TheCincinnati Reds, also known as theCincinnati Red Stockings, were a professional baseball team based inCincinnati, Ohio that played from 1876–1879. The club predated theNational League of which it became a charter member.

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.^[1] 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.^[2]

The Reds played atAvenue Grounds. They were managed by player/managerCharlie Gould, andoutfielderCharley Jones led the Cincinnati offense with 4home runs and 38runs batted in. 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 the1899 Cleveland Spiders surpassed it with a 20-134 record (.130). In 1877, helmed by the managing trio ofLip Pike,Bob Addy, andJack Manning, the Reds finished 6th in the National League. Pike, thesecond baseman, led the team with 4 home runs and rookiepitcherBobby Mitchell led the team with 41strikeouts.

In the 1878 season, player/managerCal McVey piloted Cincinnati to second place in the league. Charley Jones led the team with 3 homers andWill White led the team with 169 strikeouts. Sharing the managing duties,catcherDeacon White and McVey managed the team to 5th place.Starting pitcher Will White hurled 232 strikeouts.Baseball Hall of Fame memberKing Kelly played on the 1878 and '79 Reds.

Following the 1879 season, the club was disbanded.Justus Thorner, owner of the semi-professionalCincinnati Stars, 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. Anew Reds franchise debuted in 1882 in theAmerican Association, and joined the National League in 1890.

• Team index page at Retro Sheet
• Team index page at Baseball Reference

• Cincinnati Reds
• Defunct Major League Baseball teams
• Defunct baseball teams in Ohio
• Baseball teams disestablished in 1879
• Baseball teams established in 1876

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