# 1952 Cincinnati Reds season

The 1952 Cincinnati Reds season was the franchise's 63rd year as a member of the National League and its 71st consecutive year of operation in Major League Baseball. The Reds won 69 games, lost 85, and finished sixth, drawing 604,197 spectators to Crosley Field, next-to-last in the eight-team league.

## Offseason

* October 4, 1951: Johnny Pramesa and Bob Usher were traded by the Reds to the Chicago Cubs for Smoky Burgess and Bob Borkowski.
* October 14, 1951: Jim Bolger was traded by the Reds to the Buffalo Bisons for Tom Acker and Moe Savransky.
* December 10, 1951: Smoky Burgess, Howie Fox and Connie Ryan were traded by the Reds to the Philadelphia Phillies for Andy Seminick, Eddie Pellagrini, Dick Sisler, and Niles Jordan.
* Prior to 1952 season: Charlie Rabe was signed as an amateur free agent by the Reds.

## Regular season

* July 29, 1952: Manager Luke Sewell, in his third full year at the helm, is fired with Cincinnati 39–59 (.398) and in seventh place, 26 games out of the league lead. Coach Earle Brucker Sr. takes control as interim manager and the Reds win three of five decisions under him.
* August 5, 1952: Baseball Hall of Fame batsman Rogers Hornsby, 56, is named permanent manager. He leads the Reds to a 27–24 (.529) record for the remainder of the year, enabling them to climb to sixth place.

### Season standings

vteNational League :
| Team | W | L | Pct. | GB | Home | Road |
| Brooklyn Dodgers | 96 | 57 | .627 | — | 45‍–‍33 | 51‍–‍24 |
| New York Giants | 92 | 62 | .597 | 4½ | 50‍–‍27 | 42‍–‍35 |
| St. Louis Cardinals | 88 | 66 | .571 | 8½ | 48‍–‍29 | 40‍–‍37 |
| Philadelphia Phillies | 87 | 67 | .565 | 9½ | 47‍–‍29 | 40‍–‍38 |
| Chicago Cubs | 77 | 77 | .500 | 19½ | 42‍–‍35 | 35‍–‍42 |
| Cincinnati Reds | 69 | 85 | .448 | 27½ | 38‍–‍39 | 31‍–‍46 |
| Boston Braves | 64 | 89 | .418 | 32 | 31‍–‍45 | 33‍–‍44 |
| Pittsburgh Pirates | 42 | 112 | .273 | 54½ | 23‍–‍54 | 19‍–‍58 |

### Record vs. opponents

1952 National League recordvte Sources: :
| Team | BOS | BR | CHC | CIN | NYG | PHI | PIT | STL |
| Boston | — | 3–18–1 | 12–10 | 9–13 | 9–13 | 9–13 | 15–7–1 | 7–15 |
| Brooklyn | 18–3–1 | — | 13–9–1 | 17–5 | 8–14 | 10–12 | 19–3 | 11–11 |
| Chicago | 10–12 | 9–13–1 | — | 13–9 | 10–12 | 10–12 | 14–8 | 11–11 |
| Cincinnati | 13–9 | 5–17 | 9–13 | — | 6–16 | 10–12 | 16–6 | 10–12 |
| New York | 13–9 | 14–8 | 12–10 | 16–6 | — | 10–12 | 15–7 | 12–10 |
| Philadelphia | 13–9 | 12–10 | 12–10 | 12–10 | 12–10 | — | 16–6 | 10–12 |
| Pittsburgh | 7–15–1 | 3–19 | 8–14 | 6–16 | 7–15 | 6–16 | — | 5–17 |
| St. Louis | 15–7 | 11–11 | 11–11 | 12–10 | 10–12 | 12–10 | 17–5 | — |

### Notable transactions

* May 13, 1952: Dick Sisler and Virgil Stallcup were traded by the Reds to the St. Louis Cardinals for Eddie Kazak and Wally Westlake.
* May 23, 1952: Kent Peterson and Johnny Wyrostek were traded by the Reds to the Philadelphia Phillies for Bubba Church.
* August 7, 1952: Wally Westlake was purchased from the Reds by the Cleveland Indians.
* August 28, 1952: Ewell Blackwell was traded by the Reds to the New York Yankees for Jim Greengrass, Bob Marquis, Ernie Nevel, Johnny Schmitz and $35,000.

