History of the Cincinnati Reds

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The following is the history of the Cincinnati Reds of Major League Baseball. Originally named the Cincinnati Red Stockings, the name was shortened to the Cincinnati Reds in the 1890s.

[edit] The original "Red Stockings"

The original Cincinnati Red Stockings, baseball's first openly all-professional team, was founded in 1863, and became fully professional in 1869. The Red Stockings won 130 straight games throughout 1869 and 1870, before being defeated by the Brooklyn Atlantics. Star players included brothers Harry and George Wright, Fred Waterman, and pitcher Asa Brainard. The 1869 Red Stockings made an eastern swing of 21 games and went undefeated. According to Walter Camp, the team received a banquet and a "champion bat...this rather remarkable testimonial was twenty-seven feet long and nine inches in diameter." The following year, the team lost only one game. They were defeated at the Brooklyn Athletic's Capitoline grounds park. According to Camp, the Red Stockings lost 8-7 in 11 innings. The game apparently served as a precursor to today's unruly crowds because he wrote: "A crowd of ten thousand people assembled to witness this match, and so lost their heads in the excitement as to give the Western men a very unfair reception." [See: "Base-Ball For The Spectator" Walter Camp, Century Magazine October, 1889.]

Cap sold by the club in 2006.

The Red Stockings relocated to Boston after the 1870 season. A new Cincinnati Red Stockings team became a charter member of the National League in 1876, five years after the first Red Stockings team. The second Red Stockings team was expelled from the league after the 1880 season, in part for violating league rules by serving beer to fans at games, and for their refusal to stop renting out their ballpark, the Bank Street Grounds, on Sundays.

[edit] The American Association

Following the expulsion, a third Cincinnati team of the same name became a founding member of the American Association, a rival league that began play in 1882. That team (which is the same franchise of today) played for nine seasons in the American Association and won the Association pennant in 1882. The pennant winning club still holds the record for the highest winning percentage of any Reds club to date (.688). In November of 1889, the Cincinnati Red Stockings and the Brooklyn Dodgers both left the Association for the National League. In the move, the Red Stockings dropped "Stockings" from their name.

[edit] The National League, to stay

Although some dispute whether the two teams are the same, according to The Baseball Encyclopedia^[1] the Cincinnati Red Stockings left the American Association in 1890 to play in the National League. One of the main reasons had absolutely nothing to do with the team directly--the upstart Player's League, an early, failed attempt to break the reserve clause in baseball. The league's impending presence severely weakened both previously existing leagues, and, because the National League decided to expand and the American Association was weakening, the team decided to accept the invitation to become members of the stronger National League. It was also at this time that the team first shortened their nickname from "Red Stockings" to "Reds." The Reds wandered through the 1890s signing local stars & aging veterans. During this time, the team never finished above third place (1897) and never closer than 10 1/2 games (1890).

At the turn of the century, the Reds had hitting stars such as Sam Crawford and Cy Seymour. Seymour's .377 average in 1905 was the first individual batting crown won by a Red. In 1911, Bob Bescher stole 81 bases which is still a team record. Like the previous decade, the 1900s were not kind to the Reds, as much of the decade was spent in the league's second division.

[edit] Redland Field to the Great Depression

In 1912, Redland Field (later to be known as Crosley Field), built on the corner of Findlay and Western Avenues on the city's west side opened for the Reds. The Reds had actually been playing baseball on that site for the last 20 years. By the late 1910s the Reds began to come out of the second division. The 1918 team finished 4th, and then new manager Pat Moran led the Reds to an NL pennant in 1919. The 1919 team had hitting stars led by Edd Roush and Heinie Groh while the pitching staff was led by Hod Eller and Harry "Slim" Sallee, a lefthander. The Reds finished ahead of John McGraw's New York Giants, and then won the world championship in 8 games over the Chicago White Sox.

By 1920, the "Black Sox" scandal had brought a taint to the Reds' first championship. In the remainder of the 1920s and early 1930s the Reds were second division dwellers for most of those years. Eppa Rixey, Dolf Luque and Pete Donohue were pitching stars; the offense never quite lived up to the pitching. By 1931 the team was bankrupt, thanks to the Great Depression, and Crosley Field was in a state of disrepair.

