1896 Cincinnati Reds season

The 1896 Cincinnati Reds season was a season in American baseball. The team finished in third place in the National League with a record of 77–50, 12 games behind the Baltimore Orioles.

1896 Cincinnati Reds
League	National League
Ballpark	League Park
City	Cincinnati
Owners	John T. Brush
Managers	Buck Ewing
Seasons

Regular season

After a late season collapse by the Reds in 1895, in which the team won only fourteen of their last thirty-nine games to fall completely out of the pennant race to an eighth-place finish, the club began to make changes to get younger players.

Buck Ewing returned as player-manager, and the team made a big trade, as Arlie Latham, Ed McFarland, Morgan Murphy and Tom Parrott were traded from Cincinnati to the St. Louis Browns for Red Ehret and Heinie Peitz. Ehret struggled in 1895, with a 6–19 record and a 6.02 ERA. His best season came in 1890 with the Louisville Colonels of the American Association, when Ehret was 25–14 with a 2.53 ERA in 43 games. Ehret also led the National League in shutouts with four during the 1893 season with the Pittsburgh Pirates. Peitz hit .284 with two home runs and 65 RBI with the Browns in 1895.

The Reds also acquired Charlie Irwin from the Chicago Colts to play third base. Irwin missed most of the 1895 season, but in 1894 he batted .296 with eight home runs and 100 RBI with Chicago.

Offensively, Eddie Burke led the team with a .340 batting average and 120 runs scored, as well as hitting a homer and 52 RBI. Dummy Hoy also scored 120 runs, as he hit .298 with a team tying high four home runs and 57 RBI. Dusty Miller had a club high .321 average, 93 RBI and 76 stolen bases, as well as tying Hoy with four home runs. Bid McPhee had another solid season, as he hit .305 with a homer and 87 RBI while stealing 48 bases.

Frank Dwyer led the pitching staff with a 24–11 record and a 3.15 ERA in 36 games, 34 of them starts. Ehret went 18–14 with a 3.42 ERA in his first season with the Reds, which marked a big improvement over his horrible 1895 season with the Browns. Billy Rhines led the league with a 2.45 ERA, however, he missed some time due to injuries and finished the year with a record of 8–6 in 19 games.

Season summary

After starting the year with a 9–7 record and in fifth place, Cincinnati posted ten wins in their next twelve games to improve to 19–9, and sit in first place in the National League. The Reds slipped out of first place with a 3–5 record in their next eight games, and continued to slump to a 27–20 record, fourth in the league. Cincinnati then rebounded, going 14–2 in their next sixteen games to push their record to 41–22, and be in a first place tie with the Baltimore Orioles. The club stayed hot, going 12–2 in their next fourteen games to push their record to 53–24, and take over first place by themselves, three games up on the Orioles. Cincinnati then went 8–2 in their next ten games, and pushed their first place lead to five games over Baltimore, and a 34–6 record in their last forty games. Despite a solid 8–5 record in their next thirteen games, Cincinnati saw their five-game lead evaporate to only a half game over the red hot Orioles. As the season was coming to a close, the Reds completely fell out of the pennant race, as they lost eleven games in a row and would eventually finish in third place with a 77–50 record, 12.5 games behind Baltimore.

Season standings

National League

Team	W	L	Pct.	GB	Home	Road
Baltimore Orioles	90	39	.698	—	49‍–‍16	41‍–‍23
Cleveland Spiders	80	48	.625	9½	43‍–‍19	37‍–‍29
Cincinnati Reds	77	50	.606	12	51‍–‍15	26‍–‍35
Boston Beaneaters	74	57	.565	17	42‍–‍24	32‍–‍33
Chicago Colts	71	57	.555	18½	42‍–‍24	29‍–‍33
Pittsburgh Pirates	66	63	.512	24	35‍–‍31	31‍–‍32
New York Giants	64	67	.489	27	39‍–‍26	25‍–‍41
Philadelphia Phillies	62	68	.477	28½	42‍–‍27	20‍–‍41
Washington Senators	58	73	.443	33	38‍–‍29	20‍–‍44
Brooklyn Bridegrooms	58	73	.443	33	35‍–‍28	23‍–‍45
St. Louis Browns	40	90	.308	50½	27‍–‍34	13‍–‍56
Louisville Colonels	38	93	.290	53	25‍–‍37	13‍–‍56

