Cincinnati Reds
October 4, 1981 The Reds finish with the best record in the Major Leagues, but don't make the playoffs. Due to an unusual "split-season" format, the Reds do not qualify for post-season play.
July 8, 1985 Mrs. Marge Schott is named club President and Chief Executive Officer. In late 1984, Marge Schott purchased the Reds and quickly established herself as the clubs' number one booster. She became a very visible and popular owner, signing hundreds of autographs at home games from her seat behind the Reds dugout.
September 16, 1988 Lefty Tom Browning throws the only perfect game in Cincinnati Reds' history, stifling the L.A. Dodgers, 1-0.
August 24, 1989 Cincinnati hero Pete Rose is given a lifetime ban from baseball for conduct related to gambling. Terms of his suspension permit Rose to apply for reinstatement after one year.
October 20, 1990 The Reds sweep heavily favored Oakland, four games to none, to claim the World Series. Led by World Series MVP Jose Rijo's two wins and the hitting of Chris Sabo and Billy Hatcher, the Reds pulled off one of the biggest upsets in Series history.
April 1, 1996 Opening Day is postponed and a sellout crowd is stunned when, just seven pitches into the season, plate umpire John McSherry collapses and dies on the playing field.
September 1, 1996 The Reds unveil displays saluting their first two retired uniform numbers: Manager Fred Hutchinson (#1) and catcher Johnny Bench (#5). Over the next four years the Reds retired the numbers of baseman Joe Morgan (#8), outfielder Frank Robinson (#20), and first baseman Tony Perez (#24)
October 1, 1999 Major League Baseball Owners approve the sale of the Reds to long-time Cincinnatian and limited partner Carl H. Lindner, thus ending the 14-year reign of Marge Schott as President and Chief Executive Officer.
September 4, 1999 In a 22-3 win at Philadelphia, the Reds become the first team in National League history to hit nine home runs in a game. In doing so, the Reds became the first team in Major League history to have eight players homer in a game.
February 10, 2000 In what may be the most significant and influential trade in the history of the organization, the Reds acquire OF Ken Griffey Jr. from the Seattle Mariners in exchange for RHP Brett Tomko, OF Mike Cameron and minor-leaguers Antonio Perez and Jake Meyer. Griffey,a perenial All-Star and future Hall-of-Famer, returns to his childhood home, and joins his father, Ken Sr., as a member of the Reds.
September 26, 1961 Under Manager Fred Hutchinson, the Reds clinch the National League pennant, their last flag at Crosley Field. New owner Bill DeWitt took over the club in 1961 and along with Hutchinson, made several moves which all proved successful. The result was a surprise pennant for the "Ragamuffin Reds". Led by Frank Robinson, Vada Pinson and the pitching of Joey Jay and Bob Purkey, Cincinnati beat out the Los Angeles Dodgers for the pennant. The Reds then lost to the Roger Maris-Mickey Mantle led Yankees, four games to one.
April 30-May 1, 1969 The Reds' Jim Maloney no-hits the Houston Astros on the 30th and the Astros' Don Wilson turns the tables by no-hitting the Reds the following day. Maloney threw three no-hitters in the 1960s and became the Reds' all-time strikeout leader.
February 28, 1970 Pete Rose signs a contract for $105,000 to become the first player in club history to earn a six-figure salary
June 30, 1970 Riverfront Stadium opens. The Reds lose to the Braves, 8-2. In the mid-'60s, debate intensified over a new Reds' ballpark. For the first time in club history, a Reds' ballpark would be built with public funding — a trend rapidly sweeping the sports world. DeWitt favored a suburban location and a baseball-only field, but when the Cincinnati Bengals were awarded a National League Football franchise in 1966, civic leaders wanted a multi-purpose stadium on the riverfront. DeWitt eventually sold the club rather than approve the lease for Riverfront Stadium.
July 14, 1970 In one of the first games played at Riverfront Stadium, Pete Rose wins the All-Star Game for the National League, barreling over Cleveland catcher Ray Fosse for the deciding run.
November 29, 1971 The Reds deal 1B Lee May, 2B Tommy Helms and INF Jim Stewart to Houston in exchange for 2B Joe Morgan, RHP Jack Billingham, INF Denis Menke and OFs Cesar Geronimo and Ed Armbrister.
