BASEBALL
The Cincinnati Red Stockings were, of
course, baseball's first professional team from 1869 to 1870. They played their
home games at Union Grounds which was located where the fountain at Union
Terminal now stands. These grounds were being used by the Union Cricket Club,
and in the winter would be flooded and used as an ice skating rink. This park served as the home of the Cincinnati Baseball
Club from 1867 to 1870. This park is where fans, for the first time, paid to see
a baseball game. Tickets were 25 cents and 50 cents. Silver coins were scarce and the fans paid their way into the
park with "shinplasters," 10-15-25-and 50 cent paper currency. It was
thrown into a barrel at the gate and took several hours to count. The park had a
seating capacity, in 1869, of 4,000.
In the spring of 1866, Harry Wright left New York City for
Cincinnati to take a job as a cricket professional for $1,200 a year for the
Union Cricket Club. Shortly after arriving,
Wright discovered that Ohio fans were more interested in baseball than the
English game so he promptly organized a ball club and called it the "Red
Stockings." Wright himself pitched, played center field and managed the
team. Another local nine, the "Buckeyes," were also fielding a strong
team by 1868 so Wright imported three good players from the East, promising them
better jobs in Cincinnati. The idea worked so well that Wright decided to
assemble an entire team of good players in 1869 by offering them salaries
ranging from $600 to $1,400 to play. Albert T. Goshorn and Aaron T. Champion
were the "money men". Champion, an attorney in Cincinnati, was the
President.
The 1869 Red Stockings team consisted of:
Harry Wright 35 Jeweler Center Field $1,200
Asa Brainard 25 Insurance Pitcher $1,100
Douglas Allison 22 Marble Cutter Catcher $ 800
Charles H. Gould 21 Bookkeeper First Base $ 800
Charles J. Sweasy 21 Hatter Second Base $ 800
Fred A. Waterman 23 Insurance Third Base $1,000
George Wright 22 Engraver Shortstop $1,400
Andrew J. Leonard 23 Hatter Left Field $ 800
Calvin A. McVey 20 Piano Maker Right Field $ 600
Richard Hurley 20 None Substitute $ 600
Harry Wright's brother George was such a
celebrated shortstop that small boys used to say, "I'd rather be Wright
than President."
The Red Stockings won a total of 130 straight games,
including all their games in 1869. They began the 1870 season in the same
manner, winning games with scores like 79 to 6, 94 to 7, and 100 to 2. It ended
on the afternoon of June 14, 1870. Playing the Atlantics in Brooklyn at the
Capitoline Grounds the score was tied 5 to 5 after nine innings and the
Atlantics wanted to call it a draw but the Reds insisted on playing extra
innings. The Reds scored twice in the eleventh inning, but the Atlantics scored
3 runs after a Brooklyn fan jumped on the back of right fielder Cal McVey as he
was attempting to field the ball. Talk about fan interference!
The team played from Maine to California wherever a team
could be found. They traveled nearly 12,000 miles by rail and boat, appearing
before more than 200,000 spectators, and scored 2,395 runs to 575 for their
opponents.
After the 1870 season the team was disbanded due
to economic reasons. Local businessmen could not compete with the salaries
being given in other cities, sounds familiar doesn't it? Players'
salaries ate up the teams profits. In 1870 the gate receipts were $29,726.26 but
expenses were $29,724.87 for a net profit of $1.39. After the 1870 season
the team reverted back to amateur status. This team played at the Union Grounds
until 1875.
The following year saw the formation of the National
Association of Professional Baseball Clubs. it included 13 teams. Harry Wright
the captain of the Red Stockings took many of the players with him to Boston and
started up a team there. He also took the name Red Stockings with him. Now you
know why the Boston team is called the Boston Red Sox. (By the way they won the
association championship four straight years).
By 1875 this association also folded, and out of its
demise was founded, in 1876, the National League in which a new Cincinnati Red
Stockings
team was formed. This team did not have the great success ,to say the least, as
the first Red Stockings team did. That first season their record was a dismal 9
wins & 54 losses. They played from 1876 to 1879 in an area just north of Hopple
St. at Spring Grove Avenue, next to the Mill Creek (not too far from where the
Cincinnati Workhouse was) just north of the stock yards. The area now contains Kahn's and Hillshire Farms. It
was called Avenue Grounds and Brighton Park. The club owners were meat packers
George and Josiah Keck. Admission was 50 cents with 10 cent seats after the
fifth inning. This park is notable for being the first park to have a Ladies Day
(1876).
1877 Reds
The Reds then moved to the Bank Street Grounds at Bank and
Western. They played here from 1880 to 1883. This location was where the circus
and wild west shows were staged and is now the parking
lot of SORTA/Queen City Metro. Admission 50 cents; 25 cents in 1882-83. The club
owner was clothing merchant Aaron Stern.
The Reds played in the National League in 1880 but were
expelled before the 1881 season because they refused to cease selling beer on
Sundays. The Reds joined the American Association in 1882 and continued to sell
liquor in the park. The Red Stockings played in the American Association
during the entire 1880s.
