1931 Cincinnati Reds season

The 1931 Cincinnati Reds season was a season in American baseball. The team finished eighth and last in the National League with a record of 58–96, 43 games behind the St. Louis Cardinals.

1931 Cincinnati Reds
LeagueNational League
BallparkRedland Field
CityCincinnati
OwnersSidney Weil
ManagersDan Howley
RadioWFBE
(Harry Hartman, Sidney Ten-Eyck)
← 1930 Seasons 1932 →

Off-season

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On November 24, the Reds were involved in a minor trade, trading infielder Pat Crawford and outfielder Marty Callaghan to the Hollywood Stars of the Pacific Coast League for first baseman Mickey Heath. Heath hit .324 with 37 home runs with the Stars in the 1930 season.

In January, the club selected infielder Clyde Beck off of waivers from the Chicago Cubs. Beck hit .213 with six home runs and 34 RBI during 83 games with Chicago in the 1930 season.

During spring training, outfielder Harry Heilmann was incapacitated due to arthritis of his wrist. He would miss the entire 1931 season due to his injury.

To off-set the loss of Heilmann, the Reds selected outfielder Cliff Heathcote off of waivers from the Chicago Cubs on March 22. Heathcote hit .260 with nine home runs and 18 RBI in 70 games with Chicago in 1930. In nine seasons with the Cubs from 1922 to 1930, he had a .280 batting average with 33 home runs and 275 RBI, while stealing 121 bases. Heathcote also played with the St. Louis Cardinals from 1918 until being traded to Chicago in 1922.

On March 26, the Reds went back to the waiver wire, selecting former Reds legend Edd Roush from the New York Giants. Roush sat out the 1930 season due to a salary dispute with the Giants. In 1929 with New York, Roush hit .324 with eight home runs and 52 RBI in 115 games. Roush played with the Reds from 1916 until 1926. During his time with Cincinnati, he led the National League in hitting in 1917 with a .341 average and in 1919 when he hit .321. In 1923, he led the NL with 43 doubles, and in 1924, he led the league with 21 triples. Roush won the 1919 World Series with the Reds, when they defeated the Chicago White Sox.

Regular season

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Cincinnati stumbled out of the gate, losing 12 of their first 13 games, quickly falling into last place in the National League. After a 2-17 start to the season, the Reds managed to win three games in a row, including sweeping a double header against the Philadelphia Phillies on May 15.

Wins continued to be few and far between, as the club finally won their 10th game of the season on June 3, defeating the Phillies 3-1 to improve to 10-32. This started a five game winning streak, and a nine game stretch where Cincinnati won eight games.

On June 15, the Reds traded outfielder Wally Roettger to the St. Louis Cardinals for outfielder Taylor Douthit. Douthit had a .331 average with a home run and 21 RBI in 36 games with the Cardinals during the season. In 1929 with the Cardinals, Douthit was among the National League leaders with a .336 batting average.

The club continued to struggle for wins during the rest of the season, as they never were able to climb out of the basement. Cincinnati finished the 1931 season with a league worst record of 58-96, finishing six games behind the Boston Braves for seventh place. The Reds finished 43 games behind the pennant winning St. Louis Cardinals.

The 58 wins by Cincinnati was one fewer than they had in 1930, and the lowest win total in team history since they won 52 games in 1901. The Reds last place finish was the first time the finished that low since 1914.

Third baseman Joe Stripp led the Reds with a .324 average, while hitting three home runs and 42 RBI in 105 games. First baseman Harvey Hendrick hit .315 with a home run and 75 RBI in 137 games, while leading the club with 74 runs. Second baseman Tony Cuccinello also hit .315 while two home runs and a team best 93 RBI in 154 games. Outfielder Edd Roush hit .271 with a home run and 41 RBI in 101 games in his return with the Reds. Overall, Cincinnati hit an NL low 21 home runs during the season.

On the mound, Red Lucas led the club with a 14-13 record and a 3.59 ERA in 238 innings pitched in 29 starts. Lucas had 24 complete games and three shutouts. Si Johnson had a record of 11-19, leading the NL in losses, however, he led the Reds with 262.1 innings pitched and 95 strikeouts in 42 games. Larry Benton had a team-low 3.35 ERA, while posting a 10-15 record, while pitching 204.1 innings pitched.

