Editing Cincinnati Reds (section)

===The birth of the Reds and the American Association (1881–1889)===
{{Stack|[[File:1888 Reds.jpg|thumb|right|The 1888 Cincinnati Reds]]}}

The origins of the modern Cincinnati Reds baseball team can be traced back to the expulsion from the National League of an earlier team bearing the same name. In 1876, Cincinnati became one of the charter members of the new [[National League (baseball)|National League]] (NL), but the club ran afoul of league organizer and longtime president [[William Hulbert]] for selling beer during games and renting out its ballpark on Sundays. Both were important in enticing the city's large [[Over-the-Rhine|German]] population to support the team. While Hulbert made clear his distaste for both beer and Sunday baseball at the founding of the league, neither practice was against league rules at the time. On October 6, 1880, however, seven of the eight team owners adopted a pledge to ban both beer and Sunday baseball at the regular league meeting in December. Only Cincinnati president W. H. Kennett refused to sign the pledge, so the other owners preemptively expelled Cincinnati from the league for violating the new rules even though they were not yet in effect.<ref>{{cite web |title=1869-1999 |url=https://www.mlb.com/reds/history/timeline |website=MLB}}</ref>

Cincinnati's expulsion incensed ''Cincinnati Enquirer'' sports editor [[O. P. Caylor]], who made two attempts to form a new league on behalf of the receivers for the now-bankrupt Reds franchise. When these attempts failed, he formed a new independent ball club known as the Red Stockings in the spring of 1881 and brought the team to St. Louis for a weekend exhibition. The Reds' first game was a 12–3 victory over the St. Louis club. After the 1881 series proved successful, Caylor and former Reds president Justus Thorner received an invitation from Philadelphia businessman Horace Phillips to attend a meeting of several clubs in Pittsburgh, planning to establish a new league to compete with the NL. Upon arriving, however, Caylor and Thorner found that no other owners had accepted the invitation, while even Phillips declined to attend his own meeting. By chance, the duo met former pitcher Al Pratt, who paired them with former [[Pittsburgh Alleghenys]] president H. Denny McKnight. Together, the three hatched a scheme to form a new league by sending a telegram to each of the owners who were invited to attend the meeting stating that he was the only person who did not attend, and that everyone else was enthusiastic about the new venture and eager to attend a second meeting in Cincinnati. The ploy worked, and the [[American Association (1882–1891)|American Association]] (AA) was officially formed at the Hotel Gibson in Cincinnati. The new Reds – with Thorner now serving as president – became a charter member of the AA.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Stewart |first1=Wayne |title=The History of the Cincinnati Reds |date=2002 |publisher=Creative Paperbacks}}</ref>

Led by the hitting of third baseman [[Hick Carpenter]], the defense of future [[Hall of Fame]] second baseman [[Bid McPhee]] and the pitching of 40-game-winner [[Will White]], the Reds won the inaugural AA pennant in 1882. With the establishment of the [[Union Association]] in 1884, Thorner left the club to finance the [[Cincinnati Outlaw Reds]] and managed to acquire the lease on the Reds' [[Bank Street Grounds]] playing field, forcing new president Aaron Stern to relocate three blocks away to the hastily built League Park. The club never placed higher than second or lower than fifth for the rest of its tenure in the American Association.