60 Fun Facts About Cincinnati Reds

The original Cincinnati club was expelled from the National League in 1880 for selling beer and what else?

Neither practice was actually against the rules yet; both were popular with the city's large German population.

The modern Reds were a charter member of which league in 1882, winning its first pennant?

The league was founded at Cincinnati's Hotel Gibson after a bluff by telegram convinced owners that everyone else was coming.

The Reds' first World Series title, in 1919, came against which team amid a scandal?

The Black Sox affair, revealed the next year, forever tainted the club's 'Golden Anniversary' championship.

Which electronics magnate, maker of radios and refrigerators, bought the Reds out of bankruptcy in 1933?

He also founded WLW radio, the club's flagship station, and Redland Field was renamed for him in 1934.

Crosley Field hosted the first what in Major League history, in 1935?

It was also the first fireworks night, courtesy of Joe Rozzi of Rozzi's Famous Fireworks.

Which Reds pitcher remains the only man to throw back-to-back no-hitters, in 1938?

The second came in the first game played under lights at Ebbets Field.

The Reds beat which team in seven games to win the 1940 World Series?

First baseman Frank McCormick was NL MVP that year; the club had been swept by the Yankees the season before.

Who became the youngest major leaguer ever when he pitched for the Reds in 1944 at age 15?

He was on loan from a junior high school in Hamilton, Ohio, and later spent decades in the radio booth.

In 1953 the club asked to be called by what name, to avoid Cold War connotations?

The word 'REDS' even disappeared from the wishbone-C logo until the team reverted in 1959.

Which former MVP did the Reds trade to Baltimore after 1965 in baseball's most lopsided deal?

He won the AL Triple Crown and MVP the very next year and led the Orioles to their first title.

The Rosie Reds, baseball's oldest fan club, were formed by Cincinnati women to do what?

Owner Bill DeWitt had threatened relocation after the 1964 near-miss; the club later nearly moved to San Diego before a new downtown stadium was approved.

Which little-known manager was hired in 1970 and led the Big Red Machine to four pennants?

He was fired after two second-place finishes in 1978 and later won another title with Detroit.

Which sportswriter is generally credited with coining the nickname 'Big Red Machine'?

He used it in the Cincinnati Enquirer in 1969, and it stuck to the 1970 team that won 70 of its first 100 games.

Which center fielder joined Cincinnati in the 1971 Houston trade for a Hall of Fame second baseman?

Lee May and Tommy Helms went to the Astros in the deal, which Reds fans still regard as the franchise's best.

In 1975 the manager moved Pete Rose to which position so George Foster could play left field?

Rose had little experience there but proved reliable, and the club won 108 games.

Whose RBI single won Game 7 of the 1975 World Series for the Reds?

It came the day after Carlton Fisk's foul-pole homer had forced a seventh game.

The Reds swept which team in the 1976 World Series to repeat as champions?

They went undefeated that postseason and remained the last NL team to repeat until the Dodgers in 2024-25.

The Reds have not lost a World Series game since which moment?

That is nine straight Series wins: Game 7 of 1975, four in 1976 and four in 1990.

The Reds trailed which team by 10.5 games after the 1973 All-Star break before winning the division?

They then lost a bad-tempered NLCS to the Mets that featured Rose's fight with Bud Harrelson.

Which Reds pitcher gave up Hank Aaron's record-tying 714th home run on Opening Day 1974?

It was the first pitch Aaron swung at that season; the record-breaker came in Atlanta four days later.

Which pitcher's only career no-hitter came as a Red against St. Louis in 1978?

The Reds had acquired him from the Mets a year earlier for Pat Zachry, Doug Flynn, Steve Henderson and Dan Norman.

Pete Rose's 1978 hitting streak, tied for the second-longest ever, reached how many games?

It ended in Atlanta when Gene Garber struck him out; DiMaggio's 56 remained safe.

Pete Rose broke Ty Cobb's hits record in September 1985 with a single off which Padres pitcher?

Hit number 4,192 brought a minutes-long home ovation; he finished with 4,256.

Which commissioner banned Pete Rose from baseball in 1989 following the Dowd Report?

Rose was posthumously reinstated in 2025, making him eligible for the Hall of Fame at last.

Who gave Pete Rose the nickname 'Charlie Hustle' after watching him sprint to first on a walk?

It was meant as a jibe during a spring training game against the Yankees; Rose wore it proudly.

Johnny Bench, a two-time MVP, was raised in which state?

He was valedictorian at Binger-Oney High School and won ten Gold Gloves behind the plate.

The Reds moved from Crosley Field into which new riverside venue on June 30, 1970?

Hank Aaron hit the first home run there, and two weeks later it hosted the All-Star Game.

The 1970 All-Star Game is remembered for Pete Rose's collision with which catcher?

The Cleveland catcher's shoulder was never the same, and the play is still argued about.

Which reliever refused to join the Reds in the early 1980s rather than shave his handlebar mustache?

The clean-shaven policy dated to GM Bob Howsam and was not rescinded until goateed Greg Vaughn arrived in 1999.

Which Reds pitcher threw a perfect game in 1988?

