1890 Cincinnati Reds season

1890 Cincinnati Reds
Major League affiliations
National League (since 1890)
Location
League Park (since 1890)
Cincinnati (since 1882)
Other information
Owner(s)	Aaron Stern & Al Johnson
Manager(s)	Tom Loftus
< Previous season     Next season  >

The 1890 Cincinnati Reds season was a season in American baseball. The team finished fourth in the National League with a record of 77–55, 10½ behind the Brooklyn Bridegrooms. Directly after the season ended, owner Aaron Stern sold the club to Al Johnson.

Regular season

After playing eight seasons in the American Association, the Cincinnati Red Stockings jumped to the National League for the 1890 season, and renamed themselves the Cincinnati Reds. The Reds hired Tom Loftus as their new manager. He last managed the Cleveland Spiders in 1889, leading them to a 61–72 record and a sixth-place finish in the National League.

In the off-season, the Reds acquired Lefty Marr from the Columbus Solons for $2000. Marr had hit .306 with a league high 15 triples for the Solons in 1889. He had also appeared in eight games with the Red Stockings in 1886. The team also purchased the contract of pitcher Frank Foreman from the Baltimore Orioles. Foreman was 23–21 with a 3.52 with the Orioles. Cincinnati also signed two 21-year-olds, catcher Jerry Harrington and pitcher Billy Rhines. Joe Knight, who last appeared in the majors with the Philadelphia Quakers in 1884 as a pitcher, was signed to play the outfield.

John Reilly led the club offensively, hitting .300 with team highs with six home runs and 86 RBI. Bid McPhee had a .256 average with three homers and 39 RBI, as well as team highs with 125 runs and 55 stolen bases. Knight led the club with a .312 average with four homers and 67 RBI in his only season in the majors. Rhines led the pitching staff, as he had a 28–17 record with league best 1.95 ERA.

Season summary

The Reds played their first National League game on April 19, 1890. Despite a home run from Bug Holliday, Cincinnati lost to the Chicago Colts by a 5–4 score. After hovering around the .500 level, as the Reds had a record of 11–11 after twenty-two games, the team went on a 22–2 run to boost their record to 33–13, and take a four-game lead over the second place Brooklyn Bridegrooms. Cincinnati would hold on to their first place lead until going into a slump in which the Reds lost ten of eleven games to fall into fourth place, 5.5 games out of first. By the time the season ended, the Reds had a 77–55 record, finishing in fourth place, 10½ games behind the Bridegrooms.

Season standings

National League	W	L	Pct.	GB	Home	Road
Brooklyn Bridegrooms	86	43	0.667	—	58–16	28–27
Chicago Colts	83	53	0.610	6½	48–24	35–29
Philadelphia Phillies	78	53	0.595	9	54–21	24–32
Cincinnati Reds	77	55	0.583	10½	50–23	27–32
Boston Beaneaters	76	57	0.571	12	43–23	33–34
New York Giants	63	68	0.481	24	37–27	26–41
Cleveland Spiders	44	88	0.333	43½	30–37	14–51
Pittsburg Alleghenys	23	113	0.169	66½	14–25	9–88

Record vs. opponents

1890 National League Records Sources:
Team	BOS	BR	CHI	CIN	CLE	NYG	PHI	PIT
Boston	—	6–11	8–11	11–8	13–7	11–8–1	11–9	16–3
Brooklyn	11–6	—	11–9	9–7	17–3	10–8	10–8	18–2
Chicago	11–8	9–11	—	12–8–2	13–7	13–6	8–10–1	17–3
Cincinnati	8–11	7–9	8–12–2	—	13–4	14–6	11–9	16–4
Cleveland	7–13	3–17	7–13	4–13	—	6–12–2	5–14–1	12–6–1
New York	8–11–1	8–10	6–13	6–14	12–6–2	—	6–11	17–3–1
Philadelphia	9–11	8–10	10–8–1	9–11	14–5–1	11–6	—	17–2
Pittsburg	3–16	2–18	3–17	4–16	6–12–1	3–17–1	2–17	—

Roster

1890 Cincinnati Reds
Roster
Pitchers John Dolan Jesse Duryea Frank Foreman Billy Rhines Lee Viau		Catchers Kid Baldwin Jerry Harrington Jim Keenan Infielders Ollie Beard Billy Clingman Arlie Latham Bid McPhee John Reilly		Outfielders Bug Holliday Joe Knight Lefty Marr Tony Mullane Hugh Nicol		Manager Tom Loftus

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	Harrington, JerryJerry Harrington	65	236	58	.246	1	23
1B	Reilly, JohnJohn Reilly	133	553	166	.300	6	86
OF	Marr, LeftyLefty Marr	130	527	157	.298	1	73

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
Mullane, TonyTony Mullane	81	286	79	.276	0	34
Keenan, JimJim Keenan	54	202	28	.139	3	19

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
Rhines, BillyBilly Rhines	46	401.1	28	17	1.95	182
Duryea, JesseJesse Duryea	33	274	16	12	2.92	108
Mullane, TonyTony Mullane	25	209	12	10	2.24	91
Foreman, FrankFrank Foreman	25	198.1	13	10	3.95	57
Dolan, JohnJohn Dolan	2	18	1	1	4.50	9

References

• 1890 Cincinnati Reds season at Baseball Reference