[edit] Revival of 1930s

Powel Crosley Jr., an electronics magnate who, with his brother Lewis M. Crosley, produced radios, refrigerators, and other household items, bought the Reds out of bankruptcy in 1933, and hired Larry MacPhail to be the General Manager. Powell Crosley Jr. had also started WLW radio and the Crosley Broadcasting Corporation in Cincinnati and was doing quite well as a civic leader. (WLW has been the Reds' radio flagship for decades.) MacPhail began to develop the Reds' minor league system and expanded the Reds' base. The Reds, throughout the 1930s, became a team of "firsts". Crosley Field, (formerly Redland Field), became the host of the first night game in 1935. Johnny Vander Meer became the only pitcher in major league history to throw back-to-back no-hitters in 1938. Thanks to Vander Meer, Paul Derringer, and second-baseman/third baseman-turned-pitcher Bucky Walters, the Reds had a solid pitching staff. The offense came around in the late 1930s. Ernie Lombardi was named the National League's Most Valuable Player in 1938, First baseman Frank McCormick was the 1940 NL MVP. Other position players included Harry Craft, Lonny Frey, Ival Goodman and Lew Riggs. By 1938 the Reds, now led by manager Bill McKechnie, were out of the second division finishing fourth. By 1939 they were National League champions. The Reds were swept by the New York Yankees in four straight. In 1940, they repeated as NL Champions, and for the first time in 21 years, the Reds captured a World championship, beating the Detroit Tigers 4 games to 3.

[edit] From WW-II through the 1960s

World War II and age finally caught up with the Reds. Throughout the remainder of the 1940s and the early 1950s, Cincinnati finished mostly in the second division. In 1944, Joe Nuxhall, (who was later to become part of the radio broadcasting team), at age 15, pitching for the Reds on loan from a Hamilton, Ohio Junior High School, became the youngest person ever to play in a major league game -- a record that still stands today. Ewell "The Whip" Blackwell was the main pitching stalwart before arm problems cut short his career. Ted Kluszewski was the NL home run leader in 1954. The rest of the offense was a collection of over-the-hill players and not-ready-for-prime time youngsters.

In 1956, led by National League Rookie of the Year Frank Robinson, the Reds hit 221 HR to tie the NL record. By 1961, Robinson was joined by Vada Pinson, Wally Post, Gordy Coleman and Gene Freese. Pitchers Joey Jay, Jim O'Toole, and Bob Purkey led the staff. The Reds captured the 1961 National League pennant, holding off the Los Angeles Dodgers and the San Francisco Giants, only to be defeated by the perennially powerful New York Yankees in the World Series. The Reds had many successful teams during the rest of the 1960s, but did not produce any championships. They won 98 games in 1962 (paced by Purkey's 23), but finished third. In 1964, they lost the pennant by one game, having taken 1st place when the Phillies collapsed in September but then losing out to the Cardinals. In that 1964 season, the beloved leader of the Reds, manager Fred Hutchinson, died of cancer, succumbing just weeks after the end of the 1964 season, one of baseball's most exciting pennant races ever. The failure of the Reds to win the 1964 pennant led to owner Bill DeWitt's selling off key components of the team, in anticipation of relocating the franchise. After the 1965 season he executed what may be the most lopsided trade in baseball history, sending former Most-Valuable Player Frank Robinson to the Baltimore Orioles for pitchers Milt Pappas, Jack Baldschun, and outfielder Dick Simpson. Robinson went on to win the MVP in the American league for 1966, win the "triple crown", and lead Baltimore to its first ever World Series title in a four-game sweep of the Los Angeles Dodgers. The Reds did not recover from this trade until the rise of the "Big Red Machine" of the 1970s.

