{"id":7501,"date":"2012-02-06T19:42:41","date_gmt":"2012-02-07T03:42:41","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.todayifoundout.com\/?p=7501"},"modified":"2012-12-02T20:29:35","modified_gmt":"2012-12-03T04:29:35","slug":"the-cincinnati-reds-were-once-renamed-the-redlegs-due-to-the-second-red-scare","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.todayifoundout.com\/index.php\/2012\/02\/the-cincinnati-reds-were-once-renamed-the-redlegs-due-to-the-second-red-scare\/","title":{"rendered":"The Cincinnati Reds were Once Renamed the “Redlegs” Due to the Second Red Scare"},"content":{"rendered":"
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House Committee on Un-American Activities<\/p><\/div>\n

Today I found out<\/a> the Cincinnati Reds were once renamed the “Redlegs” due to the second “Red Scare”.<\/p>\n

The Cincinnati Reds name was originally inspired by a previously existing team, the Cincinnati Red Stockings, which was the first fully professional baseball team.\u00a0 This former team had ten men on salary for eight months to play baseball for the Red Stockings.\u00a0 It was organized by Harry Wright, who also played center field for the team and managed the defensive positioning, which was something that typically wasn\u2019t done at that time.\u00a0 The Cincinnati Red Stockings were wildly successful early on, going 57-1 (wins-tie) in their first season while touring the United States.\u00a0 They followed this up by winning 24 straight games the next season before losing 8-7 in 11 innings to the Brooklyn Atlantics, which resulted in their attendance declining substantially and the team ultimately being disbanded, even though they only lost 6 games throughout that season.<\/p>\n

In any event, the present day Cincinnati Reds’ name was inspired by the Cincinnati Red Stockings, even though they have no real connection with the Red Stockings other than being from the same town and initially naming themselves the same thing (the Cincinnati Red Stockings).\u00a0 However, when this latter organization moved from the American Association to the National League, they shortened the name to just “Reds”.<\/p>\n

This name stuck until 1953 when the association of the term “Reds” with communism caused the Reds to change their name to the “Redlegs” in order to avoid the social stigma.\u00a0 Further, for a four year stretch from 1956-1960, the name “Reds” was removed from the team’s logo and no longer appeared on the team’s uniforms.\u00a0 Despite the continued use of the changed logo, the name “Cincinnati Reds” was restored after the 1958 season.<\/p>\n

If you’re wondering where the term “Redlegs” came from, this was once a derogatory term used to refer to a specific group of poor white people living on various islands in the Caribbean (generally originally from Ireland and Scotland).\u00a0 They were also commonly known as “white slaves”.\u00a0 Some were in fact actual white slaves, having been taken by press gangs and transported to Barbados to be sold.\u00a0 Others were simply indentured servants, agreeing to work more or less as slaves for a time in exchange for transportation.\u00a0 It’s estimated around 50,000 of these Redlegs were transported from Ireland alone during the mid-17th century.<\/p>\n

So, apparently, the Reds preferred to associate themselves with slavery, rather than communism.\u00a0 Although, this is marginally fitting given the reserve clause that was in place at the time, which forbid a player from being able to play for any team but the one who owned the rights to him when his last contract expired, unless he was released or traded.\u00a0 This resulted in teams getting to set salaries nearly as low as they pleased and to completely control the careers of their baseball players. The only real negotiating tactic the players had at their disposal was to refuse to play baseball at all, which resulted in them not getting paid anything when they didn’t play and obviously wasn’t a good tactic for players who weren’t stars.<\/p>\n

Bonus<\/span> Facts:<\/p>\n