1924 Cincinnati Reds season

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1924 Cincinnati Reds
LeagueNational League
BallparkRedland Field
CityCincinnati, Ohio
OwnersGarry Herrmann
ManagersJack Hendricks
RadioWMH
(Gene Mittendorf)
← 1923 Seasons 1925 →

The 1924 Cincinnati Reds season was a season in American baseball. The team finished fourth in the National League with a record of 83–70, 10 games behind the New York Giants.

Off-season

Following a second consecutive second-place finish in the National League during the 1923 season, the Reds had a quiet off-season, making only one notable transaction.

On December 11, 1923, the club purchased the contract of pitcher Carl Mays from the New York Yankees. Mays, the former ace of the Yankees, was coming off a poor season in 1923, earning a 5–2 record with a 6.20 ERA in 81.1 innings pitched, making only seven starts out of his 23 appearances. Mays had previously pitched for the Boston Red Sox from 1915 to 1919, helping them win the World Series twice, in 1915 and 1918. His best season in Boston was in 1917, where he posted a 22–7 record with a 1.74 ERA in 35 games. He played for the Yankees from 1919 to 1923, appearing in two World Series with the club in 1921 and 1922. Mays best season in New York was in 1921, as he led the American League with 27 wins and 336.2 innings pitched.

Manager Pat Moran became ill during the off-season, and was unable to resume being the Reds manager. Moran's medical condition worsened throughout the off-season, and he was unable to join the team in spring training. Moran eventually died from Bright's Disease on March 7, 1924. Replacing Moran as manager was Jack Hendricks, who had previously been the manager of the St. Louis Cardinals during the 1918 season, leading them to a record of 51–78 during his only season managing the club.

Regular season

The Reds began the season with a very solid 15–7 record in their first 22 games, leading the National League by 1.5 games over the second place New York Giants. The Reds early success would not last though, as the team struggled to a 3–11 mark over the next couple of weeks, falling to a record of 18–18, and into third place, 3.5 games behind the first place Giants.

On May 30, the Reds traded outfielder George Harper to the Philadelphia Phillies for outfielder Curt Walker. Walker, who was five years younger than Harper at 27 years old, had a solid career with the Phillies, with his best season in 1922, as he batted .337 with 12 home runs and 89 RBI. To start the 1924 season with the Phillies, Walker batted .296 with a home run and 8 RBI in 24 games.

The club continued to struggle, and hit to a season low five games under .500 on June 26, following a 2–1 loss to the St. Louis Cardinals, dropping their record to 29–34 and in fifth place, 12.5 games behind the Giants. The team did rebound, and eventually climbed back over the .500 level, however, they continued to sit in fifth place. In the second game of a double header on July 8, Reds pitcher Eppa Rixey pitched a 16 inning complete game in a 2–1 win over the Philadelphia Phillies.

In September, the Reds would move into fourth place, and would finish the season with a record of 83–70, 10.5 games behind the pennant winning New York Giants. This marked the seventh time in the past eight seasons that the Reds finished with a winning record.

Outfielder Edd Roush led the way offensively, as he led the club with a .348 batting average, and led the National League with 21 triples. Roush finished in 10th place in National League MVP voting. Rookie second baseman Hughie Critz had a very solid season, batting .322 with three home runs and 35 RBI in 102 games. Outfielder Curt Walker batted .300 with four home runs and 46 RBI following his mid-season trade from the Philadelphia Phillies. Rube Bressler, who split time between the outfield and first base, batted .347 with four home runs and 45 RBI in 115 games.

Carl Mays emerged as the ace of the Reds pitching staff in 1924, as in his first season with the club, he earned a record of 20–9 with a 3.15 ERA in 226 innings pitched. Eppa Rixey posted a 16–15 record with a 2.76 ERA in 238.1 innings pitched, while Pete Donohue had another solid season, going 16–9 with a 3.60 ERA in 222.1 innings pitched. Dolf Luque struggled to a 10–15 record with a 3.16 ERA, however, he did lead the staff with 86 strikeouts.

