# 1891 Cincinnati Reds season

The 1891 Cincinnati Reds season was a season in American baseball. Shortly before the start of the baseball season, owner Al Johnson sold the club to John T. Brush. The team finished in a tie for last place in the National League with the Pittsburgh Pirates with a record of 56–81, 30.5 games behind the Boston Beaneaters.

## Regular season

After a fairly successful first season in the National League in 1890, the Reds looked to improve on their 77–55 record in 1891. The team brought back manager Tom Loftus for a second season.
Cincinnati had a new starting shortstop, as Germany Smith joined the team from the Brooklyn Bridegrooms. The light hitting Smith batted .191 with a homer and 47 RBI with the Bridegrooms in 1890. The Reds would also have third baseman Arlie Latham for the full season, as he had split the 1890 season between the Reds and Chicago Pirates of the Players' League. Latham had some big seasons with the St. Louis Browns of the American Association in the 1880s, leading the league in runs (152) in 1886, and stolen bases (109) in 1888. Veteran pitcher Old Hoss Radbourn joined the Reds after going 27–12 with a 3.31 with the Boston Reds of the Players' League in 1890. Radbourn had a huge season back in 1884 with the Providence Grays, going 59–12 with a 1.38 ERA, 73 complete games and striking out 441 hitters.
Bug Holliday rebounded from a substandard 1890 season by leading the team with a .319 average, nine homers and 84 RBI. Jocko Halligan, who joined the Reds in July, had a .312 average with three homers and 44 RBI in only 61 games. Latham hit .272 with seven homers and 53 RBI, as well as leading the team with 87 stolen bases. Tony Mullane led the pitching staff with 23 victories, while Billy Rhines finished the year 17–24 with a team best 2.87 ERA and 138 strikeouts.

### Season summary

The Reds started the season off losing four games in a row to their Ohio rivals, the Cleveland Spiders, which included a 23–4 loss. That set the tone for the season, as wins were scarce, as Cincinnati fell into the National League cellar. The Reds battled back, finishing off the season with a seven-game winning streak to move into a virtual tie with the Pittsburgh Pirates for seventh place. Both teams finished 30½ games behind the pennant winning Boston Beaneaters, but the Reds had a slightly better winning percentage by virtue of having played two more games than the Pirates.

### Season standings

vteNational League :
| Team | W | L | Pct. | GB | Home | Road |
| Boston Beaneaters | 87 | 51 | .630 | — | 51‍–‍20 | 36‍–‍31 |
| Chicago Colts | 82 | 53 | .607 | 3½ | 43‍–‍22 | 39‍–‍31 |
| New York Giants | 71 | 61 | .538 | 13 | 39‍–‍28 | 32‍–‍33 |
| Philadelphia Phillies | 68 | 69 | .496 | 18½ | 35‍–‍34 | 33‍–‍35 |
| Cleveland Spiders | 65 | 74 | .468 | 22½ | 40‍–‍28 | 25‍–‍46 |
| Brooklyn Grooms | 61 | 76 | .445 | 25½ | 41‍–‍31 | 20‍–‍45 |
| Cincinnati Reds | 56 | 81 | .409 | 30½ | 26‍–‍41 | 30‍–‍40 |
| Pittsburgh Pirates | 55 | 80 | .407 | 30½ | 32‍–‍34 | 23‍–‍46 |

### Record vs. opponents

1891 National League recordvte Sources: :
| Team | BOS | BRO | CHI | CIN | CLE | NYG | PHI | PIT |
| Boston | — | 15–5 | 7–13 | 11–9 | 11–9 | 15–5–1 | 12–7 | 16–3–1 |
| Brooklyn | 5–15 | — | 7–13 | 9–10 | 11–9 | 8–11 | 12–8 | 9–10 |
| Chicago | 13–7 | 13–7 | — | 14–6 | 16–4 | 5–13–1 | 9–10 | 12–6–1 |
| Cincinnati | 9–11 | 10–9 | 6–14 | — | 7–13 | 5–13–1 | 9–11 | 10–10 |
| Cleveland | 9–11 | 9–11 | 4–16 | 13–7 | — | 6–13–1 | 10–10–1 | 14–6 |
| New York | 5–15–1 | 11–8 | 13–5–1 | 13–5–1 | 13–6–1 | — | 9–10 | 7–12 |
| Philadelphia | 7–12 | 8–12 | 10–9 | 11–9 | 10–10–1 | 10–9 | — | 12–8 |
| Pittsburgh | 3–16–1 | 10–9 | 6–12–1 | 10–10 | 6–14 | 12–7 | 8–12 | — |