Starting in the early 1960s, the Reds' farm system began producing a series of future stars, such as Jim Maloney (the Reds pitching ace of the 1960s), Pete Rose, Tony Pérez, Johnny Bench (a great catcher and the backbone of the Reds for years to come), Lee May, Tommy Helms, Bernie Carbo, Hal McRae, Dave Concepcion, and Gary Nolan. The tipping point came in 1967 with the appointment of Bob Howsam as general manager. That same year the Reds avoided an all but certain move to San Diego when the city of Cincinnati and Hamilton County agreed to build a new, state of the art, downtown stadium on the edge of the Ohio River. The Reds entered into a 30-year lease in exchange for the stadium commitment keeping the franchise in its original home city. In a series of strategic moves, Howsam nurtured the homegrown talent and brought in key personnel, allowing the team to finally reach its potential during the 1970s. The Reds' final game at Crosley Field, home to more than 4,500 baseball games, were played on June 24, 1970, a 5-4 victory over the San Francisco Giants. In its place, a new stadium, and a new Reds dynasty.

[edit] Striving for an image: The "Redlegs" and Clean Shaves

Twice in the 1950s (the McCarthy era), the Reds, fearing that their traditional club nickname would associate them with the Communist threat, officially changed the name of the team to the Cincinnati Redlegs. From 1956 to 1960, the club's logo was altered to remove the term "REDS" from the inside of the "wishbone C" symbol. The "REDS" reappeared on the 1961 uniforms, but the point of the C was removed, leaving a smooth, non-wishbone curve. The traditional home-uniform logo was restored in 1967.

Under Howsam's administration starting in the late 1960s, the Reds instituted a strict rule barring the team's players from wearing mustaches, beards, and long hair. (This rule, with a mustache exemption, is also enforced to this day by the New York Yankees, under the ownership of George Steinbrenner.) The clean cut look was meant to present the team as wholesome and traditional in an era of turmoil. Over the years, the rule was controversial, but persisted under the ownership of Marge Schott. All players coming to the Reds were required to shave and cut their hair for the next three decades or more. On at least one occasion, in the early 1980s, when the Reds were hurting for pitching, strict enforcement of this rule lost them the services of star reliever Rollie Fingers, who would not shave his trademark handlebar moustache in order to join the team. The Reds thus took a pass on Fingers. [1] When Pete Rose became player-manager in the mid-1980s, he grew a "rat's tail," fashionable among the youth of the time, but the rule was not officially rescinded until 1999 when the Reds traded for slugger Greg Vaughn who had a goatee.

The Reds' grooming rules also included guidelines for wearing the uniform. In major league baseball, a club generally provides most of the equipment and clothing needed for play. However, players are required to supply their gloves and shoes themselves. Many players take advantage of this rule by entering into sponsorship arrangements with shoe manufacturers. Through the mid-1980s, the Reds had a strict rule that players were to wear only plain black shoes with no prominent logo. Reds players decried the boring color choice as well as the denial of the opportunity to earn more money through shoe contracts. A compromise was struck in which players were given the opportunity to wear red shoes.

For years, club management and players throughout Major League Baseball have been involved in a struggle over how uniform pants and stockings are to be worn. Generally, baseball players wear a double layer of socks -- underneath, the regular socks or "sanitaries" (traditionally plain white) and over that, a stirrup-type stocking (traditionally bearing team colors). Some clubs, such as the Reds, require that the pants and socks be worn so that the team colors on the stirrup are visible. However, since the 1990s, players have generally preferred to pull down the cuffs of their trousers all the way to the ankle, thus covering up the colored stockings.

[edit] The Big Red Machine

[edit] 1970

In 1970, little known George "Sparky" Anderson was hired as manager, and the Reds embarked upon a decade of excellence, with a team that came to be known as "The Big Red Machine". Playing at Crosley Field until June 30, 1970, when the Reds moved into brand-new Riverfront Stadium, a 52,000 seat multi-purpose venue on the shores of the Ohio River, the Reds began the 1970s with a bang by winning 70 of their first 100 games. Johnny Bench, Tony Pérez, Pete Rose, Lee May and Bobby Tolan were the early Red Machine offensive leaders; Gary Nolan, Jim Merritt Jim Maloney and Jim McGlothlin led a pitching staff which also contained veterans Tony Cloninger and Clay Carroll and youngsters Wayne Simpson and Don Gullett. The Reds breezed through the 1970 season, winning the NL West and captured the NL pennant by sweeping the Pittsburgh Pirates in three games. By time the club got to the World Series, however, the Reds pitching staff had run out of gas and the veteran Baltimore Orioles beat the Reds in five games.

