It is commonly believed that the Cincinnati Reds are the oldest professional baseball team. And it is true that the Cincinnati Red Stockings were the first openly entirely professional team and that they had a spectacular 65-0 record in 1869. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cincinnati_Red_Stockings Because they were not playing other professional teams, that record means little. That it happened in 1869, long before anyone currently alive was born, makes it mean a little less. That parts of the game were wildly different (for instance, the batter could request a high or low pitch that was thrown underhand) takes it down another notch. Still 65-0 is pretty darn good.
When the National League started playing games in 1876, the Cincinnati Reds franchise, as we know it, was not among the league’s teams. There was a Cincinnati Reds team. But that team played its last game in 1880 and was subsequently expelled from the league because its owner wanted to sell beer at games and play games on Sundays. (It was a different time.) The 1876 team was almost as bad at the 1869 team had been good, winning only 9 of the 65 games it played. (Baseball-reference.com is the source of much of the information in this post and much entertainment. I encourage you to wander into its voluminous records some day and check out your favorite team or player.)
Trivia – two original National League franchises have been in the league continuously since it started in 1876. Name them.
The worst year in Cincinnati baseball history was 1881, when the city had to endure without a professional team. The Red Stocking were formed in 1882 and played in the American Association. Thus, for their first eight years, the new Reds were a minor league team. They joined the majors, which at that time was solely the National League, and changed their name to the Reds in 1890.
The last old Reds team (1880), had one hall of famer: Deacon White, who was inducted in 2013, almost 113 years after he played his last game. Deacon was a bit of a maverick, despite earning his nickname based on his manners. He was likely the first catcher to stand directly behind the plate, he helped design the first chest protector, and he was devoutly against the reserve clause, stating “No man can sell my carcass unless I get at least half.” See The Biographical History of Baseball, Donald Dewey and Nicholas Acocella.
Deacon’s brother Will was the best pitcher for the 1880 (old) Reds, where they formed one of the first brother/brother batteries in professional baseball history. Will was also the best pitcher for the 1882 (new) Reds when professional baseball returned to the Queen City. In 1880, Will pitched in 62 of the team’s 83 games. He completed 58 of them. (It was a different time.) The team used exactly two pitchers that year. Blondie Purcell pitched 21 complete games and finished the four games that the Deacon couldn’t. In 1982, Will started 54 games, completing 52. Harry McCormick started 25 games and completed 24. Outfielder Harry Wheeler finished the three games the starters could not complete. (It was a different time.)
To further accentuate the difference, the 1880 and 1882 teams combined to hit 12 total home runs, an average of six per year. As of today, the 15 teams in the American League are averaging over seven home runs each per week. Deacon White had a maximum salary in his career of $3,500. Bid McPhee, a hall of famer who played for the 1882 team, earned $2,300 in the only year for which that information is available. His salary exceeded the salary cap of $2,000 based on a side agreement.
For a little context, the average blacksmith in 1880 earned $800 per year, based on a wage of $15.54 per 60-hour work week. The average carpenter earned about $50 more per year. See https://outrunchange.com/2012/06/14/typical-wages-in-1860-through-1890/ for information on old-time salaries. The best ball players were making three to five times as much as an average worker. Baseball’s minimum salary today ($507,500) is almost 10 times the median income for a family of four ($54,462). Many baseball players make more than $10 million per year, which is over 180 times the median income for a family of four.
Trivia Answer – Chicago Cubs(continuously in Chicago) and Atlanta Braves (who started in Boston, moved to Milwaukee, and then were the first modern team to migrate east, to Atlanta.)
The Reds currently play in Great American Ballpark, in my opinion the best corporate name for a ballpark. It also hearkens back to the 1880’s. The new Reds played in American Park (because they were in the American Association) before changing the name to League Park, when they moved to the National League, and ultimately to Crosley Field, after Powel Crosley Jr. purchased the franchise in 1934. As far as I can tell, no sponsorship money was involved in the name changes. As I said before, it was a different time.