### Roster
## 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 | Andy Seminick | 108 | 336 | 86 | .256 | 14 | 50 |
| 1B | Ted Kluszewski | 135 | 497 | 159 | .320 | 16 | 86 |
| 2B | Grady Hatton | 128 | 433 | 92 | .212 | 9 | 57 |
| SS | Roy McMillan | 154 | 540 | 132 | .244 | 7 | 57 |
| 3B | Bobby Adams | 154 | 637 | 180 | .283 | 6 | 48 |
| OF | Willard Marshall | 107 | 397 | 106 | .267 | 8 | 46 |
| OF | Bob Borkowski | 126 | 377 | 95 | .252 | 4 | 24 |
| OF | Joe Adcock | 117 | 378 | 105 | .278 | 13 | 52 |

#### 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 |
| Hank Edwards | 74 | 184 | 52 | .283 | 6 | 28 |
| Wally Westlake | 49 | 183 | 37 | .202 | 3 | 14 |
| Cal Abrams | 71 | 158 | 44 | .278 | 2 | 13 |
| Joe Rossi | 55 | 145 | 32 | .221 | 1 | 6 |
| Johnny Wyrostek | 30 | 106 | 25 | .236 | 1 | 10 |
| Eddie Pellagrini | 46 | 100 | 17 | .170 | 1 | 3 |
| Johnny Temple | 30 | 97 | 19 | .196 | 1 | 5 |
| Jim Greengrass | 18 | 68 | 21 | .309 | 5 | 24 |
| Wally Post | 19 | 58 | 9 | .155 | 2 | 7 |
| Hobie Landrith | 15 | 50 | 13 | .260 | 0 | 4 |
| Dixie Howell | 17 | 37 | 7 | .189 | 2 | 4 |
| Dick Sisler | 11 | 27 | 5 | .185 | 0 | 4 |
| Eddie Kazak | 13 | 15 | 1 | .067 | 0 | 0 |
| Virgil Stallcup | 2 | 1 | 0 | .000 | 0 | 0 |

### 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 |
| Ken Raffensberger | 38 | 247.0 | 17 | 13 | 2.81 | 93 |
| Harry Perkowski | 33 | 194.0 | 12 | 10 | 3.80 | 86 |
| Herm Wehmeier | 33 | 190.1 | 9 | 11 | 5.15 | 83 |
| Bubba Church | 29 | 153.1 | 5 | 9 | 4.34 | 47 |
| Ewell Blackwell | 23 | 102.0 | 3 | 12 | 5.38 | 48 |

#### Other 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 |
| Frank Hiller | 28 | 124.0 | 5 | 8 | 4.63 | 50 |
| Bud Podbielan | 24 | 86.2 | 4 | 5 | 2.80 | 22 |
| Niles Jordan | 3 | 6.1 | 0 | 1 | 9.95 | 2 |

#### Relief pitchers

Note: G = Games pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; SV = Saves; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts
| Player | G | W | L | SV | ERA | SO |
| Frank Smith | 53 | 12 | 11 | 7 | 3.75 | 77 |
| Joe Nuxhall | 37 | 1 | 4 | 1 | 3.22 | 52 |
| Bud Byerly | 12 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 5.11 | 14 |
| Phil Haugstad | 9 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6.75 | 2 |
| Johnny Schmitz | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0.00 | 3 |
| Ed Blake | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.00 | 0 |

## Farm system

| Level | Team | League | Manager |
| AA | Tulsa Oilers | Texas League | Joe Schultz |
| A | Columbia Reds | Sally League | Ernie White |
| B | Burlington Flints | Illinois–Indiana–Iowa League | Len Schulte |
| B | Salisbury Reds | Interstate League | Mike Blazo and Dick Porter |
| C | Ogden Reds | Pioneer League | Dee Moore |
| D | Dublin Green Sox | Georgia State League | Cyril Pfeifer, George Hearn and Jack Bearden |
| D | Mattoon Indians | Mississippi–Ohio Valley League | Walt Dunkovich, Charlie Popovich and Bob Carson |
| D | Lawton Reds | Sooner State League | Tuck McWilliams |