# 1878 Cincinnati Reds season

The 1878 Cincinnati Reds season was a season in American baseball. The team finished second in the National League with a record of 37–23, four games behind the Boston Red Caps.

## Regular season

After finishing their first two seasons in the National League in last place, the Reds were hoping for some improvement in the 1878 season. Cincinnati signed Cal McVey of the Chicago White Stockings to become the team's new third baseman, and new manager. Catcher Deacon White of the Boston Red Caps signed with Cincinnati. White led the National League with a .387 batting average, 103 hits, eleven triples, 49 RBI, and a .545 slugging percentage with the Red Caps in 1877. White also led the National League with 60 RBI while playing for the White Stockings in 1876. On the mound, 23-year-old Will White was signed by the Reds. White appeared in three games with the Boston Red Caps in 1877, going 2–1 with a 3.00 ERA.
Charley Jones had another very solid season with the Reds, as he had a .310 batting average, along with a team high three home runs and 39 RBI. White saw his production slip, however, he still hit .314 with 29 RBI. Player-manager McVey was solid with a .306 average and two home runs along with 28 RBI. Rookie King Kelly hit .283 with 27 RBI. White had a spectacular season, going 30–21 with a 1.79 ERA in 468 innings pitched.

### Season summary

The Reds opened the season with a six-game winning streak, and stayed hot in their first twenty games, going 15–5, and were sitting in first place in the National League. Cincinnati then went on a six-game losing streak, falling to 15–11, and out of first place. The Reds never reclaimed first place; however, they finished the season strong, including a nine-game winning streak late in the year, to finish in second place with a 37–23 record, five games behind the first place Boston Red Caps.

### Season standings

vteNational League :
| Team | W | L | Pct. | GB | Home | Road |
| Boston Red Caps | 41 | 19 | .683 | — | 23‍–‍7 | 18‍–‍12 |
| Cincinnati Reds | 37 | 23 | .617 | 4 | 25‍–‍8 | 12‍–‍15 |
| Providence Grays | 33 | 27 | .550 | 8 | 17‍–‍13 | 16‍–‍14 |
| Chicago White Stockings | 30 | 30 | .500 | 11 | 17‍–‍18 | 13‍–‍12 |
| Indianapolis Blues | 24 | 36 | .400 | 17 | 10‍–‍17 | 14‍–‍19 |
| Milwaukee Grays | 15 | 45 | .250 | 26 | 7‍–‍18 | 8‍–‍27 |

### Record vs. opponents

1878 National League recordvte Sources: :
| Team | BOS | CHI | CIN | IND | MIL | PRV |
| Boston | — | 8–4 | 6–6 | 10–2 | 11–1 | 6–6 |
| Chicago | 4–8 | — | 2–10 | 8–4 | 10–2 | 6–6–1 |
| Cincinnati | 6–6 | 10–2 | — | 4–8–1 | 8–4 | 9–3 |
| Indianapolis | 2–10 | 4–8 | 8–4–1 | — | 8–4–1 | 2–10–1 |
| Milwaukee | 1–11 | 2–10 | 4–8 | 4–8–1 | — | 4–8 |
| Providence | 6–6 | 6–6–1 | 3–9 | 10–2–1 | 8–4 | — |

