1879 Cincinnati Reds season

1879 Cincinnati Reds
Major League affiliations
Location
  • Cincinnati, Ohio (since 1876)
Other information
Manager(s) Cal McVey, Deacon White
 < Previous season     Next season  >

The 1879 Cincinnati Reds season was a season in American baseball. The team finished fifth in the National League with a record of 43–37, 14 games behind the Providence Grays.[1]

Regular season

The Reds were hoping to build off a great 1878 season, in which the team finished in second place in the National League with a 37–23 record. In the off-season, the Reds announced that catcher Deacon White would become the player-manager. Cincinnati signed Ross Barnes to play shortstop. Barnes had missed most of the 1877 season and all of the 1878 season after falling ill. In his last full season in 1876, Barnes played with the Chicago White Stockings, and led the NL with a .429 batting average, 138 hits, 126 runs, 38 doubles, and fourteen triples.

King Kelly had a very solid season, hitting .348 with two home runs and 47 RBI, while another youngster, twenty-year-old Buttercup Dickerson, hit .291 with two home runs and a team high 57 RBI. Deacon White rebounded from a poor 1878 season by his standards, as he hit .330 with a homer and 52 RBI. On the mound, Will White led the NL with 75 starts, as he had a 43–31 record with a 1.99 ERA in his league high 680 innings pitched.

Season summary

Cincinnati started off hot, as they opened the season with a five-game winning streak. However, the club lost seven of their next eight games to fall under .500. Cincinnati had a mediocre 9–9 record after eighteen games, and player-manager Deacon White turned over his managerial duties to Cal McVey, who had been the Reds' player-manager in 1878. Cincinnati lost the first five games under McVey, however, the team began to play better, and ended the season with a 43–37 record, fifth in the league, and fourteen games behind the first-place Grays.

Season standings

National League W L GB Pct.
Providence Grays 59 25 -- .702
Boston Red Caps 54 30 5 .643
Buffalo Bisons 46 32 10 .590
Chicago White Stockings 46 33 10.5 .582
Cincinnati Reds 43 37 14 .538
Cleveland Blues 27 55 31 .482
Syracuse Stars 22 48 30 .314
Troy Trojans 19 56 35.5 .253

Roster

1879 Cincinnati Reds
Roster
Pitchers

Catchers

 Infielders Outfielders Manager

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 White, DeaconDeacon White 78 333 110 .330 1 52
1B McVey, CalCal McVey 81 354 105 .297 0 55
2B Gerhardt, JoeJoe Gerhardt 79 313 62 .198 1 39
3B Kelly, KingKing Kelly 77 345 120 .348 2 47
SS Barnes, RossRoss Barnes 77 323 86 .266 1 30
OF Dickerson, ButtercupButtercup Dickerson 81 350 102 .291 2 57
OF Hotaling, PetePete Hotaling 81 369 103 .279 1 27
OF Foley, WillWill Foley 56 218 46 .211 0 25

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
Burke, MikeMike Burke 28 117 26 .222 0 8
Purcell, BlondieBlondie Purcell 12 50 11 .220 0 4
Neagle, JackJack Neagle 3 12 2 .167 0 2
Magner, JohnJohn Magner 1 4 0 .000 0 1
Wheeler, HarryHarry Wheeler 1 3 0 .000 0 0

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
White, WillWill White 76 680 43 31 1.99 232
Purcell, BlondieBlondie Purcell 2 18 0 2 4.00 3
Neagle, JackJack Neagle 2 13 0 1 3.46 4
Wheeler, HarryHarry Wheeler 1 1 0 1 81.00 0

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
McVey, CalCal McVey 3 14 0 2 8.36 7

References

  1. ↑ 1879 Cincinnati Reds season at Baseball