# Cincinatti's Baseball Team Original Name **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [June 1, 2002, 9:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cincinattis-baseball-team-original-name/111936 "2002-06-01T21:09:15Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 6\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Quasimodem](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/e274bd/32.png) [@Quasimodem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quasimodem)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2002, 9:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cincinattis-baseball-team-original-name/111936/1 "2002-06-01T21:09:15Z")
Was it “Redlegs” or “Red Stockings”? Thanks Q ---
**Author:** ![KneadToKnow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kneadtoknow/32/3999_2.png) [@KneadToKnow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KneadToKnow)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2002, 9:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cincinattis-baseball-team-original-name/111936/2 "2002-06-01T21:47:10Z")
[Red Stockings](http://cincinnati.reds.mlb.com/NASApp/mlb/cin/history/cin_history_timeline.jsp), sez them. ---
**Author:** ![WSLer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/a6a055/32.png) [@WSLer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WSLer)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2002, 10:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cincinattis-baseball-team-original-name/111936/3 "2002-06-01T22:15:13Z")
During the heights of the 1950’s anti-Commies care, I believe that they went back to the Redlegs name for a few years. Of course now a good part of their uniforms are colored BLACK, which makes absolutely NO fucking sense. ---
**Author:** ![samclem](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a9a28c/32.png) [@samclem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/samclem)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2002, 10:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cincinattis-baseball-team-original-name/111936/4 "2002-06-01T22:41:44Z")
It was, indeed, the “Red Stockings.” The Reds website proudly says > [@](#): > > In the first game ever played by a professional baseball team (all paid players, no amateurs), … The truth is, that they were the first team to _publicly announce such._ “They were not the first professional team, nor the first all-salaried team, nor the first team to go undefeated over a season.” From _Total Baseball_. Seems that it was a “covert” thing up until then. ---
**Author:** ![BobT](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/8e8cbc/32.png) [@BobT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobT)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2002, 11:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cincinattis-baseball-team-original-name/111936/5 "2002-06-01T23:38:26Z")
The current Cincinnati Reds team really isn’t a direct descendant of the 1869 Red Stockings. That team broke up after the 1870 season and most of the players went to Boston and formed what are today the Atlanta Braves. From 1871-1875, pro teams played in a league called the National Association. There was no Cincinnati representative in that league. There was a Cincinnati team in the inaugural National League season of 1876. It lasted from 1876-1880 and they were called the Reds. The present day Reds started in 1882 in the old American Association as the Red Stockings. They moved to the National League in 1890. ---
**Author:** ![bibliophage](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bibliophage/32/7615_2.png) [@bibliophage](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bibliophage)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2002, 1:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cincinattis-baseball-team-original-name/111936/6 "2002-06-02T01:22:49Z")
**Cecil Adams** on [Why were the Cincinnati Reds once known as the Redlegs?](http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a1_302b.html)