Cincinnati Reds

History

The birth of the Reds and the American Association (1881–1889)

The origins of the modern Cincinnati Reds baseball team can be traced back to the expulsion from the National League of an earlier team bearing the same name. In 1876, Cincinnati became one of the charter members of the new National League (NL), but the club ran afoul of league organizer and longtime president William Hulbert for selling beer during games and renting out its ballpark on Sundays. Both were important in enticing the city's large German population to support the team. While Hulbert made clear his distaste for both beer and Sunday baseball at the founding of the league, neither practice was against league rules at the time. On October 6, 1880, however, seven of the eight team owners adopted a pledge to ban both beer and Sunday baseball at the regular league meeting in December. Only Cincinnati president W. H. Kennett refused to sign the pledge, so the other owners preemptively expelled Cincinnati from the league for violating the new rules even though they were not yet in effect.

Cincinnati's expulsion incensed Cincinnati Enquirer sports editor O. P. Caylor, who made two attempts to form a new league on behalf of the receivers for the now-bankrupt Reds franchise. When these attempts failed, he formed a new independent ball club in the spring of 1881 and brought the team to St. Louis for a weekend exhibition. The Reds' first game was a 12–3 victory over the St. Louis club. After the 1881 series proved successful, Caylor and former Reds president Justus Thorner received an invitation from Philadelphia businessman Horace Phillips to attend a meeting of several clubs in Pittsburgh, planning to establish a new league to compete with the NL. Upon arriving, however, Caylor and Thorner found that no other owners had accepted the invitation, while even Phillips declined to attend his own meeting. By chance, the duo met former pitcher Al Pratt, who paired them with former Pittsburgh Alleghenys president H. Denny McKnight. Together, the three hatched a scheme to form a new league by sending a telegram to each of the owners who were invited to attend the meeting stating that he was the only person who did not attend, and that everyone else was enthusiastic about the new venture and eager to attend a second meeting in Cincinnati. The ploy worked, and the American Association (AA) was officially formed at the Hotel Gibson in Cincinnati. The new Reds – with Thorner now serving as president – became a charter member of the AA.

Led by the hitting of third baseman Hick Carpenter, the defense of future Hall of Fame second baseman Bid McPhee and the pitching of 40-game-winner Will White, Cincinnati won the inaugural AA pennant in 1882. With the establishment of the Union Association in 1884, Thorner left the club to finance the Cincinnati Outlaw Reds and managed to acquire the lease on the Reds' Bank Street Grounds playing field, forcing new president Aaron Stern to relocate three blocks away to the hastily built League Park. The club never placed higher than second or lower than fifth for the rest of its tenure in the American Association.

The National League returns to Cincinnati (1890–1911)

The Cincinnati Reds left the American Association on November 14, 1889, and joined the National League along with the Brooklyn Bridegrooms after a dispute with St. Louis Browns owner Chris von der Ahe over the selection of a new league president. The National League was happy to accept the teams in part due to the emergence of the new Player's League, an early failed attempt to break the reserve clause in baseball that threatened both existing leagues. Because the National League decided to expand while the American Association was weakening, the team accepted an invitation to join the National League. After shortening their name to the Reds, the team wandered through the 1890s, signing local stars and aging veterans. During this time, the team never finished above third place (1897) and never closer than 10+1⁄2 games to first (1890).

At the start of the 20th century, the Reds had hitting stars 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.

Redland Field to the Great Depression (1912–1932)

In 1912, the club opened Redland Field (renamed Crosley Field in 1934), a new steel-and-concrete ballpark. The Reds had been playing baseball on that same site – the corner of Findlay and Western Avenues on the city's west side — for 28 years in wooden structures that had been occasionally damaged by fires. By the late 1910s, the Reds began to come out of the second division. The 1918 team finished fourth, and new manager Pat Moran led the Reds to an NL pennant in 1919, in what the club advertised as its "Golden Anniversary." The 1919 team had hitting stars Edd Roush and Heinie Groh, while the pitching staff was led by Hod Eller and left-hander Harry "Slim" Sallee. The Reds finished ahead of John McGraw's New York Giants and then won the World Series in eight games over the Chicago White Sox.

