pete Rose, Johnny Bench, Tony Perez and many more greats were being groomed in the minors.
The rise of these players and the addition of Sparky Anderson led to the creation of the Big Red Machine, a baseball dynasty that would lead the baseball world throughout the 1970’s. During the era of the Big Red Machine, they would win six division titles, four league pennants and two World Series championships.
But like all good things, it had to come to an end. The beginning of the end came with the new General Manager, Dick Wagner. Wagner saw that the pieces of the Big Red Machine were traded and the machine was dismantled. Perez was traded, Rose retired and Anderson was fired. By 1981, only three members of the Big Red Machine remained in the starting lineup. The Reds quickly dropped to the bottom of the National League.
In 1983, Wagner was fired from the GM position and the Reds rehired Howsam who began to rebuild the Big Red Machine. He brought back Perez, Dave Concepcion and Dave Parker. Pete Rose returned as a player/manager and the Big Red Machine was back in action. With the machine back, Howsam turned over the reins to Bill Bergesch who continued to build the dynasty.
The late 1980’s saw the Reds finish second four times to close out the decade. Tom Browning threw a perfect game and Chris Sabo won the Rookie of the Year award. But the decade also decade also ended in controversy, Pete Rose was banned from baseball on gambling accusations and owner Marge Schott was constantly in the news for racial slurs.
By the late 1980’s the Reds began rebuilding again and in 1990 returned to the World Series and won their fifth World Series title, defeating the Oakland Athletics. They won the division in 1995 and then fell off the radar again.
Schott sold the franchise in 1999. The ownership saw the importance of a strong minor league system and began rebuilding the franchise from the ground up, in hopes of building another Big Red Machine. While it did not show in the standings during the 2000’s, the Reds were getting stronger and stronger each season with a wealth of talent in the minor league system. The worked paid off and the Reds reached the playoffs again in 2010, winning the division but falling in the NLCS.
During their franchise history, the Reds played in seven different ballparks; Bank Street Grounds (1882-1883), American Park/League Park I (1884-1893), League Park II (1894-1901), Palace of the Fans/League Park III (1902-1911), Crosley Field/Redland Field (1912-1970), Riverfront Stadium/Cinergy Field (1970-2002) and Great American Ball Park (2003 to the present). The Reds currently hold spring training in Goodyear, Arizona in a shared facility with the Cleveland Indians. 2010 was their first spring in Arizona after spending 10 years training in Sarasota, Florida.
So much of the Reds future lies in the hands of their minor league system. In 2011, the Reds minor league affiliates are:
- Louisville Bats (AAA, International League)
- Carolina Mudcats (AA, Southern League)
- Bakersfield Blaze (A+, California League)
- Dayton Dragons (A, Midwest League)
- Billings Mustangs (R, Pioneer League)
- AZL Reds (R, Arizona League)
- DSL Reds (R, Dominican Summer League)
- VSL Reds (R, Venezuelan Summer League)
Over the years, the Reds have produced twelve National League MVP’s and have 41 players honored in the Baseball Hall of Fame. They also have retired nine jersey numbers, this list of elite player include:
- 1 – Fred Hutchinson
- 5 – Johnny Bench
- 8 – Joe Morgan
- 10 – Sparky Anderson
- 13 – Dave Concepcion
- 18 – Ted Kluszewski
- 20 – Frank Robinson
- 24 – Tony Perez
- 42 – Jackie Robinson
Click on the photo above to visit my Cincinnati Reds photo gallery. Here you will find pictures from spring training games, players and their old spring training home in Sarasota.
Updated January 17, 2010
Fort Myers, Florida: Hope aboard the train and be transported back to the day when the rails were luxury transportation. Seminole Gulf Railway in Fort Myers is a functioning short line railroad that operates passenger excursions and dinner trains along with its freight fleet.
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