[edit] 1971

After the disastrous 1971 season (the only season of the '70s during which the Reds finished with a losing record) the Reds reloaded by trading veterans Jimmy Stewert, May, and Tommy Helms for Joe Morgan, César Gerónimo, Jack Billingham, Ed Armbrister, and Denis Menke. Meanwhile, Dave Concepción blossomed at shortstop. 1971 was also the year a key component of the future world championships was acquired in George Foster from the San Francisco Giants in a trade for shortstop Frank Duffy.

[edit] 1972

The 1972 Reds won the NL West in a baseball first ever strike-shortened season and defeated the Pittsburgh Pirates in an exciting five-game playoff series--that fifth game in Cincinnati was the last major league game Pittsburgh's great Roberto Clemente ever played--then faced the Oakland Athletics in the World Series. Six of the seven games were won by one run. With powerful slugger Reggie Jackson sidelined due to an injury incurred during Oakland's playoff series against Detroit, Ohio native Gene Tenace got a chance to play in the series for manager Dick Williams, delivering four home runs that tied the World Series record for homers, propelling Oakland to a dramatic seventh game series win. This was the first World Series in which no starting pitcher for either side pitched a complete game.

[edit] 1973

The Reds won a third NL West crown in 1973 after a dramatic second half comeback, that saw them make up 10½ games on the Los Angeles Dodgers after the All-Star break. However they lost the NL pennant to the New York Mets in five games. In game one, Tom Seaver faced Jack Billingham in a classic pitching duo, with all three runs of the 2-1 margin being scored on home runs. John Milner provided New York's run off Billingham, while Pete Rose tied the game in the seventh inning off Seaver, setting the stage for a dramatic game ending home run by Johnny Bench in the bottom of the ninth inning. The New York series provided plenty of controversy with the riotious behavior of Shea Stadium fans towards Pete Rose when he and Bud Harrelson scuffled after a hard slide by Rose into Harrelson at second base during the fifth inning of Game 3. A full bench-clearing fight resulted after New York's Wayne Garrett came over from third base to take cheap shots at Rose. The resulting on-field tension led to two separate incidents in which play was stopped. The Reds trailed 9-3 and New York's manager, Yogi Berra, and legendary outfielder Willie Mays at the request of National League president Warren Giles appealed to fans in left field to restrain themselves. The next day the series was extended to a fifth game when Rose homered in the 12th inning to tie the series at two games each. The Reds won 98 games in 1974 but they finished second to the 102-win Los Angeles Dodgers and MVP Steve Garvey.

[edit] 1974

The 1974 season started off with much excitement, as the Atlanta Braves were in town to open the season with the Reds. Hank Aaron entered opening day with 713 home runs, one shy of tying Babe Ruth's record of 714. On a three ball one strike count, the first pitch Aaron swung at in the 74 season was the record tying home run off Jack Billingham. The next day the Braves benched Aaron, hoping to save him for his record breaking home run on their season opening homestand. The commissioner of baseball, Bowie Kuhn, ordered Braves management to play Aaron the next day, where he narrowly missed the historic home run in the fifth inning. Aaron went on to set the record in Atlanta two nights later off Al Downing and the Los Angeles Dodgers. 1974 also was the debut of Hall of Fame radio announcer Marty Brennaman, who replaced Al Michaels, after Michaels left the Reds to broadcast for the San Francisco Giants.