Record vs. opponents

1896 National League record Sources: [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] [8] [9] [10] [11] [12]
Team	BAL	BOS	BR	CHI	CIN	CLE	LOU	NYG	PHI	PIT	STL	WSH
Baltimore	—	5–7	6–6	7–4–2	10–2	3–8–1	10–2	9–3	12–0	9–2	9–3	10–2
Boston	7–5	—	10–2	3–9	5–6	5–7–1	8–4	7–5	7–5	7–5	8–4	7–5
Brooklyn	6–6	2–10	—	6–6	2–10	5–7	8–4	4–8	8–4	6–5–1	7–5	4–8–1
Chicago	4–7–2	9–3	6–6	—	4–6–1	2–9–1	9–3	5–7	4–8	11–1	9–3	8–4
Cincinnati	2–10	6–5	10–2	6–4–1	—	6–5	9–3	6–6	8–4	5–7	12–0	7–4
Cleveland	8–3–1	7–5–1	5–7	9–2–1	5–6	—	8–3–2	7–5	6–6	4–8–1	10–2	9–3–1
Louisville	2–10	4–8	4–8	3–9	3–9	3–8–2	—	4–8–1	7–5	2–10	3–9	3–9
New York	3–9	5–7	8–4	7–5	6–6	5–7	8–4–1	—	3–8	4–8	9–3–1	6–6
Philadelphia	0–12	5–7	4–8	8–4	4–8	6–6	5–7	8–3	—	6–6	8–3	8–4
Pittsburgh	2–9	5–7	5–6–1	1–11	7–5	8–4–1	10–2	8–4	6–6	—	8–3	6–6
St. Louis	3–9	4–8	5–7	3–9	0–12	2–10	9–3	3–9–1	3–8	3–8	—	5–7
Washington	2–10	5–7	8–4–1	4–8	4–7	3–9–1	9–3	6–6	4–8	6–6	5–7	—

