One of the things I’m guilty of is thinking about baseball too much.
Or so my wife tells me.
Today is the 94th anniversary of the demolition of The Palace of the Fans.
An event that leads me to ponder the past Reds and the fields that they called “Home”.
Anyway I was lying in bed the last night, fighting off some insomnia with the usual inane thoughts of baseball and the Reds. The Palace and the Reds current pitching filled my head… always the pitching as of late, not much late night hitting musings nor much fielding, just pitching. Probably because the Reds don’t have any, probably because it seems like the Reds have never had any, anyway it’s the conundrums in life that lull you to sleep at 3 in the morning not the easy questions
So there I lay staring at the ceiling thinking… have the Reds had pitching and hitting and not won?
Have that had pitching and not won?
Have the Reds ever had pitching?
(Ed: Read the rest, including all the numbers, in the extended entry….)
Of course I had to define the eras in which the Reds played so I could get handle on what indeed was pitching and what indeed was the norm for the day and age. Also breaking mundane useless information helps lull you to sleep too.
So I started by knocking off the wild days before the 1900 season, years in which rules changed, teams and leagues vanish and are never heard from again muddy the data and deserve their own bucket to swim in. It’s a different animal before the foul strike rule and the emergence of the American League. Therefore I won’t be including it in this attempt to corral the wild and somewhat solitary history of quality Reds pitching.
To organize it I like to use the home field as the barometer for the teams overall quality on the pitching side.
I start off by breaking it up by changes to the patch of land between Findlay and York.
1902-1911 – The Palace of the Fans – Best NL Hitters Park from 1902-1909, with 145 HR’s, 134 inside the park and the rest being bouncers into the seats… which in those days were a home run, plus the patrons were required to return the ball to the field of play. Since the original League Park Grandstand was now in the far RF corner the wall in right extended 450 feet down the line, left field was a mere 342 feet, which was still a hefty number in those days.
Here are the Park Factors for that era plus the team ERA.
1902 2.67 122 1903 3.07 116 1904 2.34 133 1905 3.01 111 1906 2.69 137 1907 2.41 91 1908 2.37 106 1909 2.52 92 1910 3.09 106 1911 3.26 80
Here are the year by year ERA numbers vs the league.
CINCINNATI REDS
SEASON
1900-1911 WINS displayed only--not a sorting criteria LOSSES displayed only--not a sorting criteria STRIKEOUTS/9 IP vs. the league average displayed only--not a sorting criteria WALKS/9 IP vs. the league average displayed only--not a sorting criteria BASERUNNERS/9 IP vs. the league average displayed only--not a sorting criteria ERA YEAR DIFF PLAYER LEAGUE W L SO/9 IP BB/9 IP BR/9 IP 1 Reds 1904 0.39 2.34 2.73 88 65 -.28 0.37 0.65 2 Reds 1903 0.19 3.07 3.26 74 65 0.07 0.14 0.03 3 Reds 1911 0.13 3.26 3.39 70 83 -.37 0.46 0.10 4 Reds 1902 0.10 2.67 2.78 70 70 -.40 -.18 -.23 5 Reds 1909 0.07 2.52 2.59 77 76 -.52 -.35 -.28 6 Reds 1907 0.05 2.41 2.46 66 87 -.30 -.11 -.42 7 Reds 1905 -.02 3.01 2.99 79 74 -.05 -.22 -.93 8 Reds 1908 -.03 2.37 2.35 73 81 -.55 -.10 -.33 9 Reds 1906 -.06 2.69 2.63 64 87 -.05 -.24 -.38 10 Reds 1910 -.06 3.09 3.03 75 79 -.43 -.17 -.52 TOTAL ERA DIFF PLAYER LEAGUE W L SO/9 IP BB/9 IP BR/9 IP 1 Reds 0.08 2.74 2.82 736 767 3.30 2.89 11.79
What we have here is a ten year run in a hitters park with 6 years of above normal pitching, 3 years of plus .500 play and only one true winning year. In 1904 the Reds had a couple of players that they fleeced from the Orioles before they left for New York and it was with their help that Reds offense really flourished.
By the end of the 1904 season the Reds were second in runs scored to the Giants, unfortunately for them they were also behind the Cubs as well in the final standings, finishing 18 games out in third place, 5 games behind the second place Cubs. The next year the offense was once again potent with the emergence of Cy Seymour as one of the most potent bats in the National League, but alas the top two starters from 1905 Hahn and Harper fell on bad times and neither was able to give much to the game after the 1904 season and by 1907 both were out of the game. The 1905 season proved to be another sleeper in a long line of sleepers in Reds history, however this one was highlighted as a sleeper even more with a 20 year old pitcher named Rip Vowinkel throwing
45 innings in the only year he ever pitched major league baseball.
The following years were equal in their disappointment, the Reds offense was bad and the pitching equally vanilla, the plus ERA in the Palace’s last season was equaled by an anemic offense and the park was closed with a lackluster 70-83 record, leaving the Reds with a sub .500 record for the life of the Palace.
