The Cincinnati Greens Baseball Club

With opening day less than a month away, and St. Patrick's day just short of a week, I thought this little stepback into time courtesy of our friends at the Society for Cincinnati Sports Research (SCSR) deserved a little remembrance. 

The Cincinnati Reds are known for a lot of Baseball firsts:

1. They were the first professional baseball team to ever step onto a field.  In fact, in 1869, when the Red Stockings were founded, as far as I can tell, they were the first professionally fielded team of any sport played in any nation in the world
2. The Cincinnati Reds hosted the first night game in 1935 when President Franklin Delano Roosevelt threw the switch from the White House over 600 miles from Crosley field in the West End of Cincinnati.  That same year the Reds played 6 more night games, one against every team in the National League.  Would it be statistical overkill to also point out that among these games was also the first ever nightgame that stretched into extra innings?  Yes, I guess it would; but for the record it was played against the St. Lousi Cardinals and is now best remembered for the ruckus that ensued when the fans wouldn't leave the field after the conclusion of the pre-game fireworks show. 
3. In 1911 the Reds made history when they first integrated the major leagues with Latino players signing Armando Marsans and Rafael Almeida to the roster.  Given the times, such a move by a Midwestern team as Cincinnati, albeit one with the most avid and devoted baseball fans to be found anywhere, was highly controversial.

Less controversial, but no less surprising, according to the website for SCSR, was the move on March 17th, 1978, when "The Cincinnati Reds became the Cincinnati Greens for a St. Patrick's Day Preseason Game against the New York Yankees."  Never before, in fact, had the color Green been significantly represented in the color scheme for the uniforms of any Major League baseball franchise.   The only exception were the Kansas City Athletics, now of Oakland, who incorporated Gold and Green in their uniforms; but up until the reds marched out onto the field in 1978, no team had done so with such a clear Irish intent.

In a town better known for its German heritage than its Irish, the Reds proudly bucked the trend when they took the field in Tampa wearing uniforms that had green where the red should have been. The cap, the uniform piping, the “C” on the chest -- all green. The club even had a shamrock adorning the sleeves. Moreover, they used green catching gear and warmed up with just about green everything.  Quite literally the Cincinnati Reds had became the Cincinnati Greens.  Not even the Boston Red Sox ever made such a gesture to the heritage of its fans.

Apparently it was a marketing stunt that succeeded very well.  Fans appreciated the gesture so much that the Reds continued to do it for several years thereafter, when other Major Laeague franchises soon jumped on to the bandwagon, thereby relegating the reds tradition to just that of an interesting sideshow.  Nevertheless, the uniforms today are highly sought after collector's items, an original of which can fetch thousands of dollars.  In their collection of Historic uniforms, the baseball hall of fame in Cooperstown includes one of these classic treasures in their exhibit, as does the Reds Hall of Fame and Museum, which features Hall of Fame Second Baseman Joe Morgan's.    

If  you would like to learn more about Cincinnati Sports History, I suggest you visit online the Society of Cincinnati Sports Research, where you'll pick up intriguing and sometimes completely unnecessary trivia about your favorite Cincinnati Sports teams.  They're all represented - the Reds, the Bengals, the Royals and even some you may never have heard of.   Did you know, for instance, that Cincinnati was once the home of Two Major League Baseball Clubs?  I didn't either.  It's well worth a visit.  Check it out.