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DETAILS |
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Name |
Cincinnati
Unions (Outlaw Reds) |
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Operated |
1884 |
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Leagues |
Union
Association |
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Ballparks |
Union Park
(formerly Bank Street Grounds) |
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Championships |
None |
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STATISTICS |
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SEASON |
LEAGUE |
GP |
W |
L |
T |
WP |
RANK |
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1884 |
Union. As. |
105 |
69 |
36 |
0 |
.657 |
3 |
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In 1884, a new
major league sprung up called the Union
Association. The UA planned to go head-to-head
with the other established major leagues of the
time: the National League & the American
Association. The UA placed a team in Cincinnati
whose nickname is now known as the Outlaw Reds.
The Outlaw
Reds, actually called the Unions, were owned by Justus Thorner.
Thorner had previously been the owner of the
Cincinnati Reds of the National League,
and the
Cincinnati Reds of the American
Association. Thorner's first order of business was to sign
players. The Outlaw Reds were built by raiding
established teams from both the American
Association and the National League. Many Outlaw
Reds came from the NL Cleveland Blues franchise.
The next task was to find a ballpark. Thorner
signed a lease with the owners of the Bank
Street Grounds ballpark and evicted his old
team, the AA Reds. The Bank Street Grounds were
renamed the Union Grounds in honor of the Union
Association. The evicted AA Reds needed a new
ballpark and chose the site of an old brickyard
on Western Avenue & Findley just a couple blocks
away from the newly christened Union Park. The
AA Reds hastily erected a new ballpark and
dubbed it American Park.
Not only did this turn of events give Cincinnati
two major league baseball teams for the 1884
season, but these two teams also played within a
couple of blocks of each other. In many cases,
the AA
Reds & UA Outlaw Reds played home games
on the same day at the same time. Many times
fans heading to one ballpark would be accosted
by ruffians and forced to go to the other game.
And theoretically,
if the Outlaw Reds were losing badly, a
spectator could leave Union Park, walk over to
American Park and catch the end of the
Reds
game.
Midway through the season, Thorner and the
Outlaw Reds raided the American Association &
the National League a second time and modified
the team into a mid season juggernaut. Despite
the surge in victories, it was too late to catch
the St. Louis Maroons. Henry Lucas, the owner of
the Maroons, was also the Union Association's
founder & president. Lucas created the 1884
season schedule in order to stack the deck in
his club's favor, resulting in the Maroons 21-0
start. By midsummer, no team could catch the
Maroons. Lucas may have created the Union
Association, but he also destroyed it.
At the conclusion of the Union Association's
only season, the Outlaw Reds finished the year
in second place with a record of 69-36 and
drawing 41,000 fans for the entire season, which
ranked fifth in the league. The club finished 21
games behind the Union Association champion St.
Louis Maroons despite being the powerhouse of
the league during the second half of the season.
At the conclusion of the 1884 season, the
Maroons and the Outlaw Reds decided to play a
post season game against each other. The Outlaw
Reds did not fair too well against the Maroons
during the regular season, winning only four
games out of sixteen. On October 20, 1884 the
Maroons defeated the Outlaw Reds 2-1 in the final Union Association game.
When it became clear that the Union Association
was going to fold, the owners of the Outlaw Reds
(Justus Thorner & John McLean) planned to move
the team into the National League to replace the
dreadful Detroit Wolverines who suffered from
financial problems due to poor play on the
field. The Wolverine's winning percentage for
1884 was a horrid .250, finishing fifty-six
distant games out of first place to earn last
place in the National League. Detroit ownership
considered folding the team, but at the last
minute the owners regrouped and refused to give
up their League status. This decision left the
Outlaw Reds with no league to turn to.
Interestingly enough, when the Cincinnati Reds were dropped from the National League
in 1880 it was the same Detroit franchise that
replaced them. As a side note, the Wolverines
soon rebounded after their awful 1884 season and
won the National League pennant in 1887.
The only team to survive after the UA folded was
the St. Louis Maroons who moved to the National
League. After only two seasons in the National
league, the Maroons moved to Indianapolis.
Eventually the franchise folded altogether after
the 1889 season.
A couple of Outlaw Reds did go on to play for
some successful teams. Pitcher Jim McCormick
helped the Chicago White Stockings win the
National League pennant in 1885 & 1886.
Part-time player Fatty
Briody played for the
1887 National League pennant winning Detroit
Wolverines, the same team the Outlaw Reds were
hoping to replace in the National League. |
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