By 1920, the "Black Sox" scandal had brought a taint to the Reds' first championship. After 1926 and well into the 1930s, the Reds were second division dwellers. Eppa Rixey, Dolf Luque and Pete Donohue were pitching stars, but the offense never lived up to the pitching. By 1931, the team was bankrupt, the Great Depression was in full swing and Redland Field was in a state of disrepair.

Championship baseball and revival (1933–1940)

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. Crosley had started WLW radio, the Reds flagship radio broadcaster, and the Crosley Broadcasting Corporation in Cincinnati, where he was also a prominent civic leader. MacPhail began to develop the Reds' minor league system and expanded the Reds' fan base. Throughout the rest of the decade, the Reds became a team of "firsts." The now-renamed Crosley Field became the host of the first night game in 1935, which was also the first baseball fireworks night. (The fireworks at the game were shot by Joe Rozzi of Rozzi's Famous Fireworks.) 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. By 1938, the Reds, led by manager Bill McKechnie, were out of the second division, finishing fourth. Ernie Lombardi was named the National League's Most Valuable Player in 1938. By 1939, the Reds were National League champions but were swept in the World Series by the New York Yankees. In 1940, the Reds repeated as NL Champions, and for the first time in 21 years, they captured a world championship, beating the Detroit Tigers four games to three. Frank McCormick was the 1940 NL MVP; other position players included Harry Craft, Lonny Frey, Ival Goodman, Lew Riggs and Bill Werber.

1941–1969

World War II and age finally caught up with the Reds, as the team finished mostly in the second division throughout the 1940s and early 1950s. In 1944, Joe Nuxhall (who was later to become part of the radio broadcasting team), at age 15, pitched for the Reds on loan from Wilson Junior High school in Hamilton, Ohio. He became the youngest player ever to appear 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 April 1953, in a political climate increasingly dominated by McCarthyism, the Reds announced a preference to be called the "Redlegs". Saying that the name of the club had been "Red Stockings" and then "Redlegs", the team hoped to avoid any association between the team and the political connotation of the word "red" to mean communism, but as the New York Times reported, "The political significance of the word 'Reds' these days and its effect on the change was not discussed by management". From 1956 to 1960, the club's logo was altered to remove the term "REDS" from the inside of the "wishbone C" symbol. The team reverted to the name "Reds" for the 1959 season, when McCarthyism ended. The word "REDS" reappeared on the 1961 uniforms, but the point of the "C" was removed. The traditional home uniform logo was reinstated in 1967.

In 1956, the Redlegs, led by National League Rookie of the Year Frank Robinson, hit 221 home runs 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 San Francisco Giants, only to be defeated by the perennially powerful New York Yankees in the World Series.

The Reds had winning teams during the rest of the 1960s, but did not produce any championships. They won 98 games in 1962, paced by Purkey's 23 wins, but finished third. In 1964, they lost the pennant by one game to the St. Louis Cardinals after having taken first place when the Philadelphia Phillies collapsed in September. Their beloved manager Fred Hutchinson died of cancer just weeks after the end of the 1964 season. The failure of the Reds to win the 1964 pennant led to owner Bill DeWitt selling off key components of the team in anticipation of relocating the franchise. In response to DeWitt's threatened move, women of Cincinnati banded together to form the Rosie Reds to urge DeWitt to keep the franchise in Cincinnati. The Rosie Reds are still in existence, and are currently the oldest fan club in Major League Baseball. After the 1965 season, DeWitt executed what is remembered as the most lopsided trade in baseball history, sending former MVP Frank Robinson to the Baltimore Orioles for pitchers Milt Pappas and Jack Baldschun, and outfielder Dick Simpson. Robinson went on to win the MVP and Triple Crown in the American League in 1966, and led Baltimore to its first-ever World Series title in a sweep of the Los Angeles Dodgers. The Reds did not recover from this trade until the rise of the "Big Red Machine" in the 1970s.

