Looking Back at the Cincinnati Reds Stockings By Rick Grantham At Isnare.com Ezine Articles

The Cincinnati Red Stockings is the very first team of baseball professionals. This means that all members of the club were paid players. The club has major influences on how baseball is today. The popularity of the team boomed from the first time they played and won in 1869. After winning their first game over Mansfield Independents, they set off to create the longest winning streak in the history of baseball. They won 130 games straight, until the Brooklyn Atlantics defeated them in 1870.

The fame of the team has made its mark in the sport that gave birth to them. There were nicknames for players, which is also evident to baseball players of our generation. They also made an impact to the fashion of baseball uniforms, creating the color that some teams derive their name from, like the Boston Red Sox.

There were few sighting of the Red Stockings After 1870. They fully resurfaced in 1876, as one of the first eight teams in the National League. However, the team name is probably the closest it can get to the original team. The team struggled to win games. They ranked last in two consecutive years.

However, they were not about to give up. They changed their name to Cincinnati Reds. This proved to be a good thing because of the good season they played in 1878 to 1879. This did not continue though. Their violation of the rules of the association led to their expulsion from the league in 1880. The league was not happy about their distribution of beers to fans during games. The team also declined to stop playing on Sundays, adding more reason for the expulsion.

The incident did not stop the team from playing baseball though. They played for the newly founded league American Association. It commenced in 1882. During the first year of the league, the Reds dominated. They slowly slipped after a while because of the competition in the league. They bounced back and have been trailing the St. Louis Brown for some time.

They also went through a tough time. Their attempts to go back to the top were challenging. Just when they thought things would get better after a strong start in 1888, they have to endure yet another obstacle. One of their star players, Bid McPhee suffered from a leg injury and winning was difficult without him in the field.

Although there were hopes of the team getting back on their knees, the team only finished fourth in their final game under the roof of the American Association. The Cincinnati Reds went back to the National League in 1990 and stayed.

The team has definitely contributed a lot to the evolution of the sport. Being the first team to have all professional players and having a 130-winning streak under their belt are reasons enough to remember the team in a special kind of way. Although the players made bad choices and struggled to bring back their stature, they have raised the standard of the sport and of the league in general.

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