Have the Reds ever had pitching? 1950-1959
“Warren Giles was the type of general manager who would say, “Sign this contract or stay home.”
Hank Sauer
“There was no money in those days, even after my great season in 1947, I got only a small raise, up to $13,000.
I asked for more but that didn’t do any good.”
Ewell Blackwell
YEAR W L PCT ERA 1956 91 63 .591 -.07 1957 80 74 .519 -.75 1958 76 78 .494 0.23 1955 75 79 .487 0.09 1959 74 80 .481 -.36 1954 74 80 .481 -.43 1952 69 85 .448 -.29 1953 68 86 .442 -.35 1951 68 86 .442 0.26 1950 66 87 .431 -.17
By the end of the 40’s and into the postwar grey flannel age of the 50’s the Reds were a team in constant tradition. Last in the league in attendance and only out done in mediocrity by the Pirates and Cubs. Lacking the pop the other teams had the Reds removed Goat Run in 1950, this extended the right field line to 366 feet, 3 seasons later they reinstalled it for the seating.
The 1951 Reds were perhaps the best pitching team in the decade. With Blackwell and Ken Raffensberger. In fact the staff had only one pitcher with a below average ERA, the Achilles heel was the hitting that year.
But that wouldn’t be the case for the rest of the decade.
ERA DIFF PLAYER LEAGUE Harry Perkowski 1.13 2.82 3.96 Frank Smith 0.76 3.20 3.96 Bud Byerly 0.68 3.27 3.96 Ken Raffensberger 0.52 3.43 3.96 Ewell Blackwell 0.52 3.44 3.96 Herm Wehmeier 0.26 3.70 3.96 Howie Fox 0.13 3.83 3.96 Willie Ramsdell -.08 4.04 3.96
Following the season general manager Warren Giles left the team to become the National League President (Housing the office in the Carew Tower)
With Gabe Paul at the helm the Reds continued on the same basic path that Giles had laid out, with one change, the trade market became more active in the Cincinnati arena, otherwise with low revenue and a limited scouting staff it was business as usual in Cincinnati.
Despite the effort the decade really belonged to three teams, the Dodgers, Giants and the Braves, after they moved to Milwaukee.
WINS W L PCT 1 Dodgers 913 630 .592 2 Braves 854 687 .554 3 Giants 822 721 .533 4 Cardinals 776 762 .505 5 Phillies 766 773 .498 6 Reds 741 798 .481 7 Cubs 672 866 .437 8 Pirates 616 923 .400
Oddly enough the top three teams are also only three to move west in the National League.
Despite the sub .500 record for the decade the Reds laid a pathway to the franchise they are now. The fifties have long been recognized as the decade that blurred the national culture from tiny sub-cultures to one mono-culture the 50’s were a time when players were still your neighbors, the play by play announcer a friend and the team a source of deep civic pride… especially when doing battle with the constant bombardment of “look at me,” “look at me” coming from the eastern seaboard. In short the brand was established in the fifties and part of the brand is hitting the ball hard and hitting it long.
During the fifties the Reds pitching and team makeup was quite similar to now, pitching was fraught with guys who didn’t rank with the best in the league and guys that would never get you to the top. For the length of the decade the Reds could only boast 2 pitchers with over 100 games started and an ERA above league average.
INNINGS PITCHED IP GS ERA Robin Roberts 3012 370 0.67 Warren Spahn 2823 350 1.06 Bob Rush 2046 278 0.40 Bob Friend 1976 262 0.06 Lew Burdette 1862 230 0.57 Don Newcombe 1773.2 246 0.42 Murry Dickson 1728.1 219 0.19 Johnny Antonelli 1722 241 0.80 Curt Simmons 1625 223 0.55 Harvey Haddix 1572.1 214 0.41 Sal Maglie 1558 214 0.79 Jim Hearn 1410 191 0.18 Joe Nuxhall 1341 176 0.05 Paul Minner 1197 166 0.02 Bob Buhl 1171 158 0.83 Vinegar Bend Mizell 1163 176 0.25 Sam Jones 1135 159 0.52 Johnny Podres 1027 150 0.24 Larry Jansen 982 136 0.42 Larry Jackson 926 108 0.24 Gene Conley 923 117 0.49 Ken Raffensberger 919 128 0.38 Preacher Roe 888 124 0.54 Don Drysdale 803 106 0.58 Tom Poholsky 754 104 0.01
Even more telling is the fact that the Reds had only 5 starters with 75 starts in the decade.