October 11, 1972 With a dramatic, 9th-inning rally, the Reds win the NL championship. First, Johnny Bench homers to tie the game at 3-3, then Pittsburgh's Bob Moose uncorks a wild pitch to allow George Foster home with the pennant-winning run.
October 21, 1976 Cincinnati's Big Red Machine wins its second straight World Championship. Under Manager Sparky Anderson, the Reds sweep both the Phillies (three straight) and New York (four straight) in post-season play. In 1976, the Reds topped the century mark in wins with 102, and swept through the post-season, winning seven straight games, including a dramatic ninth-inning, come-from-behind victory over the Phillies in the NLCS, and a four-game sweep of the Yankees. Cincinnati led the Major Leagues in ten offensive, defensive and pitching categories (runs scored, doubles, triples, home runs, batting average, slugging average, stolen bases, fewest errors, fielding percentage and saves), a domination that has never been matched.
July 31, 1978 Pete Rose extends his hitting streak to 44 consecutive games, a mark topped only by Joe DiMaggio's record of 56. Rose would be held hitless the following night in Atlanta, ending his NL-record string.
June 22, 1947 Ewell "The Whip" Blackwell, en route to 16 straight pitching victories, falls two outs shy of back-to-back no hitters; he settles for one no-hitter followed by a two-hit shutout.
April 17, 1954 The club acknowledged the emergence of the African-American ballplayer with the appearance of Chuck Harmon, seven years after Jackie Robinson had integrated the Major Leagues.
August 18, 1956 The Reds set a team record by blasting eight homers in one game, victimizing the Milwaukee Braves. For the season, Cincinnati clouted 221 dingers, tying the National League record.
June 28, 1957 After Cincinnati fans stuff the ballot box and vote eight starters onto the All-Star Team, the National League intervenes, pulling three Reds' players out of the starting lineup. George Crowe, Wally Post and Gus Bell are replaced as starters by Willie Mays, Henry Aaron and Stan Musial.
February 4, 1934 After losing most of his money in the stock market crash of 1929, Reds' owner, Sidney Weil was eventually forced to sell the club to broadcasting magnate Powel Crosley 1934. One of the first moves the entrepreneurial Crosley made was to put his name on the ballpark. "Redland Field" became "Crosley Field" on April 16, 1934.
January 26, 1937 Crosley Field's playing surface is under 21 feet of water due to local creek flooding. Remarkably, the ballpark is made game-ready in time for Opening Day in April. The worst flood in Cincinnati history inundated Crosley Field when water flowed over the outfield walls. In the most famous stunt in Reds history, pitchers Gene Schott and Lee Grissom, rowed a boat down Western Avenue and over the wall.
June 15, 1938 Johnny Vander Meer becomes the only Major League pitcher ever to throw back-to-back no-hitters (his first one came June 11), as he blanks the Dodgers, 6-0, in the first night game ever played at Brooklyn's Ebbetts Field.
August 26, 1939 First televised baseball game. NBC televises the Cincinnati Reds vs. the Brooklyn Dodgers from Ebbetts Field in Brooklyn.
October 8, 1939 Temporarily dazed by a home-plate collision, Reds' catcher Ernie Lombardi watches helplessly, unable to retrieve the nearby baseball, as the Yankees' Joe DiMaggio circles the bases for a 10th-inning, World Series run. After defeating the Cardinals for the pennant, the Reds collapsed in the World Series, swept by the powerful Yankees. Game Four in Cincinnati featured a 10th-inning collision at home plate between the Yanks Charlie Keller and Lombardi. "Lom" was knocked unconscious and lay prone at the plate while Joe DiMaggio scored the go-ahead run. Sportswriters reported on Lombardi's "snooze," an image that haunted the big catcher until his death.
August 3, 1940 Reds' catcher Willard Hershberger commits suicide in mid-season, the first big leaguer ever to take his own life. The Reds won 100 games in 1940, then a franchise record, and won the pennant by 12 games over the second-place Brooklyn Dodgers. The pennant race was marred by the shocking suicide by backup catcher Willard Hershberger on August 3 in a Boston hotel.