Game log

Legend
Reds Win	Reds Loss	Game Tied/Postponed

1896 Game Log: 77–50 (Home: 51–15; Away: 26–35)
April: 6–4 (Home: 6–4; Away: 0–0) # Date Opponent Score Stadium Attendance Record Streak 1 April 16 Pirates 1–9 League Park 14,419 0-1 L1 2 April 17 Pirates 7–10 League Park 2,412 0-2 L2 3 April 18 Pirates 11–9 League Park 3,452 1-2 W1 4 April 19 Colonels 12–3 League Park 16,526 2-2 W2 5 April 21 Spiders 10–11 League Park 3,852 2-3 L1 6 April 22 Spiders 7–4 League Park 2,556 3-3 W1 - April 23 Spiders Postponed (rain); Makeup: April 24 7 April 24 Spiders 8–4 League Park 2,920 4-3 W2 8 April 25 Colts 3–5 League Park 5,296 4-4 L1 9 April 26 Colts 11–3 League Park 10,752 5-4 W1 10 April 27 Colts 9–3 League Park 2,260 6-4 W2 - April 30 @ Spiders Postponed (rain, site change); Makeup: July 26
May: 16–10 (Home: 13–6; Away: 3–4) # Date Opponent Score Stadium Attendance Record Streak 11 May 2 @ Spiders 1–4 League Park 2,800 6-5 L1 12 May 3 @ Colonels 5–3 Eclipse Park 8,500 7-5 W1 13 May 4 Beaneaters 8–2 League Park 3,308 8-5 W2 14 May 5 Beaneaters 3–8 League Park 3,376 8-6 L1 15 May 6 Beaneaters 6–0 League Park 2,412 9-6 W1 16 May 7 Orioles 1–6 League Park 3,568 9-7 L1 17 May 8 Orioles 9–5 League Park 2,892 10-7 W1 18 May 9 Orioles 5–6 League Park 6,080 10-8 L1 19 May 10 Senators 18–11 League Park 8,082 11-8 W1 20 May 11 Senators 10–2 League Park 1,182 12-8 W2 21 May 12 Senators 4–6 League Park 1,428 12-9 L1 22 May 14 Bridegrooms 13–2 League Park 1,787 13-9 W2 23 May 16 Bridegrooms 2–1 League Park 4,372 14-9 W3 24 May 17 Bridegrooms 16–10 League Park 11,400 15-9 W4 25 May 18 Phillies 9–5 League Park 2,572 16-9 W5 26 May 19 Phillies 8–2 League Park 3,560 17-9 W6 27 May 20 Phillies 4–0 League Park 2,128 18-9 W7 28 May 21 Giants 4–2 League Park 5,256 19-9 W8 29 May 22 Giants 1–4 League Park 2,268 19-10 L1 30 May 23 Giants 2–4 League Park 5,392 19-11 L2 31 May 24 Colonels 6–0 League Park 9,716 20-11 W1 32 May 26 @ Senators 18–5 Boundary Field 8,717 21-11 W2 33 May 27 @ Senators 10–6 Boundary Field 2,389 22-11 W3 34 May 29 @ Orioles 1–4 Union Park 2,013 22-12 L1 35 May 30 1 @ Orioles 5–6 Union Park 3,845 22-13 L2 36 May 30 2 @ Orioles 6–9 Union Park 10,510 22-14 L3
June: 18–8 (Home: 4–0; Away: 14–8) # Date Opponent Score Stadium Attendance Record Streak 37 June 1 @ Phillies 8–4 National League Park 7,996 23-14 W1 38 June 2 @ Phillies 14–3 National League Park 5,275 24-14 W2 39 June 3 @ Phillies 3–7 National League Park 4,136 24-15 L1 40 June 4 @ Bridegrooms 6–0 Eastern Park 3,500 25-15 W1 41 June 5 @ Bridegrooms 1–10 Eastern Park 2,500 25-16 L1 42 June 6 @ Bridegrooms 13–0 Eastern Park 7,000 26-16 W1 43 June 8 @ Giants 6–3 Polo Grounds 1,700 27-16 W2 44 June 9 @ Giants 4–7 Polo Grounds 3,800 27-17 L1 45 June 10 @ Giants 6–10 Polo Grounds 2,500 27-18 L2 46 June 11 @ Beaneaters 1–9 South End Grounds 3,147 27-19 L3 47 June 12 @ Beaneaters 3–15 South End Grounds 2,455 27-20 L4 48 June 13 @ Beaneaters 6–1 South End Grounds 8,300 28-20 W1 49 June 15 Browns 7–1 League Park 3,560 29-20 W2 50 June 16 Browns 3–2 League Park 3,344 30-20 W3 51 June 17 Browns 6–1 League Park 2,812 31-20 W4 52 June 20 Colonels 13–7 League Park 5,052 32-20 W5 53 June 21 @ Colts 6–1 West Side Park 10,000 33-20 W6 54 June 22 @ Colts 1–3 West Side Park 2,000 33-21 L1 55 June 23 @ Colts 5–7 West Side Park 1,800 33-22 L2 56 June 24 @ Colts 4–2 West Side Park 2,500 34-22 W1 57 June 25 @ Browns 5–3 New Sportsman's Park 1,500 35-22 W2 58 June 26 @ Browns 16–4 New Sportsman's Park 600 36-22 W3 59 June 27 @ Browns 5–2 New Sportsman's Park 1,800 37-22 W4 60 June 28 @ Browns 12–1 New Sportsman's Park 3,500 38-22 W5 61 June 29 @ Colonels 20–8 Eclipse Park 1,908 39-22 W6 62 June 30 @ Colonels 9–2 Eclipse Park 700 40-22 W7