[edit] 1975

With 1975, the Big Red Machine lineup solidified with the starting team of Johnny Bench (c), Tony Perez (1b), Joe Morgan (2b), Dave Concepcion (ss), Pete Rose (3b), Ken Griffey (rf), César Gerónimo (cf), and George Foster (lf). The starting pitchers included Don Gullett, Fred Norman, Gary Nolan, Jack Billingham, Pat Darcy, and Clay Kirby. However, it was the bullpen that was the key to the Reds' pitching (and Anderson's reputation as "Captain Hook") with Rawly Eastwick and Will McEnaney as the key closers with a combined 37 saves. Pedro Borbon and Clay Carroll filled in as stretchers between the starters and the finishers. However, this was not the lineup on Opening Day. At that time, Rose still played in left field, Foster was not a starter, while John Vuckovich, an off-season acquisition from the Milwaukee Brewers was the starting third baseman, replacing Dan Driessen, who was a decent hitter, but whose defensive skills were considered a weakness. While Vuckovich was a superb defensive shortstop, he was a weak hitter. In May, with the team off to a slow start and trailing the Dodgers, Sparky Anderson made a bold move by moving Rose to third base (a position where he had very little experience) and inserting Foster in left field to bat cleanup. This was the jolt that the Reds needed to propel them into first place, with Rose proving to be reliable on defense, while adding Foster to the outfield gave the offense some added punch. During the season, the Reds compiled two notable streaks: (1) by winning 41 out of 50 games in one stretch, and (2) by going a month without committing any errors on defense.

In the 1975 season, Cincinnati clinched the NL West with 108 victories, then swept the Pittsburgh Pirates in three games to win the NL pennant. In the World Series, the Boston Red Sox were the opponents. After splitting the first four games, the Reds took Game 5. After a three-day rain delay, the two teams met in Game 6, one of the most memorable baseball games ever played and considered by many to be the best World Series game ever. The Reds were ahead 6-3 with 5 outs left, when the Red Sox tied the game on former Red Bernie Carbo's three-run home run. It was Carbo's second pinch-hit three-run homer in the series. After a few close-calls either way, Carlton Fisk hit a dramatic 12th inning home run off the foul pole in left field (which is considered to be one of the greatest TV sports moments of all time) to give the Red Sox a 7-6 win and force a deciding Game 7. Cincinnati prevailed the next day when Morgan's RBI single won Game 7 and gave the Reds their first championship in 35 years.

[edit] 1976

1976 saw a return of the same starting eight in the field. The starting rotation was led by Gary Nolan. The remaining starters, Don Gullet, Jack Billingham, Pat Zachary, Santo Alcola, and Fred Norman comprised an underrated staff in which four of the six had ERAs below 3.10. Rawley Eastwick, Pedro Borbon, and Will McEnany shared closer duties, recording 26, 8, and 7 saves respectively.

In 1976, the Reds won the NL West by ten games. They went undefeated in the postseason, sweeping the Philadelphia Phillies (winning Game 3 in their final at-bat) to return to the World Series. They continued to dominate by sweeping the Yankees in the newly renovated Yankee Stadium, the first World Series games played in Yankee Stadium since 1964. This was only the second ever sweep of the proud Yankees in the World Series. In winning the Series, the Reds became the first NL team since the 1921-22 New York Giants to win back-to-back World Series championships.

[edit] The Machine Dismantled and "We Wuz Robbed!"

[edit] 1977-1978

Personnel changes were in the offing. Popular Tony Perez was sent to Montreal after the 1976 season, breaking up the Big Red Machine's starting lineup. Starting pitcher Don Gullet left via free agency and signed with the New York Yankees. In an effort to fill that gap, a trade with the Oakland A's for starting ace Vida Blue was arranged during the '76 - '77 off-season. However, Bowie Kuhn, the Commissioner of Baseball at the time, vetoed this trade in an effort to maintain the competitive balance in baseball. On June 15, 1977, the Reds entered the trading market with a vengeance. New York was heartbroken by the news that the Mets' franchise pitcher Tom Seaver was being traded to the Reds for Pat Zachry, Doug Flynn, Steve Henderson, and Dan Norman. In less successful deals, the Reds also traded Gary Nolan to the Angels for Craig Hendrickson, Rawly Eastwick to St. Louis for Doug Capilla and Mike Caldwell to Milwaukee for Dick O'Keeffe and Garry Pyka, and got Rick Auerbach from Texas. The end of the Big Red Machine era was heralded by the replacement of General Manager Bob Howsam with Dick Wagner. After the 1978 season, Cincinnati hero Pete Rose, who since 1963 had played almost every position for the team except pitcher and catcher, signed with Philadelphia as a free agent. In Rose's last season as a Red, he gave baseball a thrill as he challenged Joe Dimaggio's 56 game hitting streak, tying for the second longest streak ever at 44 games. The streak came to an end in Atlanta after striking out in his 5th at bat in the game against Gene Garber. Rose also earned his 3000th hit that season, on his way to becoming baseball's all time hits leader when he rejoined the Reds in the mid 80's. The year also witnessed the only no-hitter of Hall of Fame pitcher Tom Seaver's career, coming against the St. Louis Cardinals on June 16, 1978.