The Big Red Machine (1970–1976)

In 1970, little-known George "Sparky" Anderson was hired as manager of the Reds, and the team embarked upon a decade of excellence, with a lineup that came to be known as "the Big Red Machine." Playing at Crosley Field until June 30, 1970, when they moved into Riverfront Stadium, a new 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 offensive leaders of this era. Gary Nolan, Jim Merritt, Wayne Simpson and Jim McGlothlin led a pitching staff that also included veterans Tony Cloninger and Clay Carroll, as well as youngsters Pedro Borbón and Don Gullett. The Reds breezed through the 1970 season, winning the NL West and capturing the NL pennant by sweeping the Pittsburgh Pirates in three games. By the time the club got to the World Series, however, the pitching staff had run out of gas, and the veteran Baltimore Orioles, led by Hall of Fame third baseman and World Series MVP Brooks Robinson, beat the Reds in five games.

After the disastrous 1971 season – the only year in the decade in which the team finished with a losing record – the Reds reloaded by trading veterans Jimmy Stewart, May and Tommy Helms to the Houston Astros 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 future world championships was acquired, when George Foster was traded to the Reds from the San Francisco Giants in exchange for shortstop Frank Duffy.

The 1972 Reds won the NL West in baseball's first-ever strike-shortened season, and defeated the Pittsburgh Pirates in a five-game playoff series. They then faced the Oakland Athletics in the World Series, where six of the seven games were decided by one run. With powerful slugger Reggie Jackson sidelined by an injury incurred during Oakland's playoff series, Ohio native Gene Tenace got a chance to play in the series, delivering four home runs that tied the World Series record for homers, propelling Oakland to a dramatic seven-game series win. This was one of the few World Series in which no starting pitcher for either side pitched a complete game.

The Reds won a third NL West crown in 1973 after a dramatic second-half comeback that saw them make up 10+1⁄2 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 the NLCS. In Game 1, Tom Seaver faced Jack Billingham in a classic pitching duel, 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. The New York series provided plenty of controversy surrounding the riotous behavior of Shea Stadium fans toward 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 Harrelson responded to Rose's aggressive move to prevent him from completing a double play by calling him a name. This also led to two more incidents in which play was stopped. The Reds trailed 9–2, 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 Machine dismantled (1977–1989)

The late 1970s brought turmoil and change to the Reds. Popular Tony Pérez was sent to the Montreal Expos after the 1976 season, breaking up the Big Red Machine's starting lineup. Manager Sparky Anderson and general manager Bob Howsam later considered this trade to be the biggest mistake of their careers. Starting pitcher Don Gullett left via free agency and signed with the New York Yankees. In an effort to fill that gap, a trade with the Oakland Athletics for starting ace Vida Blue was arranged during the 1977–78 offseason. However, then-commissioner Bowie Kuhn vetoed the trade in order to maintain competitive balance in baseball; some have suggested that the actual reason had more to do with Kuhn's continued feud with Athletics owner Charlie Finley. On June 15, 1977, the Reds acquired pitcher Tom Seaver from the New York Mets for Pat Zachry, Doug Flynn, Steve Henderson and Dan Norman. In other deals that proved to be less successful, the Reds traded Gary Nolan to the California Angels for Craig Hendrickson; Rawly Eastwick to the St. Louis Cardinals for Doug Capilla; and Mike Caldwell to the Milwaukee Brewers for Rick O'Keeffe and Garry Pyka, as well as 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.

In his last season as a Red, Rose 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 fifth at-bat in the game against Gene Garber. Rose also earned his 3,000th hit that season, on his way to becoming baseball's all-time hits leader when he rejoined the Reds in the mid-1980s. 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.