Season standings

National League W L Pct. GB Home Road
New York Giants 93 60 0.608 51–26 42–34
Brooklyn Robins 92 62 0.597 46–31 46–31
Pittsburgh Pirates 90 63 0.588 3 49–28 41–35
Cincinnati Reds 83 70 0.542 10 43–33 40–37
Chicago Cubs 81 72 0.529 12 46–31 35–41
St. Louis Cardinals 65 89 0.422 28½ 40–37 25–52
Philadelphia Phillies 55 96 0.364 37 26–49 29–47
Boston Braves 53 100 0.346 40 28–48 25–52

Record vs. opponents


Sources: [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] [8]
Team BOS BR CHC CIN NYG PHI PIT STL
Boston 7–15 6–15 12–10 5–17 10–12–1 7–15 6–16
Brooklyn 15–7 12–10 12–10 8–14 17–5 13–9 15–7
Chicago 15–6 10–12 9–13 9–13–1 16–6 7–15 15–7
Cincinnati 10–12 10–12 13–9 9–13 16–5 12–10 13–9
New York 17–5 14–8 13–9–1 13–9 14–7 9–13 13–9
Philadelphia 12–10–1 5–17 6–16 5–16 7–14 8–13 12–10
Pittsburgh 15–7 9–13 15–7 10–12 13–9 13–8 15–7
St. Louis 16–6 7–15 7–15 9–13 9–13 10–12 7–15


Game log

Legend
  Reds win
  Reds loss
  Postponement
Bold Reds team member
1924 Game Log
April (8–5)
# Date Opponent TV Score Win Loss Save Attendance Record Box
1 April 15 Pittsburgh W 6–5 35,747
2 April 16 Pittsburgh L 0–1
3 April 18 Pittsburgh W 3–2
4 April 19 Chicago L 1–2
5 April 20 Pittsburgh W 3–2 13,000
6 April 21 Pittsburgh W 2–1 13,000
7 April 22 Pittsburgh W 2–1 1,900
8 April 24 Pittsburgh W 5–4 28,000
9 April 25 Pittsburgh W 5–4 28,000
10 April 26 Pittsburgh L 0–2 26,000
11 April 27 St. Louis L 4–6
12 April 28 St. Louis W 4–6
13 April 29 St. Louis L 3–6

Roster

1924 Cincinnati Reds
Roster
Pitchers Catchers

Infielders

Outfielders Manager

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 98 312 94 .301 3 33
1B Jake Daubert 102 405 114 .281 1 31
2B Hughie Critz 102 413 133 .322 3 35
SS Ike Caveney 45 337 92 .273 4 32
3B Babe Pinelli 144 510 156 .306 0 70
OF Curt Walker 109 397 119 .300 4 46
OF Edd Roush 121 483 168 .348 3 72
OF George Burns 93 336 86 .256 2 33

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 115 383 133 .347 4 49
Sam Bohne 100 349 89 .255 4 46
Pat Duncan 96 319 86 .270 2 37
Ivey Wingo 66 192 55 .286 1 23
Boob Fowler 59 129 43 .333 0 9
George Harper 28 74 20 .270 0 3
Chick Shorten 41 69 19 .275 0 6
Lew Fonseca 20 57 13 .228 0 9
Gus Sandberg 24 52 9 .173 0 3
Ed Hock 16 10 1 .100 0 0
Cliff Lee 6 6 2 .333 0 2
Jim Begley 2 5 1 .200 0 0
Greasy Neale 3 4 0 .000 0 0
Eddie Pick 3 2 0 .000 0 0
Jack Blott 2 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
Eppa Rixey 35 238.1 15 14 2.76 57
Carl Mays 37 226.0 20 9 3.15 63
Pete Donohue 35 222.1 16 9 3.60 72
Dolf Luque 31 219.1 10 15 3.16 86

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
Tom Sheehan 39 166.2 9 11 3.24 52
Rube Benton 32 162.2 7 9 2.77 42
Pedro Dibut 7 36.2 3 0 2.21 15

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
Jakie May 38 3 3 6 3.00 59
Bill Harris 3 0 0 0 9.00 5

References