# 1951 Cincinnati Reds season

The 1951 Cincinnati Reds season was a season in American baseball. The team finished sixth in the National League with a record of 68–86, 28+1⁄2 games behind the New York Giants.

## Offseason

* Prior to 1951 season: Bobby Durnbaugh was signed as an amateur free agent by the Reds.

## Regular season
### Season standings

vteNational League :
| Team | W | L | Pct. | GB | Home | Road |
| New York Giants | 98 | 59 | .624 | — | 50‍–‍28 | 48‍–‍31 |
| Brooklyn Dodgers | 97 | 60 | .618 | 1 | 49‍–‍29 | 48‍–‍31 |
| St. Louis Cardinals | 81 | 73 | .526 | 15½ | 44‍–‍34 | 37‍–‍39 |
| Boston Braves | 76 | 78 | .494 | 20½ | 42‍–‍35 | 34‍–‍43 |
| Philadelphia Phillies | 73 | 81 | .474 | 23½ | 38‍–‍39 | 35‍–‍42 |
| Cincinnati Reds | 68 | 86 | .442 | 28½ | 35‍–‍42 | 33‍–‍44 |
| Pittsburgh Pirates | 64 | 90 | .416 | 32½ | 32‍–‍45 | 32‍–‍45 |
| Chicago Cubs | 62 | 92 | .403 | 34½ | 32‍–‍45 | 30‍–‍47 |

### Record vs. opponents

1951 National League recordvte Sources: :
| Team | BOS | BR | CHC | CIN | NYG | PHI | PIT | STL |
| Boston | — | 10–12–1 | 10–12 | 10–12 | 8–14 | 12–10 | 13–9 | 13–9 |
| Brooklyn | 12–10–1 | — | 14–8 | 14–8 | 14–11 | 15–7 | 10–12 | 18–4 |
| Chicago | 12–10 | 8–14 | — | 10–12 | 7–15 | 7–15 | 9–13 | 9–13–1 |
| Cincinnati | 12–10 | 8–14 | 12–10 | — | 5–17 | 11–11 | 12–10–1 | 8–14 |
| New York | 14–8 | 11–14 | 15–7 | 17–5 | — | 16–6 | 14–8 | 11–11 |
| Philadelphia | 10–12 | 7–15 | 15–7 | 11–11 | 6–16 | — | 15–7 | 9–13 |
| Pittsburgh | 9–13 | 12–10 | 13–9 | 10–12–1 | 8–14 | 7–15 | — | 5–17 |
| St. Louis | 9–13 | 4–18 | 13–9–1 | 14–8 | 11–11 | 13–9 | 17–5 | — |

### Notable transactions

* June 1951: Bob Nieman was selected off waivers from the Reds by the Oklahoma City Indians.

### 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 | Dixie Howell | 77 | 207 | 52 | .251 | 2 | 18 |
| 1B | Ted Kluszewski | 154 | 607 | 157 | .259 | 13 | 77 |
| 2B | Connie Ryan | 136 | 473 | 112 | .237 | 16 | 53 |
| SS | Virgil Stallcup | 121 | 428 | 103 | .241 | 8 | 49 |
| 3B | Grady Hatton | 96 | 331 | 84 | .254 | 4 | 37 |
| OF | Joe Adcock | 113 | 395 | 96 | .243 | 10 | 47 |
| OF | Johnny Wyrostek | 142 | 537 | 167 | .311 | 2 | 61 |
| OF | Lloyd Merriman | 114 | 359 | 87 | .242 | 5 | 36 |

#### 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 |
| Bobby Adams | 125 | 403 | 107 | .266 | 5 | 24 |
| Bob Usher | 114 | 303 | 63 | .208 | 5 | 25 |
| Johnny Pramesa | 72 | 227 | 52 | .229 | 6 | 22 |
| Roy McMillan | 85 | 199 | 42 | .211 | 1 | 8 |
| Hank Edwards | 41 | 127 | 40 | .315 | 3 | 20 |
| Bob Scheffing | 47 | 122 | 31 | .254 | 2 | 14 |
| Barney McCosky | 25 | 50 | 16 | .320 | 1 | 11 |
| Wally Post | 15 | 41 | 9 | .220 | 1 | 7 |
| Sammy Meeks | 23 | 35 | 8 | .229 | 0 | 2 |
| Danny Litwhiler | 12 | 29 | 8 | .276 | 2 | 3 |
| Hobie Landrith | 4 | 13 | 5 | .385 | 0 | 0 |
| Ted Tappe | 4 | 3 | 1 | .333 | 0 | 0 |
| Jim Bolger | 2 | 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 |
| Ken Raffensberger | 42 | 248.2 | 16 | 17 | 3.44 | 81 |
| Ewell Blackwell | 38 | 232.2 | 16 | 15 | 3.44 | 120 |
| Howie Fox | 40 | 228.0 | 9 | 14 | 3.83 | 57 |
| Willie Ramsdell | 31 | 196.0 | 9 | 17 | 4.04 | 88 |

#### 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 |
| Herm Wehmeier | 39 | 184.2 | 7 | 10 | 3.70 | 93 |
| Harry Perkowski | 35 | 102.0 | 3 | 6 | 2.82 | 56 |

#### 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 | 50 | 5 | 5 | 11 | 3.20 | 34 |
| Bud Byerly | 40 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 3.27 | 28 |
| Eddie Erautt | 30 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5.72 | 20 |
| Kent Peterson | 9 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 6.52 | 5 |
| Ed Blake | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 11.25 | 1 |
| Jim Blackburn | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 17.18 | 1 |

## Farm system

| Level | Team | League | Manager |
| AA | Tulsa Oilers | Texas League | Al Vincent |
| A | Charleston Senators | Central League | Ernie White |
| A | Columbia Reds | Sally League | Buddy Hancken |
| C | Ogden Reds | Pioneer League | Cecil Scheffel |
| D | Welch Miners | Appalachian League | Mike Blazo |