After the 1978 season and two straight second-place finishes, Wagner fired manager Anderson in a move that proved to be unpopular. Pete Rose, who had played almost every position for the team except pitcher, shortstop and catcher since 1963, signed with Philadelphia as a free agent. By 1979, the starters were Bench (catcher), Dan Driessen (first base), Morgan (second base), Concepción (shortstop) and Ray Knight (third base), with Griffey, Foster and Geronimo again in the outfield. The pitching staff had experienced a complete turnover since 1976, except for Fred Norman. In addition to ace starter Tom Seaver, the remaining starters were Mike LaCoss, Bill Bonham and Paul Moskau. In the bullpen, only Borbon had remained. Dave Tomlin and Mario Soto worked middle relief, with Tom Hume and Doug Bair closing. The Reds won the 1979 NL West behind the pitching of Seaver, but were dispatched in the NL playoffs by the Pittsburgh Pirates. Game 2 featured a controversial play in which a ball hit by Pittsburgh's Phil Garner was caught by Reds 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 and went on to win the World Series against the Baltimore Orioles.

World championship and the end of an era (1990–2002)

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 José Rijo. An aging Dave Parker was let go after a revival of his career in Cincinnati following the Pittsburgh drug trials. Barry Larkin emerged as the starting shortstop over Kurt Stillwell, who, along with reliever Ted Power, was traded for Jackson. In 1989, Cook was succeeded by Bob Quinn, who put the final pieces of the championship puzzle together, with the acquisitions of Hal Morris, Billy Hatcher and Randy Myers.

In 1990, the Reds, under new manager Lou Piniella, shocked baseball by leading the NL West from wire-to-wire, making them the only NL team to do so. Winning their first nine games, they started 33–12 and maintained their lead throughout the year. Led by Chris Sabo, Barry Larkin, Eric Davis, Paul O'Neill and Billy Hatcher on the field, and by José Rijo, Tom Browning and the "Nasty Boys" – Rob Dibble, Norm Charlton and Randy Myers – on the mound, the Reds took out the Pirates in the NLCS. The Reds swept the heavily favored Oakland Athletics in four straight and extended a winning streak in the World Series to nine consecutive games. This Series, however, saw Eric Davis severely bruise a kidney diving for a fly ball in Game 4, and his play was greatly limited the next year.

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 with 14 home runs. The Reds returned to winning after a losing season in 1991, but 90 wins was only enough for second place behind the division-winning Atlanta Braves. Before the season ended, Piniella got into an altercation with reliever Rob Dibble. In the offseason, Paul O'Neill was traded to the New York Yankees for outfielder Roberto Kelly, who was a disappointment for the Reds over the next couple of years, while O'Neill led a downtrodden Yankees franchise to a return to glory. Around this time, the Reds would replace their Big Red Machine–era uniforms in favor of a pinstriped uniform with no sleeves.

Controversy erupted after the 1992 season when team owner Marge Schott was reported to have racially and ethnically slurred players and business associates, and in a November interview, praised the early efforts of Adolf Hitler. As punishment, Major League Baseball's executive council prevented her from exercising day-to-day oversight of the Reds during the 1993 season.

Contemporary era (2003–present)

Riverfront Stadium, by then known as Cinergy Field, was demolished in 2002. Great American Ball Park opened in 2003, with high expectations for a team led by local favorites, including outfielder Ken Griffey Jr., shortstop Barry Larkin and first baseman Sean Casey. Although attendance improved considerably with the new ballpark, the Reds continued to lose. Schott had not invested much in the farm system since the early 1990s, leaving the team relatively thin on talent. 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 the latter was soon traded to the New York Yankees. Tragedy struck in November when Dernell Stenson, a promising young outfielder, was shot and killed during a carjack. Following the season, Dan O'Brien was hired as the Reds' 16th general manager on October 27, 2003, succeeding Jim Bowden.

