Cincinnati Baseball Historical Review No. 2
Ohio River Hits, The Other McPhee, Reds Trade for Three Future HOF'ers
As the sun brings her warmth, showing signs of a great thaw, a new beginning is upon us and baseball is back!
I thought I’d go ahead and publish another Cincinnati Baseball Historical Review post before Opening Day. Here are some random little Queen City baseball nuggets for you to enjoy.
This is perhaps one of my all-time favorite Cincinnati baseball gems: Baseballs that were hit into the Ohio River in greater Cincinnati by a professional club.
My research indicates it happened twice.
129 years apart.
You may be familiar with the most recent one. It was August 10, 2004. Adam Dunn smashed a 535 ft. home run over the batter’s eye that bounced off Mehring Way and ended up on a piece of driftwood in the Ohio River. Technically, that ball went to Kentucky (the Ohio/Kentucky border being in the river). Reds employee Tom Tuerck retrieved the ball and it is currently at the Reds Hall of Fame and Museum. It is the longest home run ever hit at GABP.
The other river shot was by none other than George Wright. In 1875, the former Cincinnati Red Stocking was a member of the Boston Red Stockings. In June, Boston made a trip west to play the local clubs which included the Ludlows and the Covington Stars, two professional baseball clubs that filled the baseball void in the greater Cincinnati area when there was no Cincinnati club to speak of. You can learn about the Covington Stars in my film Our Shining Stars here.
On June 1, 1875 in a game at the Ludlow Base Ball Park vs. the Ludlow nine, George Wright sent a ball over the fence in centerfield which proceeded to roll into the Ohio River. Since the dimensions of the park were small, per ground rules, any ball that cleared the RF fence was a ground rule double. Wright’s long ball must have been more or less a dead center shot, which meant it was up to umpire as to which side of the fences the ball carried over. In this instance, Wright was awarded a double.
The Ludlow park was situated on River Road and West Street, with the outfield fences only yards from the banks of the Ohio.
Although nearly impossible to know the exact distance of Wright’s Ohio River ball, we can guesstimate that if it probably went 305-320 ft. before it rolled down the embankment and into the water. This puts the distance somewhere around 400-433 ft.
In 1882, the Reds won their first championship playing in the American Association. One of the stars of that club was HOF’er John “Bid” McPhee. Biddy had been living/working in Akron during the offseason, but he loved Cincinnati so much that he decided in 1884 to not only make it his permanent home, but to bring along the rest of the family. In fact, his younger brother Horace signed on as a member of the Cincinnati Reserves, a JV unit that operated like a Triple A team for the main club.
Speaking of 1884, spring training wasn’t exactly the organized training regiment that we know today. Many Cincinnati players frequented the gym and got in shape by playing racquetball or hand-ball. The Reds would meet at 4th and Sycamore where a makeshift court was located. In fact, the players enjoyed it so much that the club hand a court built at League Park (the predecessor to Palace of the Fans at Findlay and Western).
When Great American Ball Park was being designed in the late 1990s, The designers used green seats in their digital renderings. Looks a little different, huh?
During the League Park era, ( 1884-1902) William Kohlhoff was put in charge of the bar under the grandstand. He didn’t have to go far to get to the park. His saloon and grocery was right across the street at 1710 Western Ave.
Before Bill McKechnie won a championship for the Reds in 1940, he got familiar with the organization as a player. On July 20, 1916, the Reds got Christy Mathewson and Edd Roush from NY Giants for Bucky Herzog and Wade Killefer. Mathewson insisted that future Reds manager Bill McKechnie be included in deal. All three would become HOF’ers.
The next edition of Cincinnati Baseball Historical Review will be on Opening Day, April 1. The Queen City Historical Review returns next week.
Can't wait for the next gem!