- Bank Street Grounds
The Bank Street Grounds is a former
baseball park located in Cincinnati,Ohio . The park was home to Major League Baseball'sCincinnati Reds in 1880 and from 1882 to 1883. It was also home to theCincinnati Outlaw Reds of theUnion Association in 1884.The ballpark was located at the intersection of Bank Street and McLaren Avenue, less than one mile away from the future site of
Crosley Field . Its location has typically been described as "the foot of Bank Street." It succeeded theAvenue Grounds as the home site for professional ball in the Queen City.When the Reds were kicked out of the
National League for sellingbeer on Sundays, violating its self-instituted "blue law ", they disbanded for the 1881 season, but reformed as an American Association club in 1882. The AA had had no such rules against Sunday beer sales. Indeed, the American Association was known informally as "the beer andwhiskey " league. The Reds won the inaugural season of the AA, and as such participated in aWorld Series , of sorts, with the NL champions, the Chicago White Stockings. The exhibition Series was informally arranged, and ended after two games with each team having won one. Both games were staged at the Bank Street Grounds.In 1884, a former prominent member of the Reds front-office, a man named Justus Thorner, invested in the new Union Association club. He secured the Bank Street Grounds for his team, and the Reds had to look elsewhere. (Allen, p.29-30). The Reds eventually settled on Findlay and Western, opening the site that would eventually become Crosley Field, the home of the Reds until partway into the 1970 season.
Although the Union Association was dominated by the
St. Louis Maroons , the Cincinnati Unions or "Outlaw Reds" had a strong club that could hold its own against the Maroons, and drew well at the gate, eroding the "real" Reds' fan base. However, the "Onion League" folded after just one season. The Reds opted to stay at Findlay and Western, and Bank Street was done with professional baseball.The
Southwest Ohio Regional Transit Authority ("SORTA") andCSX Transportation are current tenants on the Bank Street Grounds property.References
*"The Cincinnati Reds", by
Lee Allen , Putnam, 1948.External links
* [http://www.projectballpark.org/history/nl/bankst.html The Bank Street Grounds at "Project Ballpark"]
* [http://www.cincysportshistory.com/Ballparks/BankStreetGrounds.htm Cincy Sports History]succession box
title = Home of theCincinnati Reds
years = 1880 – 1883
before =Avenue Grounds
after = League Park
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