From 1884 to 1901 the Reds played in League Park At
Findlay and Western at the site of an abandoned brickyard. The first image below
show the very first grandstand and playing field. Western Avenue is behind the
left grandstands and Findlay Street is behind the right grandstands. Taken in
1884 just after the greatest flood in Cincinnati history until 1937 with a crest
of 71'. The playing field had not yet been sodded. You are looking at what would
be the right field corner in later years. The 3rd image is of a game being
played. To the left you can see the building that was used by the groundskeeper
and on top of the building is a primitive scoreboard. The large building on the
other side of Western Avenue was Hulbert Hall who was the previous owner of the
ballpark site. The reds used the first floor as their headquarters and locker
room after the fire in 1900 destroyed their clubhouse.
The very first
opening day at this park turned out to be a rather exciting event. After the
game ended part of the grandstand
collapsed injuring several. There were stories written that one person was
killed but this proved to be untrue. There was no grass in
the infield, it was all dirt. The first ball park wedding would be held here,
(the reds contributed $60.00 and the visiting Baltimore team collected $40.00
for the couple. The event attracted the largest Monday crowd of the season,
2,201. This would be the site of the team for the next 86 years.
1884 photograph
1888 Reds team.
Game 1884-1893
In 1890 the team returned to
the National League still selling beer and still playing on Sundays. The only
thing they changed was their name, the Red Stockings would now be known as the
Reds.
The 2 cards and 1 photograph below show East End Park
also known as Pendleton Park and Association Park which,
as you can see, was located on the banks of the Ohio River in the east end at
the foot of Delta Avenue. In 1891 the American Association wanted to place a
second team in Cincinnati and they played their home games at this park (Cincinnati had
re-entered the National League that year). Called the Cincinnati Kellys after
its manager King Kelly. One of its attractions
was that the fans would get to the park by steamboat. The steamer Music would
depart the foot of Walnut Street every game day at 2: P. M. The Pennsylvania
Railroad passed right next to the Main Entrance, and streetcars ran along
Eastern Avenue but were slow and overcrowded, and were not considered a very
good way to get to the park. The park had a seating capacity of around 5,000. The city had banned Sunday baseball and on April 26
while playing Louisville, every one on both teams were arrested. This happened
again on May 4 (playing Philadelphia), and on June 7 (playing Washington). Unfortunately the remoteness of the park was its
downfall. It was just too time consuming to go to a game. The team only played
about one half of the season before moving to Kansas City. The Schmidt
Recreation Complex is
now at this location.
* 
Not a postcard
The next very rare card shows a baseball game being played. Unfortunately the park is not identified.
Replica
Because the original configuration of the playing field had home plate in the southeast corner of the field forcing the batters to look into the sun, and the dimensions of the outfield were extremely lopsided, it was decided, in 1894, to reconfigure the playing field. New iron and wood grandstands were built and home plate was turned around and was now in the southwest corner of the lot. Believe it or not, a game on May 7, 1892 had to be called because of sunshine!
Newer Postcard of League Park
In 1900 League Park caught on fire and the grandstands that had been built in 1894 were destroyed. When the new stands had been built it was decided not to demolish the old grandstands. This decision allowed the team to continue to play here after the fire. They just returned the playing field to how it was before and used the old bleachers and grandstands until a new stadium could be constructed after the 1901 season. Called the Palace of the Fans, this structure was used at League Park from 1902 to 1911. The diagram below graphically shows these changes in the diamonds position.
The concrete and iron grandstand you see in the next nine
cards consisted of 19 "fashion boxes" (9 on either side of home plate
extending to first and third bases and one directly behind it). Twenty-two Corinthian
columns with elaborate detailing at the top, supported the roof. Rooters' row
was seating on ground level behind home plate. Parts of the old League Park
remained in the right field. By the way this was still called League Park, not
Palace of the Fans Park. The Palace of the Fans only refered to this portion of
the park.
Beers were 12 for a dollar, whiskey was sold outside of
rooters' row underneath the stands. Rooters' row was protected from foul balls
by chicken wire all along the top of a three food wooden wall in front of the section, this also protected them from
the visiting ballplayers attacking them after one of their verbal assaults. You
could get 12 glasses of beer for a dollar.
The club owner was John Brush, an Indianapolis clothing store
magnate.
The above photograph is of the Reds opening day game with Pittsburgh on April 27, 1905.
*
The same image
The seating capacity of the new Palace grandstand was only 3,000 and this quickly was determined to be to small. If you compare the next two rows of cards with the row above you will see what was done to improve this problem. On top of the concrete and iron Palace was constructed a wooden tier of extra seats. During the Palace years the club also built double-decked stands down the left field line. This was the only double-decked stands to reach the outfield wall until 1939 (not seen in these cards.)
Replica
In the 3rd image below you can see the 3 types of seating that was available at the League Park. There were the wooden chairs for the box seats, then 6 rows of folding chairs behind them with benches in the back four rows.