CINCINNATI REDS SEASON 1912-1926 1912-1926 ERA YEAR DIFF PLAYER LEAGUE W L SO/9 IP BB/9 IP BR/9 IP 1 Reds 1925 0.89 3.38 4.27 80 73 0.06 0.74 1.60 2 Reds 1923 0.78 3.22 3.99 91 63 0.15 0.52 1.06 3 Reds 1924 0.75 3.12 3.86 83 70 0.18 0.71 1.32 4 Reds 1919 0.68 2.23 2.91 96 44 -.07 0.23 1.11 5 Reds 1922 0.56 3.53 4.10 86 68 -.42 0.69 1.38 6 Reds 1926 0.41 3.41 3.82 87 67 -.05 0.78 1.17 7 Reds 1921 0.32 3.46 3.78 70 83 -.06 0.35 0.59 8 Reds 1920 0.24 2.90 3.13 82 71 -.10 -.12 0.40 9 Reds 1917 0.04 2.66 2.70 78 76 -.44 -.15 -.64 10 Reds 1912 -.02 3.42 3.40 75 78 -.14 0.24 -.20 11 Reds 1915 -.09 2.84 2.74 71 83 -.22 -.49 -.50 12 Reds 1914 -.15 2.94 2.79 60 94 0.15 -.28 -.23 13 Reds 1918 -.24 3.00 2.76 68 60 -.32 -.53 -1.03 14 Reds 1913 -.26 3.46 3.20 64 89 -.31 -.12 -.55 15 Reds 1916 -.49 3.10 2.61 60 93 -.24 -.51 -1.07 ERA DIFF PLAYER LEAGUE W L SO/9 IP BB/9 IP BR/9 IP 1 Reds 0.23 3.12 3.34 1151 1112 -.12 0.14 0.30 Park Factors 1912 3.42 81 1913 3.46 109 1914 2.94 113 1915 2.84 106 1916 3.10 99 1917 2.66 90 1918 3.00 97 1919 2.23 103 1920 2.90 76 1921 3.46 99 1922 3.53 88 1923 3.22 89 1924 3.12 95 1925 3.38 88 1926 3.41 84
In 1912 Redland Field was opened, in the age of concrete and steel stadiums Redland was a real treat after the misaimed and blocked sightlines of The Palace. It also proved to be a real pitchers park, after a few years of typical Redland struggling the Reds lifted the team ERA above the league average in 1919 and finally took the NL crown. A large park Redland didn’t see it’s first over the wall home run until 1921 and the expanse of the outfield area allowed the Reds to post 7 of their top team totals in triples in the 15 years listed above. The Reds staff was perhaps the best staff in all of baseball in the early to mid 20’s but it was an anemic offense that dragged them down each season.
From 1920-1926 the Reds OPS vs the League was
OPS DIFF PLAYER LEAGUE OBA SLG 1 Reds -.028 .727 .754 -.008 -.020 And their ERA ERA DIFF PLAYER LEAGUE W L PCT 1 Reds 0.56 3.29 3.85 579 495 .539
Laments of the day included a lust for slugging that was taken a hold in New York and St. Louis and a lack of appreciation for the stellar staff that could keep a team in the game all the time. Of course every great staff usually has great fielders and the presence of Edd Roush, Hughie Critz and numerous pickers like Babe Pinella helped enhance their numbers, this concept seems to be lost on the current Reds regime from what I can surmise.
The era changes after the 1926 season, this of course is the first time the Reds attempt to enrich their scoring numbers moving the plate up 20 feet to shorten the distances down the lines, after accumulating only 45 home runs from the home team (and 35 from opponents) from 1920-1926 the hope was the Reds could generate some more power at home and thus get a few more wins on the board and get over that second place hump they couldn’t hurdle.
It didn’t work out as planned as the Reds only got 13 home home runs over the next three seasons, while the rest of the National League piled up a respectful (for Redland) 46 home runs.
Aside from failing to match the rest of the leagues power totals the Reds pitching began to get old and replacements weren’t pouring in, nor was the cash and the Reds and the City soon began to feel it.
1927-1937 ERA YEAR DIFF PLAYER LEAGUE W L SO/9 IP BB/9 IP BR/9 IP 1 Reds 1927 0.38 3.54 3.91 75 78 -.18 0.71 0.83 2 Reds 1929 0.30 4.41 4.71 66 88 -.57 0.55 0.75 3 Reds 1932 0.11 3.77 3.88 60 94 -.80 0.76 0.87 4 Reds 1928 0.05 3.94 3.99 78 74 -.44 0.44 0.26 5 Reds 1937 -.03 3.94 3.91 56 98 0.11 -.52 -.45 6 Reds 1933 -.09 3.42 3.33 58 94 -.82 0.72 0.27 7 Reds 1930 -.11 5.08 4.97 59 95 -.73 0.37 0.15 8 Reds 1936 -.20 4.22 4.02 74 80 -.38 0.13 -.37 9 Reds 1935 -.29 4.30 4.02 68 85 -.02 -.22 -.26 10 Reds 1934 -.30 4.36 4.06 52 99 -.53 0.10 -.89 11 Reds 1931 -.35 4.22 3.86 58 96 -1.05 0.21 -.36 Park Factors 1927 3.54 97 1928 3.94 90 1929 4.41 97 1930 5.08 78 1931 4.22 92 1932 3.77 91 1933 3.42 98 1934 4.36 108 1935 4.30 86 1936 4.22 94 1937 3.94 83
Without a doubt the emergence of Weil and his diminishing pocketbook, coupled with the rise of the farm systems spelled a death knell for the Reds during the depression. Only one team from 1927-1937 era had a .500 record and six teams had at least 94 losses… that’s 6 seasons that make this year look pretty darn good, and that’s just plain scary.
