Top 50 Cincinnati Reds
This version of the Cincinnati Reds (there was one from 1876 to 1880 in the National League who were expelled for refusing to stop selling beer) can be traced to the American Association in 1892. They would win the pennant that year and would stick around there until they joined the National League in 1890.The Reds are a five-time World Series Champion (1919, 1940, 1975, 1976 & 1990) though they are mostly known for their success from the 1970s. Their 1919 win was known for the Chicago White Sox throwing the series, their 1990 win is more thought of Oakland choking and their 1940 title is hardly discussed at all.
Those 1970 wins are however likely never to be forgotten. “The Big Red Machine” boasted Hall of Famers, Pete Rose, Joe Morgan, and Johnny Bench, and a plethora of other great players who populate our list.
Cincinnati may not be a large market but will always be a baseball market.
Note: Baseball lists are based on an amalgamation of tenure, traditional statistics, advanced statistics, playoff performance, and post-season accolades. This is a list up to the end of the 2023 Season.
Pete Donohue’s 20 Wins in 1926 were enough to win him that title, but he actually had two other seasons where he accumulated 21 Wins (1923 & 1925) as a Starting Pitcher with the Reds. Donohue was an excellent control pitcher who would seven time finish in the top in BB/9, including a top finish in 1926. He would also finish third in Earned Run Average twice. He would also finish in top three in FIP four times.With Cincinnati, Donohue posted a record of 127-110 with a 3.73 ERA, and was a Reds Hall of Fame selection in 1964.
Perhaps a strange entry considering his relatively low tenure as a Cincinnati Red, Cy Seymour put together one of the finest and undervalued seasons in the early 1900’s.
In the 1890’s, Billy Rhines would have two three year runs with the Cincinnati Reds (1890-92 & 1895-97). In each stint, he would win an Earned Run Average Title and WHIP Title. Basically, Rhines had one excellent season in each of his stints as a Red and he is easily one of the better hurlers the team has ever had. Those two years are enough to rank him here.Overall as a Red, Rhines had a record of 96-79 with a 3.28 ERA.
A three-time All-Star during his time in Cincinnati Bob Purkey was a rarity for a knuckleball pitcher as it was just another weapon in his vast arsenal. Purkey would enjoy his greatest success in Cincinnati, as he was a 15 Game winner four times, including a 23 and 5 year in 1962. That was by far the best season of his career, as he would finish atop the National League in bWAR for Pitchers and Win Probability Added and third in ERA. He would also finish third in Cy Young voting.With the Reds, Purkey had a 103-76 Record with an…
The starting Rightfielder for six seasons (and two injury-plagued ones) Ival Goodman proved to be a key contributor to many good seasons that Cincinnati would have in the late ’30s and 1940.
Tom Seaver was justifiably inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame with 98.8% of the vote. He is equally warranted as our selection for the greatest New York Met of all-time. Still, even though he spent five and a half seasons with Cincinnati after the “Midnight Massacre Trade” that decimated the Mets, do we ever think of “Tom Terrific” as a Red?
Far more than a 20 Game winner in 1905, “Long” Bob Ewing was a master of the spitball (legal at the time) and had a three-year stint (1905-07) where he finished in the top five in bWAR for Pitchers. Impressively, Ewing would also finish in the top ten in SO/BB six times and FIP six times. As of this writing, Ewing is 27th all-time in FIP, and had a 108-113 Record for Cincinnati.Ewing entered the Reds Hall of Fame in 2001.
Ken Raffensberger could be the unluckiest Pitcher in the history of baseball. The forkball specialist never played for a winning team, (we aren’t counting his rookie year where he played one game) which included his last seven and half years in Cincinnati. Raffensberger pitched with multiple deliveries but had incredible accuracy regardless of how the ball left his hand. As a Red, he finished in the top five in BB/9 five times, including the two top finishes in 1950 & 1951. He would also lead the National League in WHIP in ’51. Raffensberger's overall record in Cincinnati was 89-99 with a…
Reggie Sanders spent the first eight of his seventeen seasons with the Cincinnati Reds, and it can be easily stated that this was the best run of his career.
The first few years of James “Bug” Holliday’s baseball career were quite good. Holliday would win the Home Run Title (with a decent tally of 19) in his debut year with the then named Red Stockings who were then in the American Association. The switch to the National League was still successful for Holliday who would again win the Home Run Title (1892) and would have four (full) seasons where he was a .300 Hitter.
Named the Sporting News and Baseball Player Minor League Player of the Year, Jay Bruce was called up in 2008 where the Reds Outfielder was fifth in Rookie of the Year voting. Bruce built on that and would become one of the top players for Cincinnati in the first half of the 2010s.
Jake Beckley was a solid hitter for Pittsburgh teams (National League and Player’s League) for a decade before he was traded to the New York Giants in 1896. The First Baseman slumped in 1897 and after he was released, he signed with Cincinnati where his career was resurrected.