To tell their stories, we moved beyond statistics available online. We dove into newspaper and magazine databases and wound through library microfiche. We pulled together genealogical research, which sometimes led to interviews with family members. Efforts were made to contact every living local Red. Most of them generously agreed to talk. A few didn’t respond. A couple we simply couldn’t find. Our goal: to provide a clear picture of the local boy—professionally and personally.
But first we had to define “local boy.” After much thought, we included only those players who grew up in counties bordering Hamilton County. Reds players from just beyond those borders—Dayton’s Dave Burba, for instance, or Springfield’s Brooks Lawrence and Will McEnaney—fall outside the zone. We also had to define what being “from” the area truly means. A number of Reds who were born here—such as Rudy Hulswitt, Tom Hume, and Eduardo Perez—left very early in their lives and never called Cincinnati home again.
Through the years, many local guys played in the Reds organization but never made it to the big league team. And there have been many local big leaguers who never donned the red and white, such as Jim Bunning, Jim Wynn, David Justice, and Kevin Youkalis. Local heroes all—but not local Reds. Russ Nixon of Western Hills managed the Reds, but because we’re focused here on “players,” we didn’t include him.
In compiling our local boys, Joe began years ago with Lonnie Wheeler’s classic 1987 book The Cincinnati Game, which includes a list of local guys who played in the major leagues, with a very short summary of each. We hadn’t heard of most of the names and wanted to know more. We kept adding to the list as new local Reds arrived on the scene.
And speaking of the scene—because this book is about local guys, it’s written with local fans in mind. We know you know that Newport is located across the Ohio River from downtown, for example, and that you’re well acquainted with Over-the-Rhine. You know what’s meant by “eastside” and “westside.” No explanation is needed—or given. We hope you enjoy browsing through the stories of players who share with you the connection of a city, a team, and a dream.
A BRIEF HISTORY OF LOCAL REDS
WHEN THE CINCINNATI RED STOCKINGS suited up back in 1869 as the first professional baseball team, one of the players was a local guy, first baseman Charlie Gould. So good was Gould at catching whatever was hit or thrown his way—not easy in a time before players wore gloves—that he earned the nickname “Bushel Basket.” Whether or not he was particularly appreciated for his Cincinnati roots is hard to determine, but he started a tradition, and, in a way, a fraternity.
Since Gould’s debut on that first Reds team, 104 local boys have followed him, with varying degrees of on-field success. In the Reds nearly 150-year history, the team had played only 10 seasons—and never more than three in a row—without a local boy before the current drought, begun when Junior left in 2008.
In some years, only one donned the red and white and only for a cup of coffee. Other years featured multiple local boys. Six played on the 1901 and 1986 teams. The World Champions of 1919 and 1940 were among the few teams that had none. The long careers in Cincinnati of such players as Long John Reilly, Joe Nuxhall, Pete Rose, and Barry Larkin certainly filled quite a few years, though often they weren’t the only local boy in the dugout. One of the main reasons for so many local Reds is that Cincinnati has produced so many major leaguers, and one of the main reasons for that production is the tradition of great local amateur baseball.
A BASEBALL TOWN
The tradition dates back to the 1800s, when the newspapers reported in detail the fortunes of the Mohawk Browns, Cumminsville Blue Licks, Norwood Muldoons, Covington Kentons, and other top teams. For many years the Cincinnati Shamrocks, run by Frank Behle at the turn of the 20th century, were the cream of the crop and a steady source of fill-in players when the Reds suffered injuries. The Shamrocks graduated quite a few alums to pro ball. In the early years, some of the teams weren’t, strictly speaking, amateur, in that certain players received guaranteed payment, and some of the games were played with a pot of money going to the winner.
The 1869 Red Stockings included local boy Charlie Gould, standing second from left.
Early in the 1900s, the best teams played in the Saturday Afternoon League, a fiercely competitive organization that fostered many a pro career. The tradition of great local amateur ball continued during the Roaring 20s, which saw a team from Cincinnati, sponsored by Comello Clothiers, win back-to-back National Amateur Baseball Federation championships.
By the 1940s, Joe Hawk’s Bentley Post American Legion squads reigned supreme, winning national championships in 1944, ’47, ’52, ’57, and ’58, while producing quite a few big league players, including a number of local Reds. When Hawk’s reign ended, “Papa” Joe Hayden and his Midland program took the lead, winning national championships with such future pro players as Ken Griffey Jr., Rich Dotson, Roger McDowell, and many others. Budde Post American Legion, the Storm Club, and others programs have also helped set the bar high, and high school baseball continues to thrive here, with state titles more the rule than the exception. The city prides itself on being a baseball town and on producing major league talent. When that talent suits up in a Reds uniform, the city gives them special attention, which isn’t always a blessing.
Local boy Admiral Schlei prevents Hall of Famer Honus Wagner from scoring, circa 1905.
Reading honors local boy Claude Osteen at Crosley Field.
THE PRESSURE
“There is a popular belief among ball-players that it is unlucky to play professional ball in a team representing their native cities. Nine of out ten of them prefer to play away from home, probably having an indefinite recollection of the Biblical adage, ‘That a prophet is not without reward, save in his own country.’”
This observation appeared in the November 21, 1891, edition of the Cincinnati Enquirer, in reference to local boy Jack Boyle’s hesitation to sign with the Reds. The article goes on to say, “These players argue that the spectator always expects more from the home player than any one else and criticizes them quicker and more severely than they do strangers.” While Boyle was still considering his options, he and Shorty Fuller, a local boy who played shortstop for the New York Giants, were drinking in Wheeler’s Saloon on Vine Street in Over-the-Rhine one autumn evening when an intoxicated patron began cursing at Boyle and calling him names. A former professional boxer who stood 6′4″, Boyle, for a while, ignored the drunk, who then started kicking at him. Boyle turned and laid him out with one punch that knocked the drunk so cold other patrons feared he was dead. Fuller looked at Boyle and said, “That’s what you’ll get right along, Jack, if you sign with the home club.”
Joe Nuxhall is honored during Hamilton Night at Crosley Field in 1960.