### Game log

Legend :
| Reds Win | Reds Loss | Game Tied/Postponed |
1891 Game Log: 56–81 (Home: 26–41; Away: 30–40) :
April: 2–6 (Home: 2–6; Away: 0–0)
#DateOpponentScoreStadiumAttendanceRecordStreak
1April 22Spiders3–6League Park4,0030-1L1
2April 23Spiders3–6League Park2,4570-2L2
3April 24Spiders5–6League Park1,2000-3L3
4April 25Spiders7–23League Park1,1000-4L4
5April 27Colts1–0League Park6501-4W1
6April 28Colts6–11League Park1,4501-5L1
7April 29Colts4–1League Park1,3002-5W1
8April 30Colts4–7League Park5002-6L1 :
May: 10–15 (Home: 9–10; Away: 1–5)
#DateOpponentScoreStadiumAttendanceRecordStreak
9May 1@ Spiders3–12League Park9,0002-7L2
10May 2@ Spiders7–4League Park3,0003-7W1
11May 4@ Spiders4–9League Park1,0003-8L1
12May 5@ Spiders10–15League Park8003-9L2
13May 6Pirates10–5League Park7244-9W1
14May 7Pirates2–4League Park1,3514-10L1
15May 8Pirates3–6League Park1,3484-11L2
16May 9Pirates7–2League Park1,7355-11W1
17May 11Grooms5–7League Park8465-12L1
18May 12Grooms7–18League Park9755-13L2
19May 13Grooms1–2League Park8505-14L3
20May 14Grooms4–0League Park1,3006-14W1
21May 15Beaneaters3–6League Park1,0006-15L1
22May 16Beaneaters8–3League Park2,4007-15W1
23May 18Beaneaters3–2League Park1,9888-15W2
24May 19Beaneaters16–7League Park1,8119-15W3
25May 21Giants4–6League Park1,2009-16L1
26May 22Giants8–3League Park1,37610-16W1
27May 23Giants2–7League Park1,58110-17L1
28May 25Phillies4–2League Park84711-17W1
29May 26Phillies1–5League Park82011-18L1
30May 27Phillies16–6League Park85612-18W1
31May 28Phillies5–6League Park20012-19L1
32May 30 1@ Beaneaters2–7South End Grounds3,10012-20L2
33May 30 2@ Beaneaters2–6South End Grounds10,90812-21L3 :
June: 10–14 (Home: 2–1; Away: 8–13)
#DateOpponentScoreStadiumAttendanceRecordStreak
34June 1@ Beaneaters5–2South End Grounds1,72113-21W1
35June 2@ Beaneaters10–8South End Grounds1,81614-21W2
36June 3@ Giants1–11Polo Grounds1,74514-22L1
37June 4@ Giants2–4Polo Grounds1,30014-23L2
38June 5@ Giants2–9Polo Grounds1,59514-24L3
39June 6@ Giants0–4Polo Grounds4,69214-25L4
40June 8@ Phillies6–3Philadelphia Base Ball Grounds3,30215-25W1
41June 9@ Phillies9–3Philadelphia Base Ball Grounds2,86416-25W2
42June 10@ Phillies3–1Philadelphia Base Ball Grounds2,55217-25W3
43June 11@ Phillies2–1Philadelphia Base Ball Grounds2,57618-25W4
44June 12@ Grooms2–7Eastern Park2,09218-26L1
45June 13@ Grooms1–11Eastern Park5,28118-27L2
46June 15@ Grooms13–9Eastern Park1,24519-27W1
47June 16@ Grooms3–6Eastern Park89019-28L1
-June 17@ PiratesPostponed (rain); Makeup: June 22
48June 18@ Pirates4–3Exposition Park1,34020-28W1
-June 19@ PiratesPostponed (rain); Makeup: July 29
49June 20@ Pirates8–13Exposition Park1,62320-29L1
50June 22@ Pirates3–4Exposition Park1,10020-30L2
51June 23@ Colts2–5South Side Park2,00020-31L3
52June 24@ Colts2–8South Side ParkN/A20-32L4
53June 25@ Colts2–4South Side Park2,10020-33L5
54June 26@ Colts7–11South Side Park1,90020-34L6
55June 27Spiders4–6League Park1,54120-35L7
56June 29Spiders3–1League Park95821-35W1
57June 30Spiders4–3League Park96922-35W2 :
July: 13–13 (Home: 7–9; Away: 6–4)
#DateOpponentScoreStadiumAttendanceRecordStreak
58July 1Pirates4–6League Park1,11622-36L1
59July 2Pirates0–1League Park1,08822-37L2
60July 3Pirates6–5League Park1,09123-37W1
61July 4 1Giants2–3League Park3,72223-38L1
62July 4 2Giants4–5League Park5,11323-39L2
63July 6Giants2–1League Park1,64024-39W1
64July 8Grooms9–5League Park1,53225-39W2
65July 9Grooms11–6League Park1,54526-39W3
66July 10Beaneaters2–5League Park1,60326-40L1
67July 11Beaneaters7–3League Park2,93427-40W1
68July 13Beaneaters0–6League Park1,52527-41L1
69July 14Phillies1–9League Park1,32227-42L2
70July 15Phillies6–4League Park1,19428-42W1
71July 16Phillies4–2League Park1,64629-42W2
72July 17@ Spiders8–12League Park1,20029-43L1
73July 18@ Spiders7–6League Park1,25030-43W1