### Game log

Legend :
| Reds Win | Reds Loss | Game Tied/Postponed |
1878 Game Log: 37–23 (Home: 25–8; Away: 12–15) :
May: 11–3 (Home: 7–1; Away: 4–2)
#DateOpponentScoreStadiumAttendanceRecordStreak
1May 1Milwaukee Grays6–4Avenue GroundsN/A1–0W1
2May 2Milwaukee Grays6–2Avenue GroundsN/A2–0W2
3May 4Milwaukee Grays4–1Avenue GroundsN/A3–0W3
4May 7White Stockings4–3Avenue GroundsN/A4–0W4
5May 9White Stockings9–1Avenue GroundsN/A5–0W5
6May 11White Stockings4–1Avenue GroundsN/A6–0W6
7May 14@ Milwaukee Grays5–8Eclipse ParkN/A6–1L1
8May 16@ Milwaukee Grays8–12Eclipse ParkN/A6–2L2
9May 18@ Milwaukee Grays10–2Eclipse ParkN/A7–2W1
10May 21@ White Stockings13–2Lakefront Park2,1008–2W2
11May 23@ White Stockings7–3Lakefront Park2,5009–2W3
12May 25@ White Stockings10–8Lakefront Park3,00010–2W4
13May 28Blues3–11Avenue GroundsN/A10–3L1
14May 30Blues4–1Avenue GroundsN/A11–3W1 :
June: 4–8 (Home: 0–1; Away: 4–7)
#DateOpponentScoreStadiumAttendanceRecordStreak
15June 1Blues5–6Avenue GroundsN/A11–4L1
16June 4@ Blues3–9South Street ParkN/A11–5L2
17June 6@ Blues11–4South Stret ParkN/A12–5W1
–June 8@ BluesPostponed (rain); Makeup: June 26
–June 11@ Providence GraysPostponed (unknown reason); Makeup: June 14
18June 13@ Providence Grays2–0Messer Street GroundsN/A13–5W2
19June 14@ Providence Grays4–3Messer Street GroundsN/A14–5W3
20June 15@ Providence Grays11–3Messer Street GroundsN/A15–5W4
21June 17@ Red Caps2–4South End GroundsN/A15–6L1
22June 20@ Red Caps0–5South End GroundsN/A15–7L2
–June 22@ Red CapsPostponed (rain); Makeup: July 22
–June 25@ BluesPostponed (unknown reason); Makeup: June 28
23June 26@ Blues1–5South Stret ParkN/A15–8L3
24June 27@ Blues3–7South Stret ParkN/A15–9L4
25June 28@ Blues5–9South Stret ParkN/A15–10L5
26June 29@ Blues2–10South Stret ParkN/A15–11L6 :
July: 7–7 (Home: 6–3; Away: 1–4)
#DateOpponentScoreStadiumAttendanceRecordStreak
27July 2Blues7–7Avenue GroundsN/A15-11L6
28July 4Blues5–3Avenue GroundsN/A16–11W1
29July 5Blues4–3Avenue GroundsN/A17–11W2
30July 6Blues5–6Avenue GroundsN/A17–12L1
31July 9Providence Grays12–4Avenue GroundsN/A18–12W1
32July 11Providence Grays2–13Avenue GroundsN/A18–13L1
–July 13Providence GraysPostponed (unknown reason); Makeup: July 15
33July 15Providence Grays13–9Avenue GroundsN/A19–13W1
34July 16Red Caps5–3Avenue GroundsN/A20–13W2
35July 18Red Caps4–1Avenue GroundsN/A21–13W3
36July 20Red Caps0–1Avenue GroundsN/A21–14L1
37July 22@ Red Caps7–8South End GroundsN/A21–15L2
38July 23@ Red Caps4–11South End GroundsN/A21–16L3
39July 25@ Red Caps9–10South End GroundsN/A21–17L4
40July 27@ Red Caps3–2South End GroundsN/A22–17W1
–July 30@ Providence GraysPostponed (unknown reason); Makeup: July 31
41July 31@ Providence Grays3–9Messer Street GroundsN/A22–18L1 :
August: 9–4 (Home: 8–3; Away: 1–1)
#DateOpponentScoreStadiumAttendanceRecordStreak
–August 1@ Providence GraysPostponed (unknown reason); Makeup: August 2
42August 2@ Providence Grays3–6Messer Street GroundsN/A22–19L2
43August 3@ Providence Grays4–0Messer Street GroundsN/A23–19W1
–August 6@ Milwaukee GraysPostponed (unknown reason); Makeup: August 12 (site change)
–August 8@ Milwaukee GraysPostponed (unknown reason); Makeup: August 14 (site change)
44August 10Milwaukee Grays9–0Avenue GroundsN/A24–19W2
45August 12Milwaukee Grays6–5Avenue GroundsN/A25–19W3
46August 13Milwaukee Grays7–10Avenue GroundsN/A25–20L1
47August 14Milwaukee Grays5–6Avenue GroundsN/A25–21L2
48August 15Milwaukee Grays13–2Avenue GroundsN/A26–21W1
49August 17Milwaukee Grays5–2Avenue GroundsN/A27–21W2
–August 20White StockingsPostponed (unknown reason); Makeup: August 21
50August 21White Stockings4–7Avenue GroundsN/A27–22L1
51August 22White Stockings5–3Avenue GroundsN/A28–22W1
52August 24White Stockings7–5Avenue GroundsN/A29–22W2
53August 27Providence Grays5–1Avenue GroundsN/A30–22W3
54August 29Providence Grays2–0Avenue GroundsN/A31–22W4
–August 31Providence GraysPostponed (unknown reason); Makeup: September 2 :
September: 6–1 (Home: 4–0; Away: 2–1)
#DateOpponentScoreStadiumAttendanceRecordStreak
55September 2Providence Grays6–2Avenue GroundsN/A32–22W5
56September 3Red Caps3–0Avenue GroundsN/A33–22W6
57September 5Red Caps5–2Avenue GroundsN/A34–22W7
58September 7Red Caps6–1Avenue GroundsN/A35–22W8
–September 10@ White StockingsPostponed (unknown reason); Makeup: September 11
59September 11@ White Stockings2–0Lakefront ParkN/A36–22W9
60September 12@ White Stockings2–9Lakefront ParkN/A36–23L1
61September 14@ White Stockings9–6Lakefront ParkN/A37–23W1 :

### 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 | Deacon White | 61 | 258 | 81 | .314 | 0 | 29 |
| 1B | Chub Sullivan | 61 | 244 | 63 | .258 | 0 | 20 |
| 2B | Joe Gerhardt | 60 | 259 | 77 | .297 | 0 | 28 |
| 3B | Cal McVey | 61 | 271 | 83 | .306 | 2 | 28 |
| SS | Billy Geer | 61 | 237 | 52 | .219 | 0 | 20 |
| OF | Charley Jones | 61 | 261 | 81 | .310 | 3 | 39 |
| OF | King Kelly | 60 | 237 | 67 | .283 | 0 | 27 |
| OF | Lip Pike | 31 | 145 | 47 | .324 | 0 | 11 |

#### 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 |
| Buttercup Dickerson | 29 | 123 | 38 | .309 | 0 | 9 |

### 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 |
| Will White | 52 | 468.0 | 30 | 21 | 1.79 | 169 |
| Bobby Mitchell | 9 | 80.0 | 7 | 2 | 2.14 | 51 |