The 2004 and 2005 seasons continued the trend of big-hitting, poor pitching and poor records. Griffey, Jr. joined the 500 home run club in 2004, but was again hampered by injuries. Adam Dunn emerged as consistent home run hitter, including a 535-foot (163 m) home run against José 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 included Adam Dunn and Austin Kearns.

2004 saw the opening of the Cincinnati Reds Hall of Fame (HOF), which had been in existence in name only since the 1950s, with player plaques, photos and other memorabilia scattered throughout their front offices. Ownership and management desired a standalone facility where the public could walk through interactive displays, see locker room recreations, watch videos of classic Reds moments and peruse historical items, such as the history of Reds uniforms dating back to the 1920s or a baseball marking every hit Pete Rose had during his career.

Robert Castellini took over as controlling owner from Lindner in 2006. Castellini promptly fired general manager Dan O'Brien and hired Wayne Krivsky. The Reds made a run at the playoffs, but ultimately fell short. The 2007 season was again mired in mediocrity. Midway through the season, Jerry Narron was fired as manager and replaced by Pete Mackanin. The Reds ended up posting a winning record under Mackanin, but finished the season in fifth place in the Central Division. Mackanin was manager in an interim capacity only, and the Reds, seeking a big name to fill the spot, ultimately brought in Dusty Baker. Early in the 2008 season, Krivsky was fired and replaced by Walt Jocketty. Although the Reds did not win under Krivsky, he is credited with revamping the farm system and signing young talent that could potentially lead the team to success in the future.

Ballparks

The Cincinnati Reds play their home games at Great American Ball Park, located at 100 Joe Nuxhall Way, in downtown Cincinnati. Great American Ball Park opened in 2003 at the cost of $290 million and has a capacity of 42,271. Along with serving as the home field for the Reds, the stadium also holds the Cincinnati Reds Hall of Fame, which was added as a part of Reds tradition allowing fans to walk through the history of the franchise as well as participating in many interactive baseball features.

Great American Ball Park is the seventh home of the Cincinnati Reds, built immediately to the east of the site on which Riverfront Stadium, later named Cinergy Field, once stood. The first ballpark the Reds occupied was Bank Street Grounds from 1882 to 1883 until they moved to League Park I in 1884, where they would remain until 1893. Through the late 1890s and early 1900s, the Reds moved to two different parks, where they stayed for less than 10 years: League Park II was the third home field for the Reds from 1894 to 1901, and then they moved to the Palace of the Fans, which served as the home of the Reds in the 1910s. It was in 1912 that the Reds moved to Crosley Field, which they called home for 58 years. Crosley served as the home field for the Reds for two World Series titles and five National League pennants. Beginning June 30, 1970, and during the dynasty of the Big Red Machine, the Reds played in Riverfront Stadium, appropriately named due to its location right by the Ohio River. Riverfront saw three World Series titles and five National League pennants. It was in the late 1990s that the city agreed to build two separate stadiums on the riverfront for the Reds and the Cincinnati Bengals. Thus, in 2003, the Reds began a new era with the opening of the current stadium.

The Reds hold their spring training in Goodyear, Arizona, at Goodyear Ballpark. The Reds moved into this stadium and the Cactus League in 2010 after staying in the Grapefruit League for most of their history. The Reds share Goodyear Park with their rivals in Ohio, the Cleveland Guardians.

Logos and uniforms

Logo

Throughout the team's history, many different variations of the classic wishbone "C" logo have been introduced. In the team's early history, the Reds logo has been simply the wishbone "C" with the word "REDS" inside, the only colors used being red and white. However, during the 1950s, during the renaming and re-branding of the team as the Cincinnati Redlegs because of the connections to communism of the word "Reds," the color blue was introduced as part of the Reds color combination. During the 1960s and 1970s, the Reds saw a move toward the more traditional colors, abandoning the navy blue. A new logo also appeared with the new era of baseball in 1972, when the team went away from the script "REDS" inside of the "C," instead putting their mascot, Mr. Redlegs, in its place as well as putting the name of the team inside of the wishbone "C." In the 1990s, the more traditional, early logos of Reds came back with the current logo reflecting more of what the team's logo was when they were founded.