[edit] 1979

The later years of the 1970s brought turmoil and change. After two consecutive runner-up seasons, Wagner fired manager Anderson. By 1979, players Gullett, Nolan, Pérez, and Rose, among others, had left the club. By 1979, the starters were Bench (c), Dan Driessen (1b), Morgan (2b), Concepcion (ss), Ray Knight (3b), with Griffey, Foster, and Geronimo again in the outfield. The pitching staff had experienced an almost complete turnover. The ace starter was now Tom Seaver, acquired from the New York Mets in 1977 in a multiple-player deal. Only Norman was left from 1975-76; the remaining starters were Mike La Coss, Bill Bonham, and Paul Moskau. In the bullpen, only Borbon had remained. Dave Tomlin and Mario Soto worked mid-innings with Tom Hume and Doug Bair closing.

The Reds did manage to win the 1979 NL West behind the pitching of Tom Seaver but were dispatched in the NL playoffs by Pittsburgh, after a controversial play in Game 2 in which a ball hit by Pittsburgh's Phil Garner was caught by Cincinnati outfielder Dave Collins but was ruled a trap, setting the Pirates up to take a 2-1 lead. The Pirates swept the series 3 games to 0.

[edit] 1981-1983

The 1981 team fielded a strong lineup, with only Concepcion, Foster, and Griffey retaining their spots from the 1975-76 heyday. Johnny Bench broke his ankle and so Joe Nolan played the majority of games behind the plate. Driessen and Knight still played the corners, but Morgan and Geronimo had been replaced at second base and center field by Ron Oester and Dave Collins. Mario Soto posted a banner year starting on the mound, even surpassing the performance of future hall-of-famer Seaver. La Coss, Bruce Berenyi, and Frank Pastore rounded out the starting rotation. Hume again led the bullpen as closer, joined by Bair, Moskau, Joe Price, and Geoff Combe.

In 1981, Cincinnati had the best overall record in baseball, but they finished second in the division in both of the half-seasons that were created after a mid-season players' strike. To commemorate this, a team photo was taken, accompanied by a banner that read "Baseball's Best Record 1981." By 1982, the Reds were a shell of the original Red Machine; they lost 100 games that year. Johnny Bench retired a year later. Outraged Reds fans proclaimed, "We Wuz Robbed!"

[edit] The 1980s

After the heartbreak of 1981, General Manager Dick Wagner pursued the strategy of ridding the team of pricey veterans, stars, and proven winners, ridding the roster of catcher Nolan, third-baseman Knight (who had adequately replaced the unreplaceable Pete Rose) and the entire starting outfield of Griffey, Foster, and Collins. Johnny Bench decided to give up catching entirely and was made the starting third baseman; Alex Trevino became the regular starting catcher. The outfield was staffed with Paul Householder, Cesar Cedeno, and the untried Eddie Milner. The starting rotation still featured the strong Seaver and Soto, joined by Pastore and Bruce Berenyi, but their efforts were wasted without a strong offensive lineup backing them. Tom Hume still led the bullpen, but he had no support from the dismal relieving of Ben Hayes, Brad "The Animal" Lesley, Joe Price, and Jim Kern.

