# 1944 Cincinnati Reds season

The 1944 Cincinnati Reds season was a season in American baseball. It consisted of the Cincinnati Reds attempting to win the National League, although finishing in third place. They finished the season with 89 wins and 65 losses.

## Offseason

* Prior to 1944 season (exact date unknown)
** Kent Peterson was signed as an amateur free agent by the Reds.
** Kermit Wahl was signed as an amateur free agent by the Reds.

## Regular season

On June 10, Joe Nuxhall made his major league debut. At age 15, he is (as of the 2022 season) the youngest confirmed player ever to play Major League Baseball. He pitched just two-thirds of an inning, giving up 5 runs on 2 hits and 5 walks. He would not appear in the majors again until 1952.

### Season standings

vteNational League :
| Team | W | L | Pct. | GB | Home | Road |
| St. Louis Cardinals | 105 | 49 | .682 | — | 54‍–‍22 | 51‍–‍27 |
| Pittsburgh Pirates | 90 | 63 | .588 | 14½ | 49‍–‍28 | 41‍–‍35 |
| Cincinnati Reds | 89 | 65 | .578 | 16 | 45‍–‍33 | 44‍–‍32 |
| Chicago Cubs | 75 | 79 | .487 | 30 | 35‍–‍42 | 40‍–‍37 |
| New York Giants | 67 | 87 | .435 | 38 | 39‍–‍36 | 28‍–‍51 |
| Boston Braves | 65 | 89 | .422 | 40 | 38‍–‍40 | 27‍–‍49 |
| Brooklyn Dodgers | 63 | 91 | .409 | 42 | 37‍–‍39 | 26‍–‍52 |
| Philadelphia Phillies | 61 | 92 | .399 | 43½ | 29‍–‍49 | 32‍–‍43 |

### Record vs. opponents

1944 National League recordvte Sources: :
| Team | BSN | BRO | CHC | CIN | NYG | PHI | PIT | STL |
| Boston | — | 9–13 | 11–11 | 8–14 | 9–13 | 11–11–1 | 9–13 | 8–14 |
| Brooklyn | 13–9 | — | 8–14–1 | 8–14 | 10–12 | 16–6 | 4–18 | 4–18 |
| Chicago | 11–11 | 14–8–1 | — | 9–13–1 | 10–12 | 13–9 | 12–10–1 | 6–16 |
| Cincinnati | 14–8 | 14–8 | 13–9–1 | — | 15–7 | 13–19 | 12–10 | 8–14 |
| New York | 13–9 | 12–10 | 12–10 | 7–15 | — | 10–12 | 7–15–1 | 6–16 |
| Philadelphia | 11–11–1 | 6–16 | 9–13 | 9–13 | 12–10 | — | 9–12 | 5–17 |
| Pittsburgh | 13–9 | 18–4 | 10–12–1 | 10–12 | 15–7–1 | 12–9 | — | 12–10–3 |
| St. Louis | 14–8 | 18–4 | 16–6 | 14–8 | 16–6 | 17–5 | 10–12–3 | — |

### 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 | Ray Mueller | 155 | 555 | 159 | .286 | 10 | 73 |
| 1B | Frank McCormick | 153 | 581 | 177 | .305 | 20 | 102 |
| 2B | Woody Williams | 155 | 653 | 157 | .240 | 1 | 35 |
| 3B | Steve Mesner | 121 | 414 | 100 | .242 | 1 | 47 |
| SS | Eddie Miller | 155 | 536 | 112 | .209 | 4 | 55 |
| OF | Gee Walker | 121 | 478 | 133 | .278 | 5 | 62 |
| OF | Eric Tipton | 140 | 479 | 144 | .301 | 3 | 36 |
| OF | Dain Clay | 110 | 356 | 89 | .250 | 0 | 17 |

#### 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 |
| Max Marshall | 66 | 229 | 56 | .245 | 4 | 23 |
| Tony Criscola | 64 | 157 | 36 | .229 | 0 | 14 |
| Chuck Aleno | 50 | 127 | 21 | .165 | 1 | 15 |
| Estel Crabtree | 58 | 98 | 28 | .286 | 0 | 11 |
| Jo-Jo White | 24 | 85 | 20 | .235 | 0 | 5 |
| Buck Fausett | 13 | 31 | 3 | .097 | 0 | 1 |
| Joe Just | 11 | 11 | 2 | .182 | 0 | 0 |
| Chucho Ramos | 4 | 10 | 5 | .500 | 0 | 0 |
| Len Rice | 10 | 4 | 0 | .000 | 0 | 0 |
| Jodie Beeler | 3 | 3 | 0 | .000 | 0 | 0 |
| Al Lakeman | 1 | 1 | 0 | .000 | 0 | 0 |
| Kermit Wahl | 4 | 1 | 0 | .000 | 0 | 0 |
| Mike Kosman | 1 | 0 | 0 | ---- | 0 | 0 |
| Johnny Riddle | 1 | 0 | 0 | ---- | 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 |
| Bucky Walters | 34 | 285.0 | 23 | 8 | 2.40 | 77 |
| Ed Heusser | 30 | 192.2 | 13 | 11 | 2.38 | 42 |
| Harry Gumbert | 24 | 155.1 | 10 | 8 | 3.30 | 40 |
| Elmer Riddle | 4 | 26.2 | 2 | 2 | 4.05 | 6 |
| Joe Beggs | 1 | 9.0 | 1 | 0 | 2.00 | 2 |

#### 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 |
| Clyde Shoun | 38 | 202.2 | 13 | 10 | 3.02 | 55 |
| Tommy de la Cruz | 34 | 191.1 | 9 | 9 | 3.25 | 65 |
| Arnold Carter | 33 | 148.2 | 11 | 7 | 2.60 | 33 |
| Jim Konstanty | 20 | 112.2 | 6 | 4 | 2.80 | 19 |
| Bob Ferguson | 9 | 16.0 | 0 | 3 | 9.00 | 9 |
| Bob Katz | 6 | 18.1 | 0 | 1 | 3.93 | 4 |
| Bill Lohrman | 2 | 1.2 | 0 | 1 | 27.00 | 0 |

#### 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 |
| Bob Malloy | 9 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 3.09 | 4 |
| Buck Fausett | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5.91 | 3 |
| Howie Fox | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.00 | 0 |
| Kent Peterson | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.00 | 0 |
| Joe Nuxhall | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 67.50 | 0 |
| Jake Eisenhart | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.00 | 0 |

## Farm system

| Level | Team | League | Manager |
| AA | Syracuse Chiefs | International League | Jewel Ens |
| A1 | Birmingham Barons | Southern Association | Johnny Riddle and Ted Petoskey |