Uniforms

Along with the logo, the Reds' uniforms have been changed many different times throughout their history. Following their departure from being called the "Redlegs" in 1956, the Reds made a groundbreaking change to their uniforms with the use of sleeveless jerseys, seen only once before in the Major Leagues by the Chicago Cubs. At home and away, the cap was all-red with a white wishbone "C" insignia. The long-sleeved undershirts were red. The uniform was plain white with a red wishbone "C" logo on the left and the uniform number on the right. On the road, the wishbone "C" was replaced by the mustachioed "Mr. Redlegs" logo, the pillbox-hat-wearing man with a baseball for a head. The home stockings were red with six white stripes. The away stockings had only three white stripes.

The Reds changed uniforms again in 1961, when they replaced the traditional wishbone "C" insignia with an oval-shaped "C" logo, but continued to use the sleeveless jerseys. At home, the Reds wore white caps with the red bill with the oval "C" in red, white sleeveless jerseys with red pinstripes, with the oval "C-REDS" logo in black with red lettering on the left breast and the number in red on the right. The gray away uniform included a gray cap with the red oval "C" and a red bill. Their gray away uniforms, which also included a sleeveless jersey, bore "CINCINNATI" in an arched block style across with the number below on the left. In 1964, players' last names were placed on the back of each set of uniforms, below the numbers. Those uniforms were scrapped after the 1966 season.

However, the Cincinnati uniform design most familiar to baseball enthusiasts is the one whose basic form, with minor variations, held sway for 25 seasons from 1967 to 1992. Most significantly, the point was restored to the "C" insignia, making it a wishbone again. During this era, the Reds wore all-red caps both at home and on the road. The caps bore the simple wishbone "C" insignia in white. The uniforms were standard short-sleeved jerseys and standard trousers – white at home and gray on the road. The home uniform featured the wishbone "C-REDS" logo in red with white type on the left breast and the uniform number in red on the right. The away uniform bore "CINCINNATI" in an arched block style across the front with the uniform number below on the left. Red, long-sleeved undershirts and plain red stirrups over white sanitary stockings completed the basic design. The Reds wore pinstriped home uniforms in 1967 only, and the uniforms were flannel through 1971, changing to double-knits with pullover jerseys and belt-less pants in 1972. Those uniforms lasted 20 seasons, and the 1992 Reds were the last MLB team to date whose primary uniforms featured pullover jerseys and belt-less pants.

Awards and accolades

Team captains

Tommy Corcoran – 1900–1905

Joe Kelley – 1906

John Ganzel – 1907

Hans Lobert – 1909

Mike Mitchell – 1910–1912

Ivey Wingo – 1916

Heinie Groh – 1918–1921

Jake Daubert – 1922–1924

Edd Roush – 1925–1926

Bubbles Hargrave – 1927–1928

14 Pete Rose – 1970–1978

13 Dave Concepción – 1983–1988

11 Barry Larkin – 1997–2004

Retired numbers

The Cincinnati Reds have retired 10 numbers in franchise history, as well as honoring Jackie Robinson, whose number is retired league-wide in Major League Baseball.

All of the retired numbers are located at Great American Ball Park behind home plate on the outside of the press box. Along with the retired players' and managers' number, the following broadcasters are honored with microphones by the broadcast booth: Marty Brennaman, Waite Hoyt and Joe Nuxhall.

On April 15, 1997, No. 42 was retired throughout Major League Baseball in honor of Jackie Robinson.

MLB All-Star Games

The Reds have hosted the Major League Baseball All-Star Game five times: twice at Crosley Field (1938, 1953), twice at Riverfront Stadium (1970, 1988) and once at Great American Ball Park (2015).