The Reds fell to the absolute bottom of the Western Division for the next few years, losing Seaver after the 1982 season. A series of desultory changes -- Dann Bilardello behind the plate, Nick Esasky taking over after Bench's failed experiment in the hot corner, and Gary Redus taking over from Cedeno. Tom Hume had pitched himself out and there was not a body in the bullpen worth naming. Dave Concepcion was the sole remaining starter from the Big Red Machine era.

Wagner's control of the Reds ended in 1983, when Howsam, the architect of the Big Red Machine was brought back and he began his return by acquiring Cincinnati native Dave Parker from Pittsburgh. In 1984 the Reds began to move up, depending on trades and some minor leaguers. In that season Dave Parker, Dave Concepción and Tony Pérez were in Cincinnati uniforms. By the end of 1984, Pete Rose was hired to be the Reds player-manager. After raising the franchise from the grave, Howsam gave way to the administration of Bill Bergesch, who was principally known for holding on tightly to perennial future stars like Kurt Stillwell, Tracy Jones, Kal Daniels, and others, refusing to risk these "crown jewels" for pitching help.

Under Bergesch, from 1985-89 the Reds finished second four times. Among the highlights, Rose became the all-time hits leader, Tom Browning threw a perfect game, and Chris Sabo was the 1988 National League Rookie of the Year. The Reds also had a bullpen star in John Franco, who was with the team from 1984 to 1989. In 1989, Rose was banned from baseball by Commissioner Bart Giamatti, who declared Rose guilty of "conduct detrimental to baseball." Controversy also swirled around Reds owner Marge Schott, who was accused several times of ethnic and racial slurs.

[edit] After Pete Rose

Eric Davis in 1990

[edit] Building for the 1990 World Championship

In 1987, General Manager Bergesch was replaced by Murray Cook, who initiated a series of deals that would finally bring the Reds back to the championship, starting with acquisitions of Danny Jackson and Jose Rijo, finally letting go of Bergesch favorites Stillwell and Parker. In 1989, Cook was succeeded by Bob Quinn, who put the final pieces of the championship puzzle together, with acquisitions such as Hal Morris, Billy Hatcher, and Randy Myers.

[edit] 1990 World Championship season

In 1990, the Reds under new manager Lou Piniella shocked baseball by leading the NL West from wire-to-wire. They started off 33-12, winning their first 9 games, and maintained their lead throughout the year. Led by Chris Sabo, Barry Larkin, Eric Davis, Paul O'Neill and Billy Hatcher in the field, and by José Rijo, Tom Browning and the "Nasty Boys" of Rob Dibble, Norm Charlton and Randy Myers on the mound, the Reds took out the Pirates in the NLCS and swept the heavily favored Oakland Athletics in four straight. The sweep of the Oakland Athletics extended the Reds winning streak in the World Series to 9 consecutive games. The World Series, however, cost the team Eric Davis, who severely bruised a kidney diving for a fly ball in the first inning of Game 4.

[edit] 1992

In 1992, Quinn was replaced in the front office by Jim Bowden. On the field, manager Lou Piniella wanted outfielder Paul O'Neill to be a power-hitter to fill the void Eric Davis left when he was traded to the Los Angeles Dodgers in exchange for Tim Belcher. However, O'Neill only hit .246 and 14 homers. In the midst of all that trouble, the Reds won 90 games in 1992. But that was enough for 2nd place behind the division-winning Atlanta Braves. Before the season ended, Piniella got into an altercation with "Nasty Boy" Rob Dibble. O'Neill would be traded to the New York Yankees for outfielder Roberto Kelly. Kelly would only be in a Reds uniform for a few years. As for O'Neill, he would lead an up-and-coming Yankees team to several postseason appearances. Speaking of uniforms, the Reds would replace the famous "Big Red Machine" uniforms in favor of some sleeveless jerseys.

[edit] Under Davey Johnson and Ray Knight

For the 1993 season, Piniella was replaced by fan favorite Tony Perez, but he lasted only 44 games at the helm, replaced by Davey Johnson, who had led the New York Mets to a World Championship in 1986. With Johnson steering the team, the Reds made steady progress upward. In 1994, the Reds were in the newly-created National League Central Division with the Chicago Cubs, St. Louis Cardinals, as well as fellow rivals Pittsburgh Pirates and Houston Astros. By the time the strike hit, the Reds finished a half-game ahead of the Astros for first-place in the NL Central.

