History of The Cincinnati Reds - 1941-69: Kluszewski, Robinson, and The Beginnings of A Machine

1941-69: Kluszewski, Robinson, and The Beginnings of A Machine

World War II and age finally caught up with the Reds. Throughout the remainder of the 1940s and the early 1950s, Cincinnati finished mostly in the second division. In 1944, Joe Nuxhall, (who was later to become part of the radio broadcasting team), at age 15, pitching for the Reds on loan from a Hamilton, Ohio Junior High School, became the youngest person ever to play in a major league game—a record that still stands today. Ewell "The Whip" Blackwell was the main pitching stalwart before arm problems cut short his career. Ted Kluszewski was the NL home run leader in 1954. The rest of the offense was a collection of over-the-hill players and not-ready-for-prime time youngsters. During 1954, the Reds changed their name to the Redlegs in response to the Second Red Scare and the height of the Communism movement.

In 1956, led by National League Rookie of the Year Frank Robinson, the Reds hit 221 HR to tie the NL record. The 1957 season brought two tough moments. The first caught Reds fans stuffing ballot boxes by having seven Reds in the All-Star Game. As a result, voting was banned until the 1970s. Around this time, the Dodgers and Giants left New York in favor of California. There were talks of moving the Reds or another National League club to New York. The maturation of Robinson and other players, along with increasing attendance in Cincinnati halted those talks.

By 1961, Robinson was joined by Vada Pinson, Wally Post, Gordy Coleman and Gene Freese. Pitchers Joey Jay, Jim O'Toole, and Bob Purkey led the staff. The newly-renamed Reds captured the 1961 National League pennant, holding off the Los Angeles Dodgers and the San Francisco Giants, only to be defeated by the perennially powerful New York Yankees in the World Series. The Reds had many successful teams during the rest of the 1960s, but did not produce any championships. They won 98 games in 1962 (paced by Purkey's 23), but finished third. In 1964, they lost the pennant by one game, having taken 1st place when the Phillies collapsed in September but then losing out to the Cardinals. In that 1964 season, the beloved leader of the Reds, manager Fred Hutchinson, died of cancer, succumbing just weeks after the end of the 1964 season, one of baseball's most exciting pennant races ever. The failure of the Reds to win the 1964 pennant led to owner Bill DeWitt's selling off key components of the team, in anticipation of relocating the franchise. After the 1965 season he executed what may be the most lopsided trade in baseball history, sending former Most-Valuable Player Frank Robinson to the Baltimore Orioles for pitchers Milt Pappas, Jack Baldschun, and outfielder Dick Simpson. Robinson went on to win the MVP in the American league for 1966, win the "triple crown", and lead Baltimore to its first ever World Series title in a four-game sweep of the Los Angeles Dodgers. The Reds did not recover from this trade until the rise of the "Big Red Machine" of the 1970s.

Starting in the early 1960s, the Reds' farm system began producing a series of future stars, such as Jim Maloney (the Reds pitching ace of the 1960s), Pete Rose, Tony Pérez, Johnny Bench (a great catcher and the backbone of the Reds for years to come), Lee May, Tommy Helms, Bernie Carbo, Hal McRae, Dave Concepción, and Gary Nolan. The tipping point came in 1967 with the appointment of Bob Howsam as general manager. Howsam pulled two key trades to complement the Reds' bats. The first brought in outfielder Alex Johnson who would return to form after some years with the Phillies. The second traded veteran Vada Pinson to St. Louis for the speedy Bobby Tolan. Around this time, the Reds avoided an all but certain move to San Diego when the city of Cincinnati and Hamilton County agreed to build a new, state of the art, downtown stadium on the edge of the Ohio River. The Reds entered into a 30-year lease in exchange for the stadium commitment keeping the franchise in its original home city. In a series of strategic moves, Howsam nurtured the homegrown talent and brought in key personnel, allowing the team to finally reach its potential during the 1970s. The Reds' final game at Crosley Field, home to more than 4,500 baseball games, were played on June 24, 1970, a 5-4 victory over the San Francisco Giants. In its place, a new stadium, and a new Reds dynasty.