Rivalries

Cleveland Guardians

First introduced in 1989, the Ohio Cup was an annual pre-season baseball game, which pitted the Ohio rivals Cleveland Guardians (Indians at the time) and Cincinnati Reds. In its first series it was a single-game cup, played each year at minor-league Cooper Stadium in Columbus, and was staged just days before the start of each new Major League Baseball season.

A total of eight Ohio Cup games were played, between 1989 and 1996, with the Indians winning six of them. The winner of the game each year was awarded the Ohio Cup in postgame ceremonies. The Ohio Cup was a favorite among baseball fans in Columbus, with attendances regularly topping 15,000.

The Ohio Cup games ended with the introduction of regular-season interleague play in 1997. Thereafter, the two teams competed annually in the regular-season Battle of Ohio or Buckeye Series. The Ohio Cup was revived in 2008 and now serves as a reward for the team with the better overall record in the Reds–Guardians series each year.

Pittsburgh Pirates

The Pirates-Reds rivalry at one point in time was one of the fiercest matchups in the National League during the 1970s; both teams often met in the postseason multiple times prior to both being realigned to the National League Central in 1993. The two teams date far into the infancy of MLB, having both been founded in the 1880s, and first met during the 1900 MLB season. Both teams combine for 10 World Series championships and 18 pennants. The Pirates and Reds met 5 times during the NLCS in 1970, 1972, 1975, 1979, and 1990. Most recently; both teams met again during the 2013 NL Wild Card Game.

As of 2023, the Pirates currently lead the rivalry 1141–1113, However; the Reds lead in postseason wins 13–8.

Los Angeles Dodgers

The Dodgers–Reds rivalry was one of the most intense during the 1970s through the early 1990s. They often competed for the NL West division title. From 1970 to 1990, they had eleven 1–2 finishes in the standings, with seven of them being within 5+1⁄2 games or fewer. Both teams also played in numerous championships during this span, combining to win 10 NL Pennants and 5 World Series titles from 1970–1990 Notably as the Big Red Machine teams clashed frequently with the Tommy Lasorda era Dodgers teams. Reds manager Sparky Anderson once said, "I don't think there's a rivalry like ours in either league. The Giants are supposed to be the Dodgers' natural rivals, but I don't think the feeling is there anymore. It's not there the way it is with us and the Dodgers." The rivalry ended when division realignment moved the Reds to the NL Central. However, they did face one another later on in both 1995 and 2025.

Media

Radio

The Reds' flagship radio station has been WLW, 700AM since 1969. Prior to that, the Reds were heard over WKRC, WCPO, WSAI and WCKY. WLW, a 50,000-watt station, is "clear channel" in more than one way, as iHeartMedia owns the "blowtorch" outlet, which is also known as "The Nation's Station." Reds games can be heard on over 100 local radio stations through the Reds on Radio Network.

Since 2020, the Reds broadcast team has been former Pensacola Blue Wahoos radio play-by-play announcer Tommy Thrall and retired relief pitcher Jeff Brantley on color commentary.

Marty Brennaman called Reds games from 1974 to 2019, most famously alongside former Reds pitcher and color commentator Joe Nuxhall through 2007. Brennaman has won the Ford C. Frick Award for his work, which includes his famous call of "... and this one belongs to the Reds!" after a win. Nuxhall preceded Brennaman in the Reds' booth, beginning in 1967 (the year after his retirement as an active player) until his death in 2007. (From 2004 to 2007, Nuxhall only called select home games.)

In 2007, Thom Brennaman, a veteran announcer seen nationwide on Fox Sports, joined his father Marty in the radio booth. Brantley, formerly of ESPN, also joined the network in 2007. Three years later in 2010, Brantley and Thom Brennaman's increased TV schedule led to more appearances for Jim Kelch, who had filled in on the network since 2008. Kelch's contract expired after the 2017 season.