Luxury Boxes
Concession stand beneath the
Palace seating
grandstand in "rooters Row"
not a
postcard
One major drawback for the players was that there were no dressing rooms for the visiting team. They had to put on their uniforms at their hotel and were taken to the park on trolley cars or horse drawn "busses" as shown in the next card.
Replica
Following the 1911 season League Park was completely demolished and construction began on Redland Field, the first truly modern park at this location. This was the ballpark that would eventually become Crosley Field in 1934. The next four non-postcard images show the razing of League Park, in the first three photos, and the construction of Redland Field in the last one. The 2nd image, looking toward right field, shows the railroad that was temporarily built to bring in supplies and remove the debris.
The seating capacity of the Palace of the fans was only 6,000, which was the smallest in the majors, so Redland Field was built with a seating capacity of 20,000. This was the site of the infamous World Series of 1919 won by the Reds and "thrown" by the Chicago "Black" Sox. It was during the 1919 World Series that bleachers were constructed along the left field fence which added another 3,000 seats. This was the only time these bleachers were ever used. You can see these seats in the non-postcard image below.
Redland Field was so large it took nine years before a home run was hit over the fence. It was in 1921 that John Beckwith, a shortstop for the Chicago Giants of the Negro Leagues, hit a ball 370' over the left field wall. 19 year old Beck collected quite a large sum of money in coins that was thrown down to him from fans in appreciation of his feat. Pat Duncan an outfielder for the Reds also hit one over the fence that year. Two teams actually played here, besides the Reds there was the Cuban Stars of the Negro National League in 1921. The Stars were formed in Havana Cuba in 1920, they then moved to Cincinnati the next year. The Cuban Stars leased the ballpark from the Reds to use when the Reds were out of town. The Stars moved on to New York in 1922.
Redland Field these are not postcards.
*
Doublecard
Same image-different wording and
sky.
The is a reproduction of a very rare card of Redland Field put out by the Braxton Hotel.
CROSLEY FIELD
Finally we come to Crosley Field the
most famous Cincinnati ball park of them all. In existence from 1934 to
1970 it was owned by the multifaceted Powell Crosley whose manufacturing
plant was only a few blocks away. The famous left field terrace was a natural
feature of the site. Before the first ball park was built here it was the way
people got from York St. to the brickyard that had been in business here.
From 1934 to 1937 this park was home to not only the Reds but also to the
Cincinnati Tigers of The Negro League. In 1937 This team is considered by many to have
been the best team in town that year (the Reds finished in last place). One of
its stars was Neil Robinson one of the best left fielders in Negro League
history. The Tigers wore hand-me-down Reds uniforms. The concession stands
were not open so the fans (many of which were white) had to bring their own food
to the games. The locker rooms were locked.
The Tigers were an outgrowth of an amateur baseball team founded
and ran here in 1934 by Cincinnati native William DeHart Hubbard. Hubbard was
the first black athlete to win a gold medal in an individual sport at the 1924
Olympics in Paris (running long jump). With attendance ranging from 10,000 to
15,000 people, these games were more heavily attended than the Reds games.
The reason the team disbanded after the 1937 season has been lost
to history, but their legacy continued. Many of their players were absorbed into
the Memphis Red Sox organization and went on to lead
other Negro League teams to championships.
During the war years there were two other Negro League teams
playing at Crosley Field. In 1942 the Cincinnati Buckeyes were formed and the
following year moved to Cleveland, Ohio. In 1943 the extremely popular Clowns
were formed and played in both Cincinnati and Indianapolis until 1946 when they
moved permanently to Indianapolis. This team drew up to 20,000 fans per game
with pre game activities like food races and greased pig contests. They had a
special group of players that were a precursor to The Harlem Globetrotters,
including a catcher who sat in a rocking chair. One of the players who played
for them in the early 50's was someone you might have heard about, Hank Aaron.
Of course this is the park where the first night game
was played on May 23, 1935. President Franklin D. Roosevelt switched on 632
lights by long distance. With a crowd of 20,422 watching the Reds beat the
Phillies 2-1.
During the Communist hysteria of the 1950s the team used the name
of Redlegs as a nickname in order to avoid any association with those nasty
Russians.
The famous 58 foot high scoreboard was erected in 1957 replacing the
large earlier art-deco scoreboard built in 1934. 1939 was the year the Reds
increased the seating capacity at the park by 3,000 with the addition of upper
decks. In front of the right field bleachers (known as the Sun Deck) seating
known as the "Goat Run" was added in the 1940's and 50's.
This over-large postcard has been researched by one of the visitors to this site (Ron Martin). By closely examining the scoreboard he was able to determine that this game was played on June 8, 1940 with the Reds at bat in the 2nd inning. The Reds went on to win the game 23-2 against the Dodgers. The shortstop is Leo Durocher of the Brooklyn Dodgers and the batter is Ernie "the schnozz" Lombardi of the Reds.
FOR MORE
SPORTS 