October 8, 1940 After winning their second NL pennant in a row, Cincinnati grabs the World Championship, defeating the Tigers, four games to three, in the World Series.The World Series matched the pitching and defense of the Reds against the power of the Detroit Tigers. But the Reds chances looked dim when injuries put catcher Ernie Lombardi and second baseman Lonnie Frey on the bench. But Bucky Walters and Paul Derringer pitched four complete-game victories, and 40-year-old coach Jimmy Wilson hit .353 subbing for Lombardi. Derringer won the deciding seventh game at Crosley
May 28, 1900 In the early morning, the main grandstand of League Park, the Reds' home field at Findlay and Western, burned. The club moved home plate where the right field corner was, built temporary stands and finished the season.
June 21, 1901 Harley "Doc" Parker is pummeled for 26 hits and 21 runs (both National League records which still stand) in his only Reds outing.
April 17, 1902 A fabulous new iron and concrete grandstand opened, replacing the charred ruins from a fire in 1900. The grandstand, nicknamed the "Palace of the Fans," was unique; a blend of Roman and Greek styling that had never been used before in a grandstand, and has never been seen since. The 3,000-seat grandstand featured 19 "fashion boxes" along the front railing that could hold 15 or more well-heeled fans. Beneath the grandstand, at field level, was standing room for 640 more spectators in a rowdy section known as "Rooter's Row." On Opening Day, some 10,000 spectators crowded into the park and watched the Reds lose to the Chicago Cubs, 6-1.
April 11, 1912 Redland Field (later known as Crosley Field) is officially dedicated. The Reds beat Chicago in the first game, 10-6. After the 1911 season, Reds' owner Garry Herrmann determined that the Palace of the Fans was too small for the growing interest in baseball. The stands were demolished and all new stands constructed in time for the 1912 opener. This was an era of new ballparks - Forbes Field, Comiskey Park, Ebbets Field and Wrigley Field all opened about the same time. Most were named after the club's owner, but Herrmann declined the honor, opting for "Redland Field," a nickname that had often been applied to the old park. The new brick stands, with the bleachers beyond the right field fence, and a steep terrace in left field, seated 20,000 spectators. When Powel Crosley bought the Reds in 1934, he renamed the park "Crosley Field."
May 2, 1917 In baseball's greatest pitching duel, Cincinnati's Fred Toney and Jim "Hippo" Vaughn of the Chicago Cubs both hurl no-hitters through nine innings. The Reds break up Chicago's no-hitter and win in extra frames, 1-0.
October 9, 1919 Cincinnati claims its very first World Championship, winning the World Series over the Chicago White Sox, five games to three (the World Series was "best five out of nine" that year).Despite their regular-season success, the Reds were underdogs to the Chicago White Sox, led by "Shoeless" Joe Jackson. But on the eve of the Series, the betting odds suddenly shifted in favor of the Reds. Rumors swirled around the opening game in Cincinnati that a fix was in. But the games were played without obvious incident, or so it seemed. The Reds beat the White Sox, but a year later eight Chicago players admitted to participating in a plot of fix the Series.
June 14, 1870 After 130 consecutive games without a loss, Cincinnati falls for the first time: Brooklyn Atlantics 8, Red Stockings 7 in extra innings. The 1869 Red Stockings made history not only as the first professional club, but they also ran off the longest winning streak in baseball history. Although there was no league yet established, there were some 15 teams in the upper tier of clubs. The Red Stockings defeated all of these teams — many of them twice — and they also walloped a number of lesser clubs. Their final official record was 57-0. (The Red Stockings played and won many more games than this, but these games would be considered exhibition games today. Harry Wright counted only those games against other sanctioned clubs as official. Thus, some record books list a much higher number of games won by the Red Stockings.) The club retained all of its players for 1870, and the club ran its unbeaten streak to 81 games. The Reds were finally defeated by the Brooklyn Atlantics, 8-7 in 11 innings, before 10,000 spectators in New York.
February 2, 1876 The National League is formed in New York City with Cincinnati as a charter member. The other cities in the league included Chicago, Boston, St. Louis, Hartford, Louisville, New York and Philadelphia. The Reds and the Chicago Cubs are the only teams that remain in the National League today.
October 6, 1880 Cincinnati is expelled from the National League, due in part to their selling beer in the ballpark. The club returned to NL for good in 1890.
October 15, 1892 Pitching for Cincinnati, Charles "Bumpus" Jones fires a no-hitter in his very first big-league game.