74July 20@ Spiders2–1League Park1,25031-43W2
75July 22@ Colts8–16South Side Park1,60031-44L1
76July 23@ Colts4–2South Side Park1,40032-44W1
77July 24@ Colts7–11South Side Park3,40032-45L1
78July 25@ Pirates1–0Exposition Park1,58733-45W1
79July 27@ Pirates1–10Exposition Park1,25033-46L1
80July 28@ Pirates4–0Exposition Park77534-46W1
81July 29@ Pirates8–2Exposition Park1,12735-46W2
82July 30Colts0–1League Park2,06935-47L1
83July 31Colts4–8League Park1,86435-48L2 :
August: 7–17 (Home: 4–10; Away: 3–7)
#DateOpponentScoreStadiumAttendanceRecordStreak
84August 1Colts4–7League Park1,80535-49L3
85August 3@ Beaneaters7–0South End Grounds2,58236-49W1
86August 4@ Beaneaters6–10South End Grounds2,00936-50L1
87August 5@ Beaneaters1–4South End Grounds2,38336-51L2
88August 6@ Phillies1–4Philadelphia Base Ball Grounds2,89736-52L3
89August 7@ Phillies5–13Philadelphia Base Ball Grounds2,89836-53L4
90August 8@ Phillies1–9Philadelphia Base Ball Grounds7,43936-54L5
91August 10@ Grooms8–6Eastern Park1,22237-54W1
92August 11@ Grooms6–8Eastern Park82137-55L1
-August 12@ GroomsPostponed (rain); Makeup: September 8
93August 13@ Giants7–4Polo Grounds1,69538-55W1
94August 14@ Giants1–2Polo Grounds1,42738-56L1
95August 15@ Giants4–4Polo Grounds4,13838-56L1
96August 17Spiders3–2League Park50039-56W1
97August 18Spiders2–6League Park96139-57L1
98August 19Spiders3–4League ParkN/A39-58L2
99August 20Pirates1–2League Park70839-59L3
100August 21Pirates0–2League Park69639-60L4
101August 22Pirates1–2League Park20039-61L5
102August 24Giants2–3League Park86139-62L6
103August 25Giants12–4League Park1,08640-62W1
104August 26Giants1–6League Park1,13640-63L1
105August 27Grooms10–3League Park65041-63W1
106August 28Grooms8–1League Park1,05642-63W2
107August 29Grooms4–7League Park1,54942-64L1
-August 30BeaneatersPostponed (unknown reason); Makeup: August 31
108August 31Beaneaters3–5League Park1,41242-65L2 :
September/October: 14–16 (Home: 2–5; Away: 12–11)
#DateOpponentScoreStadiumAttendanceRecordStreak
109September 1Beaneaters4–1League Park88943-65W1
110September 2Beaneaters7–0League Park1,10644-65W2
111September 3Phillies8–13League Park62044-66L1
-September 4PhilliesPostponed (rain; site change); Makeup: September 19
112September 5Phillies3–5League Park98944-67L2
113September 7 1@ Giants8–7Polo Grounds1,41645-67W1
114September 7 2@ Giants0–6Polo Grounds7,20945-68L1
-September 8@ GiantsPostponed (unknown reason); Makeup: September 7
115September 8@ Grooms6–4Eastern Park75946-68W1
116September 9@ Giants3–7Polo Grounds1,15246-69L1
117September 10@ Beaneaters6–18South End Grounds1,66846-70L2
118September 11@ Beaneaters3–5South End Grounds1,59746-71L3
119September 12@ Beaneaters0–9South End Grounds3,11646-72L4
120September 14@ Grooms11–5Eastern Park71047-72W1
-September 15@ GroomsPostponed (rain); Makeup: September 16
121September 16 1@ Grooms0–1Eastern ParkN/A47-73L1
122September 16 2@ Grooms8–4Eastern Park1,29248-73W1
123September 17@ Phillies4–6Philadelphia Base Ball Grounds1,49148-75L1
124September 18@ Phillies6–11Philadelphia Base Ball Grounds1,60548-76L2
125September 19 1@ Phillies8–5Philadelphia Base Ball GroundsN/A49-75W1
126September 19 2@ Phillies6–8Philadelphia Base Ball Grounds5,45549-76L1
127September 21Colts4–5League Park88449-77L2
128September 22Colts1–4League Park90649-78L3
129September 23Colts0–9League Park80049-79L4
130September 24@ Spiders1–5League Park1,35049-80L5
131September 25@ Spiders8–16League Park1,20049-81L6
132September 26@ Spiders7–4League Park1,80050-81W1
133September 28@ Pirates7–5Exposition Park1,78251-81W2
134September 29@ Pirates7–6Exposition Park1,40052-81W3
135September 30@ Pirates2–1Exposition Park1,14753-81W4
136October 1@ Colts6–1South Side Park2,00054-81W5
137October 2@ Colts17–16South Side Park1,20055-81W6
138October 3@ Colts15–9South Side Park1,00056-81W7 :