In 2019, Thrall was brought in to provide in-game and post-game coverage, as well as act as a fill-in play-by-play announcer. He succeeded Marty Brennaman when the former retired at the end of the 2019 season.

Television

Televised games that are not picked up by one of Major League Baseball's national broadcasters air exclusively on FanDuel Sports Network Ohio and FanDuel Sports Network Indiana. In addition, FanDuel Sports Network South televises Bally Sports Ohio broadcasts of Reds games to Tennessee and western North Carolina. George Grande, who hosted the first SportsCenter on ESPN in 1979, was the play-by-play announcer, usually alongside Chris Welsh, from 1993 until his retirement during the final game of the 2009 season. Since 2009, Grande has worked part time for the Reds as play-by-play announcer in September when Thom Brennaman is covering the NFL for Fox Sports. He has also made guest appearances throughout each season. Brennaman had been the head play-by-play commentator since 2010, with Welsh and Brantley sharing time as the color commentators. Cincinnati native Paul Keels, who left in 2011 to devote more time to his full-time job as the play-by-play announcer for the Ohio State Buckeyes Radio Network, was the Reds' backup play-by-play television announcer during the 2010 season. Jim Kelch served as Keels' replacement. The Reds also added former Reds first baseman Sean Casey – known as "The Mayor" by Reds fans – to do color commentary for approximately 15 games in 2011.

MLB's local media division announced that it would take over the television rights to the Reds in November 2024, with the first telecasts in the 2025 season. The games would be distributed via cable and satellite providers and a direct-to-consumer service. However, the team would later return to the FanDuel Sports Networks in January 2025, under similar distribution agreements earlier reached with MLB. From 2026 onward, the Reds joined MLB Local Media under the Reds.TV production and distribution arm.

NBC affiliate WLWT carried Reds games from 1948 to 1995. Among those that have called games for WLWT include Waite Hoyt, Ray Lane, Steve Physioc, Johnny Bench, Joe Morgan and Ken Wilson. Al Michaels, who established a long career with ABC and NBC, spent three years in Cincinnati early in his career. The last regularly scheduled, over-the-air broadcasts of Reds games were on WSTR-TV from 1996 to 1998. From 2010 to 2023, WKRC-TV has simulcast Opening Day games with Fox/Bally Sports Ohio, which it came into common ownership with in 2019. The simulcasts returned to WLWT beginning in 2024.

On August 19, 2020, Thom Brennaman was caught uttering a homophobic slur during a game against the Kansas City Royals. Brennaman eventually apologized for the incident and was suspended, but on September 26, he resigned from his duties as the Reds' TV play-by-play announcer. This ended the Brennamans' 46-year association with the Reds franchise, dating back to Marty's first season in 1974. Sideline reporter Jim Day served as the interim play-by-play voice for the remainder of the 2020 season, after which the Reds hired John Sadak to serve as its television play-by-play announcer.

Community involvement

The Reds Community Fund, founded in 2001, is focused on the youth of the Greater Cincinnati area with the goal of improving the lives of participants by leveraging the traditions of the Reds. The fund sponsors the Reviving Baseball in Inner Cities (RBI) program with a goal of 30–50 young people graduating high school and attending college annually. It also holds an annual telethon, raising in excess of $120,000. An example of the fund's community involvement is its renovation of Hoffman Fields in the Evanston neighborhood of the city, upgrading the entire recreation complex, for a total of over 400 baseball diamonds renovated at 200 locations throughout the region.

During the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, since no spectators were allowed at MLB games, the Reds offered fans the opportunity to purchase paper cutouts of their own photographs in the stands at Great American Ball Park. The promotion raised over $300,000 for the fund, more than the fund's traditional events such as Redsfest, the Redlegs Run, an annual golf outing and the Fox Sports Ohio Telethon.

Minor league affiliations

The Cincinnati Reds farm system consists of seven minor league affiliates.