The team movements are too many to list, too few to celebrate, the Reds of the early 30’s were a pitiful bunch, even worse than perennial doormats the Phillies and it took the manic Larry McPhail and the dollars of Powell Crosley to pull the franchise out of the muck.
The rest of the leagues hitters were getting better and the Reds park still played like it was 1913 with 3 straight years of Park Factors below 94. This caused a drag on the team at home and soone Manager Dressen had them playing a brand of ball that is more akin to Billy ball and 1890’s Orioles play than anything seen today.
In the winter of 1938 the Reds moved the plate out 20 more feet. They also went out and hired Bill McKechnie, who had been a throw-in in the Mathewson/Roush deal in 1916. Bill McKechnie was a pure defense and pitching first manager, his first goal was to limit the hitting the opposition did, the rest would take care of itself he felt.
1938-1945 ERA YEAR DIFF PLAYER LEAGUE W L SO/9 IP BB/9 IP BR/9 IP 1 Reds 1940 0.80 3.05 3.85 100 53 0.05 0.21 1.39 2 Reds 1939 0.64 3.27 3.91 97 57 0.63 -.06 0.79 3 Reds 1944 0.64 2.97 3.61 89 65 -.85 0.74 1.47 4 Reds 1942 0.50 2.82 3.31 76 76 0.50 -.03 0.74 5 Reds 1941 0.47 3.17 3.63 88 66 0.50 0.05 0.58 6 Reds 1943 0.23 3.14 3.37 87 67 -.07 -.48 0.04 7 Reds 1938 0.16 3.62 3.78 82 68 0.21 -.01 0.64 8 Reds 1945 -.20 4.00 3.80 61 93 -.70 -.13 -.38 ERA DIFF PLAYER LEAGUE W L SO/9 IP BB/9 IP BR/9 IP 1 Reds 0.41 3.25 3.66 680 545 0.03 0.04 0.66 Park Factors 1938 3.62 92 1939 3.27 101 1940 3.05 93 1941 3.17 92 1942 2.82 99 1943 3.14 95 1944 2.97 81 1945 4.00 87
And he was right, the park didn’t change too much in the overall factors, except for 1939. But the increased focus on pitching and defense helped the Reds achieve a plus ERA in 7 of the 8 following seasons with their only sub .500 record coming in 1945 when both the pitching and offense were sub par.
By 1945 it was obvious that McKechnie had run into a wall in Cincinnati, as had his pitching centric world. Due to conservative estimates on talent and the war the Reds refused to sign many players during the war years, following the war they had few prospects and many vets who had missed several years of the game. Soon the Reds were lacking in offense again, a common tune heard in the streets downtown over the past 30 odd years.
The future wasn’t looking too bright.
To combat this Reds GM Warren Giles erected the “Goat Run” in RF cutting the distance down the line from 360 feet to 342, 108 feet closer to home plate than 40 years prior. Of course the Reds offense was so pathetic that it didn’t matter. How pathetic was it? 523 Runs in 154 games the 6th worst (5th if you knock out strike marred 1981) that’s 3.39 runs a game, not a good number when your team ERA is a hair above 3.
The First Goat Run
1946-1949 ERA YEAR DIFF PLAYER LEAGUE W L SO/9 IP BB/9 IP BR/9 IP 1 Reds 1946 0.34 3.08 3.42 67 87 -.37 0.58 0.85 2 Reds 1949 -.29 4.34 4.04 62 92 -.26 -.55 -.64 3 Reds 1947 -.35 4.41 4.07 73 81 0.48 -.22 -.48 4 Reds 1948 -.51 4.47 3.95 64 89 0.14 -.22 -.62 ERA DIFF PLAYER LEAGUE W L SO/9 IP BB/9 IP BR/9 IP 1 Reds -.20 4.07 3.87 266 349 -.01 -.10 -.21 Park Effects 1946 3.08 104 1947 4.41 82 1948 4.47 111 1949 4.34 93
After the 5th straight losing season (which is the crossroads where the current team stands) the Reds pitching got worse, some must have felt it was the Goat Run to blame (sounds like the GAB Park Effect argument) and after losing 90 games in 1949 the Goat Run disappeared in June of 1950 only to reappear again in 1953 and disappear again in 1958.
The game was changing again; the low scoring offense of the war years receded and a station-to-station offense began to take a firmer hold on the game across the board.
It was then that the Reds changed their team philosophy and hoed the roe that they still till to this day.
To be continued……………