It was the club's last no-hitter for 24 years.

Which Red became the first player ever with 35 home runs and 50 steals in a season?

He later bruised a kidney diving for a ball in the 1990 World Series and was never quite the same.

The 1990 Reds under Lou Piniella were the only NL team ever to do what?

They won their first nine games, started 33-12 and never surrendered first place.

The 1990 Reds bullpen trio of Rob Dibble, Norm Charlton and Randy Myers was known as what?

They shut down a heavily favoured Oakland lineup in a four-game sweep.

Which Reds outfielder had seven consecutive hits in the 1990 World Series sweep of Oakland?

José Rijo won two games and was named Series MVP.

Reds owner Marge Schott was banned from running the team in 1993 and again from 1996 to 1998 for what?

Her Saint Bernards, Schottzie and Schottzie 02, roamed the field at home games, sometimes with unfortunate results.

What breed were Marge Schott's beloved dogs, Schottzie and Schottzie 02?

The original was buried in her backyard wearing a Reds cap.

Which shortstop won the 1995 NL MVP as the Reds took the division and an NLDS?

Larkin led a 1995 club that beat the Dodgers in the NLDS before falling to Atlanta in the NLCS.

The Reds' riverside ballpark that opened in 2003 is called what?

It cost about $290 million and sits on the Ohio River next to the site of the old multipurpose stadium.

The two smokestacks in right-center at Great American Ball Park evoke what?

Each carries seven bats for Pete Rose's No. 14, and one caught fire from a loose propane valve in 2015.

Which first baseman won the 2010 NL MVP as the Reds took their first division title in 15 years?

The Toronto native then spent his whole 17-year career in Cincinnati and led the club in career walks.

Which pitcher no-hit the Reds in Game 1 of the 2010 NLDS?

Philadelphia swept the series against what had been the league's top offense.

Which pitcher threw no-hitters for the Reds in both 2012 and 2013?

He joined a short list of Reds with two career no-hitters, alongside Vander Meer and Jim Maloney.

The Reds started 2022 with what dreadful record after 25 games?

Only the 1988 Orioles had done worse over 25 games; the season ended 62-100.

Which rookie hit for the cycle in his 15th career game in 2023, the first Red to do so since 1989?

His mid-season call-up electrified a team that chased a wild card to the final weekend.

Which veteran manager was hired by the Reds in October 2024?

He had won two World Series in Boston and retired from Cleveland after 2023; the Reds reached the playoffs in his first year.

Which broadcasting Hall of Famer debuted with the Reds in 1974, replacing Al Michaels?

He is honoured with a microphone by the broadcast booth alongside two other Reds voices.

The Reds' mustachioed, pillbox-capped logo mascot has what for a head?

He wears a pillbox cap and appeared on the road uniforms during the Big Red Machine era.

The Reds' 1961 pennant winners lost the World Series to which team?

Vada Pinson and pitchers Joey Jay, Jim O'Toole and Bob Purkey led that surprise club.

The Big Red Machine's 'Great Eight' lineup included which right fielder?

His son later returned to Cincinnati and hit his 500th home run as a Red in 2004.

The Reds' World Series winning streak of nine games spans which three Series?

Only Carlton Fisk's Game 6 in 1975 interrupts what would otherwise be an even longer run.

The Reds have retired how many uniform numbers, in addition to Jackie Robinson's 42?

They hang behind home plate on the outside of the press box at the current ballpark.

Since 2010 the Reds have trained in Goodyear, Arizona, sharing the park with which team?

The move to the Cactus League ended most of a century in Florida's Grapefruit League, and paired them with their in-state rivals.

Great American Ball Park's street address honours which Reds legend?

The park at 100 Joe Nuxhall Way opened in 2003 at a cost of $290 million and seats 42,271.

Whom did Powel Crosley hire as general manager after buying the Reds out of bankruptcy in 1933?

Crosley also founded WLW, the Reds' flagship radio station, and his ballpark took his name in 1934.

The 96-win 1999 Reds missed the playoffs after a one-game tiebreaker loss to which team?

McKeon was named NL Manager of the Year that season yet was fired after an 85–77 finish in 2000.

Which Red set the still-standing team record of 81 stolen bases in 1911?

Cy Seymour's .377 average in 1905 had been the first batting crown ever won by a Red, in an otherwise dismal decade for the club.

The steel-and-concrete ballpark the Reds opened in 1912 was originally called what?

It became Crosley Field in 1934 and hosted baseball's first night game the following year.

Which businessman led the buyers of Marge Schott's controlling stake in 1999?

She kept a minority interest but never again ran the team; Castellini took over as controlling owner from Lindner in 2006.

Which Reds pitcher, nicknamed 'The Whip', was the staff's mainstay in the 1940s before arm trouble?

Ted Kluszewski led the NL in homers in 1954, but the surrounding lineup was a mix of over-the-hill veterans and unready youngsters.

In 1884 the club lost its Bank Street Grounds lease to a rival Union Association team called what?

Former owner Justus Thorner had left to bankroll the Union Association team, so president Aaron Stern hastily built a park three blocks away.