July: 21–7 (Home: 19–6; Away: 2–1) # Date Opponent Score Stadium Attendance Record Streak 63 July 2 Browns 7–5 League Park 5,220 41-22 W8 64 July 3 @ Pirates 3–6 Exposition Park N/A 41-23 L1 65 July 4 1 @ Pirates 3–1 Exposition Park 7,000 42-23 W1 66 July 4 2 @ Pirates 3–4 Exposition Park 6,500 42-24 L1 67 July 5 Browns 7–0 League Park 7,868 43-24 W1 68 July 6 Phillies 10–6 League Park 3,932 44-24 W2 69 July 7 Phillies 14–4 League Park 5,322 45-24 W3 70 July 8 Phillies 3–2 League Park 3,712 46-24 W4 - July 9 Senators Postponed (rain); Makeup: July 10 71 July 10 1 Senators 9–6 League Park N/A 47-24 W5 72 July 10 2 Senators 12–4 League Park 10,068 48-24 W6 73 July 11 Senators 9–5 League Park 5,700 49-24 W7 74 July 12 Bridegrooms 9–5 League Park 11,188 50-24 W8 75 July 13 Bridegrooms 7–5 League Park 2,700 51-24 W9 76 July 14 Bridegrooms 5–4 League Park 2,704 52-24 W10 77 July 16 Orioles 5–0 League Park 8,400 53-24 W11 78 July 18 Orioles 3–10 League Park 15,896 53-25 L1 79 July 19 Orioles 6–14 League Park 24,944 53-26 L2 - July 20 Giants Postponed (rain); Makeup: July 21 80 July 21 1 Giants 4–0 League Park N/A 54-26 W1 81 July 21 2 Giants 4–2 League Park 4,042 55-26 W2 82 July 22 Giants 9–8 League Park 1,837 56-26 W3 - July 23 Beaneaters Postponed (rain); Makeup: July 25 83 July 25 1 Beaneaters 10–5 League Park N/A 57-26 W4 84 July 25 2 Beaneaters 3–2 League Park 11,436 58-26 W5 85 July 26 Spiders 10–1 League Park 17,844 59-26 W6 86 July 27 Spiders 3–1 League Park 5,060 60-26 W7 87 July 28 Spiders 9–8 League Park 7,380 61-26 W8 88 July 29 Spiders 1–6 League Park 5,492 61-27 L1 89 July 30 Pirates 4–8 League Park 1,855 61-28 L2 90 July 31 Pirates 7–9 League Park 4,786 61-29 L3
August: 8–12 (Home: 6–0; Away: 2–12) # Date Opponent Score Stadium Attendance Record Streak - August 1 Pirates Postponed (rain); Makeup: August 6 91 August 2 Browns 2–1 League Park 6,888 62-29 W1 - August 3 Browns Postponed (schedule change); Makeup: July 2 92 August 6 Pirates 4–2 League Park 4,564 63-29 W2 93 August 8 Colonels 5–2 League Park 2,696 64-29 W3 94 August 9 Colonels 5–4 League Park 5,281 65-29 W4 95 August 11 @ Colts 0–6 West Side Park 6,000 65-30 L1 96 August 12 @ Colts 3–3 West Side Park 7,000 65-30 L1 97 August 13 @ Colts 7–0 West Side Park 9,000 66-30 W1 - August 15 @ Browns Postponed (site change); Makeup: August 15 98 August 15 Browns 7–3 League Park 6,012 67-30 W2 - August 16 @ Browns Postponed (site change); Makeup: August 16 99 August 16 Browns 10–5 League Park 6,844 68-30 W3 - August 17 @ Browns Postponed (schedule change); Makeup: June 26 100 August 19 @ Beaneaters 9–7 South End Grounds 3,000 69-30 W4 101 August 20 @ Beaneaters 6–8 South End Grounds 4,000 69-31 L1 102 August 21 @ Beaneaters 9–10 South End Grounds 4,174 69-32 L2 103 August 22 @ Senators 2–9 Boundary Field 2,310 69-33 L3 - August 24 @ Senators Postponed (wet grounds); Makeup: August 25 104 August 25 1 @ Senators 3–4 Boundary Field N/A 69-34 L4 105 August 25 2 @ Senators 1–3 Boundary Field 4,791 69-35 L5 106 August 26 @ Orioles 3–14 Union Park 4,405 69-36 L6 107 August 27 @ Orioles 3–9 Union Park 4,366 69-37 L7 108 August 28 @ Orioles 6–8 Union Park 4,217 69-38 L8 109 August 29 @ Phillies 4–5 National League Park 9,214 69-39 L9 110 August 31 @ Phillies 4–6 National League Park 3,927 69-40 L10
September: 8–10 (Home: 2–0; Away: 6–10) # Date Opponent Score Stadium Attendance Record Streak 111 September 1 @ Phillies 6–9 National League Park 4,309 69-41 L11 112 September 2 @ Giants 4–0 Polo Grounds 2,500 70-41 W1 113 September 3 @ Giants 5–10 Polo Grounds 2,400 70-42 L1 114 September 4 @ Giants 5–15 Polo Grounds 2,400 70-43 L2 115 September 5 @ Bridegrooms 5–3 Eastern Park 1,500 71-43 W1 116 September 7 1 @ Bridegrooms 1–6 Eastern Park 2,500 71-44 L1 117 September 7 2 @ Bridegrooms 3–1 Eastern Park 5,000 72-44 W1 - September 9 @ Colonels Postponed (late arrival, both teams); Makeup: September 11 118 September 10 @ Colonels 2–3 Eclipse Park 1,500 72-45 L1 119 September 11 @ Colonels 2–3 Eclipse Park 1,400 72-46 L2 120 September 12 @ Colonels 5–6 Eclipse Park 1,800 72-47 L3 121 September 13 Colts 7–3 League Park 4,178 73-47 W1 122 September 14 @ Pirates 2–3 Exposition Park 1,500 73-48 L1 - September 15 @ Pirates Postponed (rain); Makeup: September 16 123 September 16 1 @ Pirates 11–0 Exposition Park N/A 74-48 W1 124 September 16 2 @ Pirates 4–0 Exposition Park 2,500 75-48 W2 125 September 19 @ Spiders 2–21 League Park 400 75-49 L1 126 September 20 Colonels 4–3 League Park 2,578 76-49 W1 127 September 21 @ Spiders 1–4 League Park 2,000 76-50 L1 128 September 22 @ Spiders 7–3 League Park 2,000 77-50 W1 - September 26 @ Colts Postponed (schedule change, site change); Makeup: June 24

