The Cincinnati Reds are an American professional baseball team based in Cincinnati. The Reds compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) Central division, and were a charter member of the American Association in 1881 before joining the NL in 1890.
The expulsion of a former Cincinnati Reds baseball team from the National League can be traced back to the formation of the current team.
William Hulbert, the league’s founder, and the lifelong president had a problem with Cincinnati’s National League (NL) membership in 1876 because the club was serving alcohol during games and leased out its ballpark on Sundays.
They both played a role in persuading the city’s sizable German population to support the club. At the league’s inception, Hulbert made it obvious that he disliked both alcohol and Sunday baseball, but at the time, neither practice was prohibited by the league’s rules.
A vow to outlaw both beer and Sunday baseball was made by seven of the league’s eight-team owners on October 6th, 1880. This pledge was ratified at the league’s regular December meeting.
Even though new rules were yet to take effect, the owners of the Cincinnati Reds preemptively kicked them out since only W. H. Kennett refused to sign the commitment.
Who Did The Cincinnati Red Stockings Turn Into?
Baseball historians question the total number of games because a majority of them were amateur teams losing to the Red Stockings. A win streak of fifty-seven games against other top-tier professional and semi-pro clubs was still impressive.
First many decades of existence, the Red Stockings were a strong contender.
In 1876, the team that is now known as the Cincinnati Reds joined the National League and became one of the initial members of the league. However, in 1880, the National League kicked the club out of the league for selling alcohol at the games team.
After being absent from the National League for ten years, the Reds are back in the fold.