Cincinnati Reds
Overview
This is starting to get dire. The Reds have finished in 2nd place each of the last 3 seasons. Two of those times, they ended just a game out (in '32 they finished 21 games behind the greatest-of-all-time Giants). They jumped out to a huge start but struggled in July and August (they were just 3 games over .500 in those two months), which allowed the Gothamites to get back into the thick of it, and from there even a 20-6 finish wasn't enough to win it.
It's hard to see how this team can possibly do any better than they did last year, particularly in a market as small as theirs. They led the league in offense thanks to a .296 team batting average. Given the baseball-wide offensive slowdown, this was not a league where records would be set, and yet the Reds managed to do so: they struck out just 310 times, 26 less than the 1925 Phillies.
The pitching was just as high-flying. The Reds finished in the top 2 in every major category except for home runs allowed (they were 3rd with 59). Their starters had a 2.95 ERA, tops in the senior circuit. The bullpen wasn't quite as great; was that the chink in the armor that set them down?
Bob Reed joined the Reds after their old manager took a bigger-name, higher-paying job with the Yankees. He last managed with the A's in 1928 but proved more than worthy to the task.
Pitching
While all the press went to Bob Hinman,
Earl Crockett was every bit as great last year. He's now won 56 games over the last two seasons and 125 total, all with the Reds. One big difference with this team between '32 and previous seasons is that he had other men in to help him out.
Roman Loomis was previously best known as the guy who threw 64 2/3rds innings in 1930 and gave up more earned runs than innings pitched. He'd always been long on talent and short on results. Last year, something clicked. His 26-4 record was the 4th best of all time, trailing just Rick Chesley's 1903 (31-3), Jack Rosenberry's 1929 (21-3), and Barry Lewis' 1912 (27-4).
Roman Loomis also had a positive season. For many clubs he'd be the staff ace. He was content with being the Reds' #3 man last year. His talent lies in changing speeds and keeping the ball low in the strike zone.
Ted O'Toole did a pretty decent job eating innings but was moved to the Pirates in the offseason, opening up the 4th spot in the rotation.
Code:
Player Age W L Pct G GS SV IP H ER HR BB SO ERA
Earl Crockett 29 29 11 0.725 42 42 0 345.2 335 95 17 57 189 2.47
Ted O'Toole 31 20 17 0.541 41 41 0 319.1 317 124 19 118 96 3.49
Lyndon Key 25 16 10 0.615 35 35 0 278 308 106 10 88 83 3.43
Roman Loomis 27 26 4 0.867 34 31 0 276 217 70 5 64 94 2.28
*Alan Marable 23 3 3 0.500 7 5 0 40.1 41 18 3 26 20 4.02
Dave Fortenberry 30 0 1 0.000 24 0 11 36.1 25 6 1 20 20 1.49
*Morgan Cargile 21 3 4 0.429 26 0 8 32 29 12 1 15 21 3.38
Bill James 27 1 1 0.500 22 0 4 32 29 13 3 4 12 3.66
Ed Shoulders 30 1 1 0.500 12 0 1 14.2 24 12 0 9 8 7.36
Lee Bellamy 19 1 0 1.000 4 0 0 7.2 9 2 0 3 1 2.35
*Mike Harris 22 2 0 1.000 6 0 0 7.1 7 4 0 3 3 4.91
Team Totals 25.8 102 52 0.662 253 154 24 1389.1 1341 462 59 407 547 2.99
Catchers
It wasn't quite a platoon since both men bat from the right side but
Ed Townsley and
John Lamar combined to give the Reds the best production in baseball from the catcher position. Lamar used to be the starter but he faltered a little in '32 and gave way to Townsley most of the time. He spent a good deal of time in the batter's cage before every game and hit so well that Cincinnati ended using him 23 times as a pinch-hitter. Townsley, needless to say, made the All-Star team.
Code:
Pos Player Age G GS AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI SB CS BB SO AVG OBP SLG
C Ed Townsley 25 108 101 404 58 131 29 1 8 72 0 0 31 27 0.324 0.372 0.460
C John Lamar 35 73 47 196 25 67 9 2 3 32 0 0 17 18 0.342 0.402 0.454
C Jim Bartlett 33 10 6 21 1 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 3 2 0.095 0.208 0.095
Infield
Bob Leonhardt turned in another fine season with Cincy. He did miss a month and a half in May and early June, which allowed them to give
Cliff Shoemake a long enough showcasing that they were able to move the backup first sacker to the St. Louis Browns for relief pitching and CF Carl Austin.