### 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 | Jerry Harrington | 92 | 333 | 76 | .228 | 2 | 41 |
| 1B | John Reilly | 135 | 546 | 132 | .242 | 4 | 64 |
| 2B | Bid McPhee | 138 | 562 | 144 | .256 | 6 | 38 |
| SS | Germany Smith | 138 | 512 | 103 | .201 | 3 | 53 |
| 3B | Arlie Latham | 135 | 533 | 145 | .272 | 7 | 53 |
| OF | Jocko Halligan | 61 | 247 | 77 | .312 | 3 | 44 |
| OF | Lefty Marr | 72 | 286 | 74 | .259 | 0 | 32 |
| OF | Bug Holliday | 111 | 442 | 141 | .319 | 9 | 84 |

#### 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 |
| Jim Keenan | 75 | 252 | 51 | .202 | 4 | 33 |
| Pete Browning | 55 | 216 | 74 | .343 | 0 | 33 |
| Mike Slattery | 41 | 158 | 33 | .209 | 1 | 16 |
| Jim Curtiss | 27 | 108 | 29 | .269 | 1 | 13 |
| Bob Clark | 16 | 54 | 6 | .111 | 0 | 3 |
| Pop Corkhill | 1 | 4 | 0 | .000 | 0 | 0 |
| Frank Foreman | 1 | 4 | 1 | .250 | 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 |
| Tony Mullane | 51 | 426.1 | 23 | 26 | 3.23 | 124 |
| Billy Rhines | 48 | 372.2 | 17 | 24 | 2.87 | 138 |
| Old Hoss Radbourn | 26 | 218.0 | 11 | 13 | 4.25 | 54 |
| Ed Crane | 15 | 116.2 | 4 | 8 | 4.09 | 51 |
| Jesse Duryea | 10 | 77.0 | 1 | 9 | 5.38 | 23 |
| Clarence Stephens | 1 | 8.0 | 0 | 1 | 7.88 | 3 |