Player stats

Batting

Starters by position

Note: Pos = Position; G = Games played; AB = At bats; H = Hits; Avg. = Batting average; HR = Home runs; RBI = Runs batted in

Pos	Player	G	AB	H	Avg.	HR	RBI
C	Heinie Peitz	68	211	63	.299	2	34
1B	Buck Ewing	69	263	73	.278	1	38
2B	Bid McPhee	117	433	132	.305	1	87
SS	Germany Smith	120	456	131	.287	3	71
3B	Charlie Irwin	127	476	141	.296	1	67
OF	Eddie Burke	122	521	177	.340	1	52
OF	Dusty Miller	125	504	162	.321	4	93
OF	Dummy Hoy	121	443	132	.298	4	57

Other batters

Note: G = Games played; AB = At bats; H = Hits; Avg. = Batting average; HR = Home runs; RBI = Runs batted in

Player	G	AB	H	Avg.	HR	RBI
Farmer Vaughn	114	433	127	.293	2	66
Bill Gray	46	121	25	.207	0	17
Bug Holliday	29	84	27	.321	0	8

Pitching

Starting pitchers

Note: G = Games pitched; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts

Player	G	IP	W	L	ERA	SO
Frank Dwyer	36	288.2	24	11	3.15	57
Red Ehret	34	276.2	18	14	3.42	60
Frank Foreman	27	185.2	14	7	3.97	33
Billy Rhines	19	143.0	8	6	2.45	32
Brownie Foreman	4	23.0	1	3	11.35	9
Bert Inks	3	20.0	1	1	4.50	2

Other pitchers

Note: G = Games pitched; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts

Player	G	IP	W	L	ERA	SO
Chauncey Fisher	27	159.2	10	7	4.45	25

Relief pitchers

Note: G = Games pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; SV = Saves; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts

Player	G	W	L	SV	ERA	SO
Wiley Davis	2	1	1	0	8.31	1
Hank Gastright	1	0	0	0	4.50	0
Bug Holliday	1	0	0	0	0.00	0

External links

• 1896 Cincinnati Reds season at Baseball Reference