1950-1959 INNINGS PITCHED IP GS ERA Joe Nuxhall 1341 176 0.05 Ken Raffensberger 919 128 0.38 Brooks Lawrence 778 99 -.13 Herm Wehmeier 721 93 -1.24 Art Fowler 702 87 -.27 Ewell Blackwell 596 81 0.44
The decades lack of true pitchers was highlighted by the Reds emergence as a slugging team, the team celebrated the 1956 teams home run accomplishment by giving each player a ring with the number 221 engraved on it. No rings for team ERA were issues in the fifties, despite being managed by 2 ex-catchers (Tebbets and Sewell) for most of the decade.
After decades of playing as a pitchers park the change in the game was felt at Crosley Field when the park effects skyrocketed in the decade of the fifties.
YEAR ERA PARK 1950 4.32 112 1951 3.70 99 1952 4.02 100 1953 4.63 102 1954 4.50 112 1955 3.94 113 1956 3.84 117 1957 4.62 118 1958 3.73 114 1959 4.31 111
Slugging teams and poor pitching can do that to a park, currently the Reds are going through that at the GAB, it will be interesting to see if the Reds can correct that with better pitching on their end of the equation. However back then the increased slugging plus the Reds past lackadaisical scouting in the war years left a talent void to wide to breach year in and year out, instead the team created the model that has been the Reds model for 50 years now.
As the 1956 season started the Reds were flush with power and a revamped staff that included Brooks Lawrence and Hal Jeffcoat, despite only scoring 14 more runs than they did in 1955 the Reds won 16 more games due to an improved pitching staff. Much like 1999the Reds caught lightning in a bottle and the teams slugging and run for first brought in more than a million fans for the Reds, making them the last of the original 16 to draw a million fans to the park.
That 1956 season is a milestone season in the Reds history, the revenue generated enabled the team to install an impressive new scoreboard, finagle more parking from the city as well as dangle thoughts for a new stadium. For the organization it established an approach that is a large part of the team makeup even today.
That would be get your hitters first and let pitching take care of itself approach.
Which two teams have winning records since 1946 and a below league average team ERA?
Answer: Reds and the Red Sox.
Part of this approach can be seen in patterns that the Reds began to traverse in 1956 and the mid 1950’s. The Reds established
something I see year after year during that decade and they are as followed.
1. Get a LH from another team
2. Find a surprise RH
3. Bullpen Strength
4. Local Hero
5. Gamble on Talent
As a longtime Reds fan I’d be remiss in not mentioning the left handed pitchers that came from elsewhere and anchored the
staff, or filled up innings.
This path was blazed by Ken Raffensberger, a junkballer with a forkball and a head for pitching, Ken is followed by hurlers like Jim Merritt, Fred Norman, Danny Jackson, Pete Schourek, John Smiley, Denny Neagle and even Eric Milton (in theory)
CINCINNATI REDS 1950-2005 INNINGS PITCHED IP GS ERA Fred Norman 1315 196 0.25 Ken Raffensberger 919 128 0.38 John Smiley 775.1 123 0.03 Jim Merritt 600 83 -.51 Danny Jackson 493.2 76 -.06 Gerry Arrigo 431.1 57 -.60 Pete Schourek 423.2 68 -.07
Surprise pitchers, when Art Fowler finally got into the Reds sights he was 31 years old and had been toiling in their system for a few years. Art was a WW2 vet, so the minors to him were nothing more than a walk in the park. The youngest of ten, his older brother pitched a year for the Cardinals in 1924. Thirty years late Art made his debut for the Reds and his presence on the staff is a constant to this day, the league average right-hander with more grit than stuff (big shout out to Paul Wilson). Art started 87 games for the Reds and vanished to the west coast and later gained notoriety as Billy Martins drinking buddy and pitching coach.