By 1995, the Reds won the division thanks to Most Valuable Player Barry Larkin. After defeating Western Division Champs the Los Angeles Dodgers in the first NLDS since 1981, they lost to the Atlanta Braves. In a bizarre move, eccentric team owner Marge Schott announced mid-season that Johnson would be gone by the end of the year, regardless of outcome, to be replaced by former Reds third baseman Ray Knight, who, along with his wife, professional golfer Nancy Lopez, were personal friends of Schott's. The team took a dive under Knight and he was unable to complete two full seasons as manager, subject to complaints in the press about his strict managerial style.

[edit] Under Jack McKeon

In 1999 the Reds won 96 games, led by manager Jack McKeon, but lost to the New York Mets in a one game playoff.

[edit] Great American Ball Park opens

Riverfront Stadium was demolished in 2002 and ended an era marked by three world championships.

Great American Ball Park opened in 2003 with high expectations for a team led by local favorites, including franchise outfielder Ken Griffey, Jr., shortstop Barry Larkin, reliever Danny Graves and first baseman Sean Casey. Although attendance improved considerably with the new ballpark, the team continued to lose. After years of promises that the club was rebuilding toward the opening of the new ballpark, General Manager Jim Bowden and manager Bob Boone were fired on July 28. This broke up the father-son combo of manager Bob Boone and third baseman Aaron Boone and Aaron was soon traded to the New York Yankees. Following the season Dan O'Brien was hired as the Reds' 16th General Manager.

[edit] 2004-2005

The 2004 and 2005 seasons continued the trend of big hitting and poor pitching and ultimately poor records. Griffey, Jr. joined the 500-home run club in 2004, but was again hampered by injuries. Adam Dunn emerged as formidable home run hitter, hitting a 535-foot home run against Jose Lima. He also broke the major league record for strikeouts in 2004. Although a number of free-agents were signed before 2005, the Reds were quickly in last place and manager Dave Miley was forced out in the 2005 midseason and replaced by Jerry Narron. Like many other small market clubs, the Reds dispatched some of their veteran players and began entrusting their future to a young nucleus that includes Adam Dunn, Ryan Freel, and Aaron Harang.

[edit] New ownership for 2006

In 2006, a new era in Reds baseball began as Robert Castellini took over as owner, assuming control of the team from Carl Lindner. Castinelli promptly fired general manager Dan O'Brien. Wayne Krivsky, previously an assistant General Manager with the Minnesota Twins, and a candidate for the job when O'Brien was hired, was appointed as the General Manager of the Reds after a protracted search. The first move Krivsky made was to trade young outfielder Wily Mo Peña to the Boston Red Sox for pitcher Bronson Arroyo. Arroyo made his first start in a Reds uniform on April 5, 2006. He not only earned the win, but also led off the third inning with his first career home run. Krivsky also gave fans hope with mid season trades that bolstered the "non-existent" bullpen, trading for "Everyday Eddie" Guardado and then trading outfielder Austin Kearns, shortstop Felipe Lopez, and 2004 first round draft pick Ryan Wagner to the Washington Nationals for relievers Gary Majewski, Bill Bray, shortstop Royce Clayton, and two prospects. This move was controversial, as not only did it seem as if the Reds did not receive much in return for two starting position players and a former first-round draft pick, but also it was later discovered that the Nationals may have hidden Majewski's health problems.

For Opening Day 2006, President George W. Bush threw out the ceremonial first pitch, becoming the first sitting president to throw out the first pitch at a Reds game.

The 2007 season season was a great disappointment for the Reds when they finished in fifth place (72-90). Despite many fans perception that interim manager Pete Machanin might be a good fit as manager, the Reds made a bold move toward winning and hired 3-time National League Manager of the Year Dusty Baker to guide the Reds in the 2008 season.

[edit] References