Cincinnati Reds Baseball
The Cincinnati Reds were originally called the Red Stockings. The team was founded in 1869 with six other teams and formed the American Association (AA) in 1881. Cincinnati won the first AA pennant in 1882. The Reds won their first NL pennant and World Series in 1919.
In 1938 Vander Meer threw two consecutive no-hitters, becoming the only pitcher in major league history to do so. The Reds won the back-to-back pennants in 1939 and 1940. In 1940, for the first time in 21 years, the Reds captured a World Series beating the Detroit Tigers 4 games to 3.
In 1944, Joe Nuxhall, age 15, pitching for the Reds on loan from Hamilton High School, became the youngest person ever to play in a major league game -- a record that still stands today. The Reds faded as an NL power in the 1940s and early 1950s.
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 and Gary Nolan. In 1961 the team emerged on the top as star outfielder Vada Pinson and the season's NL MVP, Frank Robinson were in the team as they captured fourth pennant before losing World Series to New York Yankees.
The Cincinnati Reds became known as “The Big Red Machine” in the 1970s. The Reds began the 1970s with a bang by winning 70 of their first 100 games. The club peaked in 1975 and 1976, becoming the first NL team since the New York Giants of 1921 and 1922 to win back-to-back World Series titles.
Lou Piniella guided the Cincinnati Reds to its fifth World Series title in 1990. They started off 35-12, winning their first 10 games, and maintained their lead throughout the year. The World Series, however, cost the team Eric Davis, who severely bruised a kidney diving for a fly ball in the first inning of Game 4, and whose career never really recovered afterward.
Great American Ball Park
The Great American Ball Park opened up in 2003 and is located on the winding banks of the Ohio River in downtown Cincinnati. The park pays tribute to the Reds rich history. Crosley Terrace statues, Italian-marble mosaics, famous-dates banners and a nostalgic Sun/Moon Deck are just a handful of features that give this modern marvel a truly historic influence.
The ballpark has two 64-foot-high smokestacks with a riverboat theme in right field that spews fireworks and mist after Reds’ home runs, amazing plays or victories. You can also see your name in lights on the Great American Ball Park scoreboard. For $35 per line (plus a $3 Internet fee), you can deliver a special message to commemorate a birthday, anniversary, wedding engagement, marriage proposal or special moment.