JESSE FOWLER
BORN: 10/30/1898
MLB DEBUT: 7/29/1924
ART FOWLER
BORN: 7/3/1922
MLB DEBUT: 4/17/1954
Bullpen Strength. Prior to the fifties a deadball player and a disciple of his managed the Reds, this combination led to a slow transfer to the offense of the post war age as well as the use of the bullpen. The Reds have been using the bullpen for year as the buoy to the staff’s weakness, inconsistent starters. This strength was first established in the fifties with the deployment of Frank Smith as the closer, Hersh Freeman, who was the Reds first bonafide closer, later eclipsed him, only to give way himself to Jim Bronson later on in the decade and on and on and on.
To illustrate the point is the list of pitchers who started less than 20 games yet finished more than 50 games.
If we divide the search into two sections 1900-1949 and 1950-2005 the difference is drastic, with only one entry for the first era and chances are that one is peppered with more opportunities that were more mop up for a bad team than locking down the win for the local nine.
INNINGS PITCHED IP GS GF Don Brennan 302 16 57 1950-2005 INNINGS PITCHED IP GS GF Pedro Borbon 920.2 4 255 Clay Carroll 856.2 15 282 Scott Sullivan 662.2 0 109 John Franco 528 0 286 Frank Smith 457 7 161 Rob Dibble 450.2 0 196 Jim Brosnan 332 11 109 Wayne Granger 330 0 155 Gabe White 329.1 9 69 Scott Williamson 322.1 10 110 Doug Bair 318.2 0 148 Tom Hall 294 15 59 Hersh Freeman 292.2 0 100 John Riedling 274.1 8 52 Hector Carrasco 269.1 0 78 Bill Henry 267 0 146 Rawly Eastwick 258.2 0 122 Jeff Shaw 249 0 121 Ted Abernathy 241 0 114 Rob Murphy 238.2 0 63 Randy Myers 218.2 12 77 Jeff Brantley 218.1 0 154 Stan Belinda 203.1 0 54 Bill Scherrer 194.2 2 56 Will McEnaney 190 0 68
Local Talent. During the fifties no Red was more popular than Joe Nuxhall, Joe not only was the Reds top left handed starter, but Joe was a local legend and the youngest player ever in major league ball. Many a promotion was concocted around the close knitReds and many of them involved Hamilton Joe and the Reds marketing department paid attention to the crowds reaction as well. Since that time the team makes an effort to promote local players as well as their roots to the community. The team can boast a long list of luminaries who played in the tri-state area and it has never hurt the Reds to hitch their wagon to them from time to time.
STARTED GS ERA IP Joe Nuxhall 176 0.05 1341
Gamble on Talent. What Reds team hasn’t had a pitcher that the team was hoping would give them more then they gave someone prior? Not many that’s for sure. The 1956 Reds bought Brooks Lawrence from the Pacific Coast League Oakland Oaks (Think Bobby Mattick had a say in this?)Brooks was a 31 year old with experience in the Negro Leagues and St. Louis. His 1956 season of 19-10 and a 3.99 ERA was a major reason the team was able to outperform the preseason expectations and yet his quick descent to mediocrity later on should have been expected. Brooks emergence from nowhere can be seen in the resurrection of Bob Purkey, Fred Norman, Pete Schorek, Pete Harnisch, Elmer Dessens and Steve Parris.
By the end of the decade the Reds were finally producing quality young arms through their scouting system, players like Jim O’Toole, Ken Hunt and Jim Maloney were in the wings with the promise of matching some of the arms being developed in Los Angeles and San Francisco. With the emergence of former pitcher Fred Hutchinson as the manager of the team in the waning days of the 1959 season the future for the Reds pitching looked brighter than it had since the early 1940’s.
Next: The End of the Crosley Era and the 60’s
May 28th, 2006 at 10:49 pm
Having played some Strat-O-Matic with the ‘54 version, your comparison to the 50’s model and the current is spot on. What is humorous is that Reds fans are so conditioned to be offense minded that they always want more pitching, until you mention that you might have to give up a big bopper, or even a gap bopper to get it. Then, the talks turn chilly and they seem to go back to hoping we can continue to tilt the team balance toward offense and win enough slugfests to compete for a playoff spot.