Season standings

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National League
Team W L Pct. GB Home Road
St. Louis Cardinals 101 53 .656 54‍–‍24 47‍–‍29
New York Giants 87 65 .572 13 50‍–‍27 37‍–‍38
Chicago Cubs 84 70 .545 17 50‍–‍27 34‍–‍43
Brooklyn Robins 79 73 .520 21 46‍–‍29 33‍–‍44
Pittsburgh Pirates 75 79 .487 26 44‍–‍33 31‍–‍46
Philadelphia Phillies 66 88 .429 35 40‍–‍36 26‍–‍52
Boston Braves 64 90 .416 37 36‍–‍41 28‍–‍49
Cincinnati Reds 58 96 .377 43 38‍–‍39 20‍–‍57

Record vs. opponents

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Sources: [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] [8]
Team BOS BR CHC CIN NYG PHI PIT STL
Boston 11–11–1 8–14–1 8–14 6–16 11–11 11–11 9–13
Brooklyn 11–11–1 14–8 10–12 10–10 13–9 11–11 10–12
Chicago 14–8–1 8–14 14–8 12–10 14–8 14–8–1 8–14
Cincinnati 14–8 12–10 8–14 7–15 9–13 6–16 2–20
New York 16–6 10–10 10–12 15–7 14–8–1 12–10 10–12
Philadelphia 11–11 9–13 8–14 13–9 8–14–1 13–9 4–18
Pittsburgh 11–11 11–11 8–14–1 16–6 10–12 9–13 10–12
St. Louis 13–9 12–10 14–8 20–2 12–10 18–4 12–10


Roster

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1931 Cincinnati Reds
Roster
Pitchers Catchers

Infielders

Outfielders

Other batters

Manager

Coaches

Player stats

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Batting

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Starters by position

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Note: Pos = Position; G = Games played; AB = At bats; H = Hits; Avg. = Batting average; HR = Home runs; RBI = Runs batted in

Pos Player G AB H Avg. HR RBI
C Clyde Sukeforth 112 351 90 .256 0 25
1B Harvey Hendrick 137 530 167 .315 1 75
2B Tony Cuccinello 154 575 181 .315 2 93
SS Leo Durocher 121 361 82 .227 1 29
3B Joe Stripp 105 426 138 .324 3 42
OF Edd Roush 101 376 102 .271 1 41
OF Taylor Douthit 95 374 98 .262 0 24
OF Estel Crabtree 117 443 119 .269 4 37

Other batters

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Note: G = Games played; AB = At bats; H = Hits; Avg. = Batting average; HR = Home runs; RBI = Runs batted in

Player G AB H Avg. HR RBI
Nick Cullop 104 334 88 .263 8 48
Cliff Heathcote 90 252 65 .258 0 28
Wally Roettger 44 185 65 .351 1 20
Hod Ford 84 175 40 .229 0 13
Clyde Beck 53 136 21 .154 0 19
Casper Asbjornson 45 118 36 .305 0 22
Lena Styles 34 87 21 .241 0 5
Frank Sigafoos 21 65 11 .169 0 8
Mickey Heath 7 26 7 .269 0 3
Chuck Dressen 5 15 1 .067 0 0
Gene Moore 4 14 2 .143 0 1
Ray Fitzgerald 1 1 0 .000 0 0

Pitching

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Starting pitchers

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Note: G = Games pitched; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts

Player G IP W L ERA SO
Si Johnson 42 262.1 11 19 3.77 95
Red Lucas 29 238.0 14 13 3.59 56
Eppa Rixey 22 126.2 4 7 3.91 22

Other pitchers

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Note: G = Games pitched; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts

Player G IP W L ERA SO
Larry Benton 38 204.1 10 15 3.35 35
Benny Frey 34 133.2 8 12 4.92 19
Ownie Carroll 29 107.1 3 9 5.53 24
Ray Kolp 30 107.0 4 9 4.96 24
Jack Ogden 22 89.0 4 8 2.93 24
Biff Wysong 12 21.2 0 2 7.89 5
Whitey Hilcher 2 12.0 0 1 3.00 5

Relief pitchers

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Note: G = Games pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; SV = Saves; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts

Player G W L SV ERA SO
Al Eckert 14 0 1 0 9.16 5
Ed Strelecki 13 0 0 0 9.25 3

Farm system

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Level Team League Manager
B Peoria Tractors Illinois–Indiana–Iowa League Chick Fraser
C Bartlesville Broncos Western Association Art Ewoldt
D Davenport Blue Sox Mississippi Valley League Ed Reichle and Cletus Dixon

[1]

References

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  1. ^ Johnson, Lloyd, and Wolff, Miles, ed., The Encyclopedia of Minor League Baseball, 3rd edition. Durham, North Carolina: Baseball America, 2007
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