1926 Cincinnati Reds
LeagueNational League
BallparkRedland Field
CityCincinnati, Ohio
OwnersGarry Herrmann
ManagersJack Hendricks
← 1925 Seasons 1927 →

The 1926 Cincinnati Reds season was a season in American baseball. The team finished second in the National League with 87 wins and 67 losses, 2 games behind the St. Louis Cardinals.

Off-season

On January 15, 1926, the Reds purchased first baseman Wally Pipp from the New York Yankees for $7,500. Pipp, who would turn 32 before the season, played in only 62 games with the Yankees in 1925, batting .230 with three home runs and 24 RBI before being replaced by rising young star, Lou Gehrig. Pipp played with the Yankees from 1915-1925, leading the American League in home runs in 1916 and 1917. Pipp appeared in three World Series with the Yankees from 1921-1923, helping the team win the 1923 championship. In his last full season with New York in 1924, Pipp hit .295 with nine home runs and had a career high 110 RBI.

In February, the Reds made another purchase, as they acquired catcher Val Picinich from the Boston Red Sox. Picinich batted .255 with one home run and 25 RBI in 90 games for Boston during 1925. Picinich also played for the Philadelphia Athletics and Washington Senators during his career.

Regular season

Cincinnati got off to a hot start, winning 24 of their first 34 games, and on May 22, the club was in first place with a 3.5 game lead over the Chicago Cubs. The Reds slumped to a 5-11 record over their next 16 games, as the Pittsburgh Pirates caught Cincinnati and the two clubs were tied for first place. The Reds again got hot, winning 18 of their next 28 games to improve their record to 47-31 and held a 5.5 game lead over the second place Pirates.

A 7-12 slide by the Reds in their next 19 games dropped them to a 54-43 record and out of first place, as Cincinnati now trailed the Pirates by a game. In late-August, the Reds won 10 games in a row, and found themselves tied with Pittsburgh for first in the National League, with the surging St. Louis Cardinals in third place, only one game behind Cincinnati and Pittsburgh.

The Reds stayed in the pennant race throughout September. The turning point of the season was a brutal five-city, 20 game road trip that saw the Reds start poorly, losing three straight to Pittsburgh. The Reds then rattled off eight-straight wins to briefly move back into first place before losing six-straight including four straight against seventh-place Boston, to kill the Reds’ pennant hopes. A home makeup game with St. Louis, which the Reds had hoped would be important, was meaningless as the Reds were 3 games out with that game to go. They won their finale to finish 87-67 and in second place, two games behind the Cardinals, who went on to win the 1926 World Series over the New York Yankees. The Reds set a club record for attendance, 672,987, topping the record set in 1920.

Catcher Bubbles Hargrave had a career season, as he hit .353 batting average, and adding six home runs and 62 RBI in 105 games. Hargrave finished fourth in National League MVP voting. First baseman Wally Pipp had an excellent first season with Cincinnati, hitting .291 with six home runs and 99 RBI in 155 games. Outfielder Edd Roush had another solid season, batting .323 with seven home runs and 79 RBI in 144 games. Rookie outfielder Cuckoo Christensen hit .350 with 41 RBI in 114 games, while outfielder Rube Bressler led Cincinnati with a .357 batting average, and hit one home run and 51 RBI in 86 games.

On the mound, Pete Donohue led the Reds in wins, as he earned a record of 20-14 with a 3.37 ERA while pitching a team high 285.2 innings in 47 games. Carl Mays had a great comeback season, as he had a record of 19-12 with a 3.14 ERA in 39 games and led the National League with 24 complete games.

Season standings

National League 		W L Pct. GB Home Road
St. Louis Cardinals 89 65 0.578 — 47–30 42–35
Cincinnati Reds 87 67 0.565 2 53–23 34–44
Pittsburgh Pirates 84 69 0.549 4½ 49–28 35–41
Chicago Cubs 82 72 0.532 7 49–28 33–44
New York Giants 74 77 0.490 13½ 43–33 31–44
Brooklyn Robins 71 82 0.464 17½ 38–38 33–44
Boston Braves 66 86 0.434 22 43–34 23–52
Philadelphia Phillies 58 93 0.384 29½ 33–42 25–51

Record vs. opponents

1926 National League record

Sources: [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] [8]
Team BOS BR CHC CIN NYG PHI PIT STL
Boston — 6–15 12–10 12–10–1 12–10 7–15 10–11 7–15
Brooklyn 15–6 — 14–8 4–18 9–13 13–9 9–13–2 7–15
Chicago 10–12 8–14 — 13–9–1 14–8 16–6 10–12 11–11
Cincinnati 10–12–1 18–4 9–13–1 — 7–15 16–6–1 13–9 14–8
New York 10–12 13–9 8–14 15–7 — 12–7 6–16 10–12
Philadelphia 15–7 9–13 6–16 6–16–1 7–12 — 8–14 7–15
Pittsburgh 11–10 13–9–2 12–10 9–13 16–6 14–8 — 9–13–2
St. Louis 15–7 15–7 11–11 8–14 12–10 15–7 13–9–2 —


Roster

1926 Cincinnati Reds
Roster
Pitchers Catchers

Infielders

Outfielders

Other batters

Manager

Coaches

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 Bubbles Hargrave 105 326 115 .353 6 62
1B Wally Pipp 155 574 167 .291 6 99
2B Hughie Critz 155 607 164 .270 3 79
SS Frank Emmer 80 224 44 .196 0 18
3B Chuck Dressen 127 474 126 .266 4 48
OF Curt Walker 155 571 175 .306 6 78
OF Edd Roush 144 563 182 .323 7 79
OF Cuckoo Christensen 114 329 115 .350 0 41

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
Rube Bressler 86 297 106 .357 1 51
Val Picinich 89 240 63 .263 2 31
Babe Pinelli 71 207 46 .222 0 24
Billy Zitzmann 53 94 23 .245 0 3
Sam Bohne 25 54 11 .204 0 5
Jimmy Hudgens 17 20 5 .250 0 1
Ethan Allen 18 13 4 .308 0 0
Ivey Wingo 7 10 2 .200 0 1
Everett Scott 4 6 4 .667 0 1
Doc Prothro 3 5 1 .200 0 1
Howie Carter 5 1 0 .000 0 0
Clyde Sukeforth 1 1 0 .000 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
Pete Donohue 47 285.2 20 14 3.37 73
Carl Mays 39 281.0 19 12 3.14 58
Dolf Luque 34 233.2 13 16 3.43 83
Eppa Rixey 37 233.0 14 8 3.40 61

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
Jakie May 45 167.2 13 9 3.22 103
Red Lucas 39 154.0 8 5 3.68 34
Roy Meeker 7 21.0 0 2 6.43 5
Art Nehf 7 17.0 0 1 3.71 4

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
Pea Ridge Day 4 0 0 0 7.36 2
Mul Holland 3 0 0 0 1.35 0
Brad Springer 1 0 0 0 6.75 1
Rufus Meadows 1 0 0 0 0.00 0

References

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