There’s no better way to kick off a new year then with a Reds All Decade Team. And it’s one we can learn from. After a pretty good set of seasons in the early 1920s, the Reds went into a steep decline. After two straight fifth place finishes and then a seventh place finish to end the decade, things looked, well, not so good.

And that 1929 season was a pretty good predictor of where the Reds were going. Over the next five seasons, they finished in seventh one time and dead last the next four years. In 1935, they pulled themselves together and managed a sixth place finish which appeared to give them some momentum going into 1936, when they finished in fifth place. Then the wheels fell of the wagon and in 1937, they finished dead last in the National League, again. So from 1927 through 1937, they were in the second half of the National League. That’s not a good stretch but they did make some quality trades by landing future Hall of Fame catcher Ernie Lombardi and Paul Derringer, a mainstay in the rotation for most of the decade. The team did have its gaffe to make up for it though. In 1935, the Reds bought future Hall of Famer Johnny Mize from the St. Louis Cardinals. Unfortunately, he was returned to the Cardinals because the Reds were worried he might need an operation. Of course Mize went on to win four homerun titles and he has the 21st best OPS in all of baseball en route to a Hall of Fame career.

In 1938, things changed for the Reds. Bill McKenchie took over the team and while the Reds finished in fourth place in a tight National League race, they had some great individual performances. Ernie Lombardi won the batting title and Frank McCormick, who was essentially a rookie, drove in over 100 runs. During the season, the Reds made an innocent enough trade to shore up their rotation. They sent backup catcher Spud Davis, reliever Al Hollingsworth and $50,000 in cash to the Philadelphia Phillies for a somewhat dissappointing starter named Bucky Walters. After starting 4-8 with a 5.23 ERA for the Phillies, Walters finished 11-6 with a 3.69 ERA for the Reds. This would turn out to be one of the best moves the Reds have ever made.

In 1939, everything fell into place. The Reds won a franchise best 97 games and they were led by the league’s MVP and Phillies cast off, Bucky Walters. The Reds had the best pitching staff in the league along with the second best offense. Unfortunately, they’d come up short of winning it all as they were swept by the New York Yankees.

You have to be impressed with the turnaround. They went from dead last to a pennant in two years. They’d just have to wait one more year to put it all together. And it also gives us hope that the present day Reds could turn things around, the sooner the better.

So who were the best and brightest in the depression-era version of the Reds? Let’s take a look.

Catcher – It’s nice starting out with a no brainer. Ernie Lombardi joined the Reds in 1932 and he was their backstop for the rest of the decade. In six of those eight season, he hit better then .300 and he had an above average OPS in all eight years. He won the batting title and the National League MVP in 1938 and he was a four time All Star in the 1930s. He also hardly ever struck out. In 1935, he struck out only six times in 351 plate appearances.

Lombardi was the backbone of the team, and it was nice seeing him get his chance with a solid club after being a star when the team was so bad. He also got his due in 1986 when he was inducted into the Hall of Fame. He led the Reds in batting average (.316), homeruns (96) and RBIs (548) in the 1930s.

First Base – First Base was a revolving door for the Reds. Jim Bottomley started there during the Reds “bad” years and despite putting up some awesome numbers for the Cardinals (which would eventually land him in the Hall of Fame), I think the nod should go to Frank McCormick. McCormick played sparingly in 1934 and 1937, but he broke out in 1938 by driving in 106 runs and by leading the league in hits (209). He followed that up with another great performance in 1939 when he once again led the league in hits (209) and RBIs (128) while finishing runner up in the batting race with a .332 average.

So while he really only played those two seasons, they were great ones. Of course he’d follow all that up with an MVP in 1940, but that’s another story.

Second Base – Another tough one because the postion was a revolving door, Alex Kampouris hesitantly gets the nod just based on longevity. He was the Reds starter for three seasons and parts of two more and while he never had a season where he hit above .260, he was at least good for a walk here and there.

Third Base – Lew Riggs manned the hot corner for the Reds from 1935 through 1938 (and parts of 1939). Riggs had a decent rookie campaign (.278 with 26 doubles and 73 runs) but unfortunately, it went down from there. He was lucky enough to be around for the 1939 and 1940 teams, al beit on a limited basis.

Shortstop – Billy Myers was the Reds starting shortstop from 1935 through 1939. The soft hitting infielder had his best year in 1939 when he played in 151 games and hit .281 with 79 runs. Shortstops weren’t expected to hit in those days, so those were some solid numbers.

Left Field – This was another tough one. Babe Herman was the Reds starting right fielder in 1932 when he had a solid season in which he had an OPS+ of 150. He was traded to the Cubs and then the Pirates only to be picked up again by the Reds in 1935, where he was the starter in left field for the next two seasons. His 1935 season was solid (.335 average in 349 at bats) but he regressed in 1936 (.279 average). In 1937 he was cut and the Tigers picked him up. He then had an eight year absence only to play in 37 games for the Brooklyn Dodgers at the age of 42. Not sure what he did in the meantime.

Center Field – Another tough one because nobody really played for more then a year or two as the starter. I’ll give it to Kiki Cuyler. Not only because he has a cool name, but because he was an eventual Hall of Famer near the end of his career. I’m not sure how he made his way to the Reds from the Cubs but he did so in the middle of 1935 and he started the entire season for the Reds in 1936 and 1937. In 1936, he hit .326 wth a 129 OPS+.

Right Field – Ival Goodman was the Reds corner outfielder from 1935 through 1939. He led the Reds in stolen bases during the 1930s with 35 and he had two fantastic seasons in (you guessed it) 1938 and 1939. In 1938, he finished second in the league with 30 homeruns and in 1939 he hit .323. In 1935 and 1936, he led the league in triples (18 and 14 respectively) and he had double digits in triples in each of his five seasons that decade.

Pitcher – Like Ernie Lombardi, it was nice to see Paul Derringer get his due with a solid team. After starting 0-2 for the Cardinals in 1933, he was traded to the Reds, where he then went 7-25 for them. Yes, you’re reading that right. He finished the season a combined 7-27 mainly because he played on the worst teams in the league.

Derringer stuck it out and bounced back to have a nice career. He followed up his disastrous 1923 season by going 15-21 in 1924, but in 1925 he finished 22-13. He won 21 in 1938 and then had his best season in 1939 (which ended up being overlooked) as he and Bucky Walters were the best one-two punch in the league. He finished 25-7 with 128 strikeouts while sporting a 2.93 ERA.

Pitcher – I could have stopped it there as no other Reds pitcher really distinguished himself other then one. Bucky Walters was nothing short of a phenom in 1939. He walked away with the MVP while leading the league in wins (27), strikeouts (137), ERA (2.29), WHIP (1.125) and innings pitched (319). These would all be career highs as well. He and Paul Derringer won a grand total of 94 games in 1939 and 1940 and they were probably the best pair of starters any team could sport.

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