1882 Cincinnati Red Stockings season

Regular season

The Red Stockings entered 1882 with catcher Pop Snyder taking over as player-manager. Snyder had played the previous season for the National League’s Boston Red Caps, where he batted .228 and drove in 16 runs. Cincinnati also brought back a couple of familiar faces: Will White and Hick Carpenter, both of whom had previously played for the National League’s Cincinnati Reds. White had seen only limited time with the Detroit Wolverines, while Carpenter, playing for the Worcester Worcesters in 1881, had hit .216 with two home runs and 31 RBI.

Carpenter broke out in a big way for the Red Stockings, leading the American Association in both RBI (67) and hits (120), while topping his own team with a .342 batting average. Snyder himself hit .291 with one home run and 50 RBI. Joe Sommer contributed a .288 average, a homer, 29 RBI, and a team-high 82 runs, while also leading the league with 354 at-bats. On the mound, White rediscovered his 1879 form, leading the AA with 40 wins and posting a 1.54 ERA over 480 innings.

The season began with a loss, as the Pittsburgh Alleghenys beat Cincinnati 10–9 at Bank Street Grounds. The team hovered near .500 early, going 8–9 in their first 17 games and sitting in fourth place. Then they caught fire, ripping off a 10-game winning streak that vaulted them into first place. Cincinnati stayed hot the rest of the way, finishing with a 55–25 record and winning the American Association pennant by 11.5 games over the second-place Philadelphia Athletics.