Second base was pretty messy when
Bill Heath went down. It's tough to point at any one thing that kept this team a game behind the Giants but perhaps lack of production from this position was the reason.
Elmer Copple wasn't a great hitter and had an OBP under .280.
Keith Jones was supposed to be an improvement based on his previous two seasons with the team but he didn't do much either. The Reds have brought in Steve Mangum to try and bolster this position in case Heath gets hurt again. Mangum isn't really starter quality but wasn't a complete black hole and can also play shortstop (where he started 52 games in 1932) and center field.
Jay Calvin had yet another great season, even by his standards. He turns 32 next year and is a little more than a year away from 3,000 hits. 4,000 looks within reach for this man. He's also won 5 Gold Gloves, including one each in the last 3 years. It's hard to believe that just a year and a half ago - June of 1932 - some critics thought his best years were behind him based on a "slow" start in which he hit "only" .294.
At shortstop,
Augusto Gonzalez is something of the forgotten man on this roster. He finished 2nd on the team in walks and 3rd in runs scored and yet the man gets even less press than Ed Townsley. He's still a good enough fielder for short but may become a liability out there in another 2 or 3 years.
Code:
Pos Player Age G GS AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI SB CS BB SO AVG OBP SLG
1B *Bob Leonhardt 31 116 116 459 73 155 26 2 4 92 0 0 63 42 0.338 0.417 0.429
1B *Cliff Shoemake 26 38 38 164 24 46 15 2 2 28 1 1 7 16 0.280 0.306 0.433
2B #Bill Heath 30 65 56 240 40 64 13 3 5 37 10 1 32 14 0.267 0.350 0.408
2B #Elmer Copple 23 71 61 234 24 56 13 1 1 18 0 1 12 25 0.239 0.278 0.316
2B #Keith Jones 29 38 19 78 5 18 0 0 2 10 1 0 12 6 0.231 0.341 0.308
3B *Jay Calvin 31 146 144 616 129 224 41 8 5 88 19 8 63 31 0.364 0.423 0.481
SS #Augusto González 33 124 124 506 88 154 27 1 7 63 3 4 67 13 0.304 0.386 0.403
SS Dean Backman 27 64 47 189 22 53 4 0 1 30 0 0 20 12 0.280 0.355 0.317
SS John Bayne 25 31 11 51 6 11 3 0 0 9 0 0 2 3 0.216 0.259 0.275
Outfield
Was Jay Calvin the team MVP or was it
Brad Box? The former got on base for the latter to drive him in all season long. In the end, we have to give that spot to Calvin due to his fine defense at the hot corner, but Box is no slouch in right himself.
Victor Ward was less than stellar in his first full year with the Reds (he came over from the Browns in the summer of '32) and by season's end the Reds were using more-or-less rookie
Gustavo Castro out there. Castro was used as a pinch-hitter for a couple months in 1931 and this action disqualified him for the ROY award. Had he been able to, he would have won the prize hands-down.
Bill Briggs spent a good deal of time filling in for Castro and Ward and pinch-hitting when needed.
Carl Austin came over from the Browns - the second time Cincy found an outfield solution from St. Louis in two years. He hit for a good average but little else and it's still up in the air who will be the Reds' left fielder in 1934.
Code:
Pos Player Age G GS AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI SB CS BB SO AVG OBP SLG
LF *Gustavo Castro 23 119 119 495 82 150 20 4 11 54 9 7 63 54 0.303 0.377 0.426
LF Carl Austin 26 71 65 271 32 85 13 1 1 32 0 1 12 29 0.314 0.349 0.380
LF Brian James 22 19 15 56 7 14 3 2 1 13 0 0 6 1 0.250 0.328 0.429
CF Victor Ward 31 101 89 375 60 105 19 6 3 51 1 5 32 22 0.280 0.335 0.387
CF *Bill Briggs 28 77 27 164 20 42 7 0 1 24 1 1 11 24 0.256 0.309 0.317
RF *Brad Box 28 148 147 566 113 180 33 3 19 115 19 10 89 18 0.318 0.413 0.488
- *John Buehler 27 7 0 6 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0.000 0.143 0.000
Team Totals 27.2 1679 1386 5590 851 1652 295 39 74 823 66 41 554 417 0.296 0.360 0.402