The Reds Should Bring Back John Vuckovich!

The Cincinnati Reds became the first team since 1960 to lose three straight games by that score. Talk about futility. The Philadelphia Phillies were the last team to lose three straight  games by that score in 1960. No team has ever lost four in a row by that score.

I was concerned about their offense before the season started, was shocked the day they scored 14 runs but, looking back, maybe that was just an aberration. I tried to recall the last horrible hitting team the Reds had but failed. I admit, I didn’t look up and pour over  statistics but historically, the Reds have always been more a “good-hit, poor pitching” team more than anything else.

Certain years do stand out but not because of bad hitting— instead it was bad pitching. 1969 comes to mind when the Big Red Machine had a high-octane offense but not a very good  pitching staff. A perfect example of that was a 19-17 Reds win over Philadelphia that season  in Connie Mack Stadium in Philadelphia.

Camil Pascuel started that game for Cincinnati and a total of five Red pitchers held off the  Phillies, thanks mostly to a three-inning stint by closer Wayne Granger who finished the  game. Johnny Bench was 5-for-6 that day, Alex Johnson was 4-for-6.

Jim Merritt had a 17-9 record for that team but an earned run average of 4.87 and one of  Manager Dave Bristol’s  starters was Tony Cloninger, who finished with an 11-17 record and an ERA of 5.03.

But bad hitting Reds teams are few and far between. One weak hitter that stands out was  John Vuckovich, who Sparky Anderson started at third base for the Reds in 1975. Anderson  felt the Reds lineup could withstand the good-field, weak hitting Vuckovich at third base. Anderson’s patience ran out in May. He replaced Vukovich at third base with Pete Rose and inserted George Foster into the lineup in left field. And that bold move, which even caught  then-General Manager Bob Howsam by surprise, cemented the Big Red Machine and led to back-to-back World Series titles but replaced in May when he moved Pete Rose from left field to third base and inserted George Foster into the lineup. That bold move finalized the Big Red Machine.

Vuckovich, who passed away in 2007 at age 59, holds the record for the lowest career batting average of any non-pitcher with a minimum of 500 at-bats with an average of .161. He was 6 for 44 at the plate when Sparky made the move, with just one RBI. Vuckovich’s nickname was “balsa” because of his horrible bat.

The Reds also had a catcher with the last name of Trevino in 1982. He was the first catcher  to officially follow Bench, who played at third base that season. Alex Trevino finished the 1982 season with a .251 batting average with one home run and 33 runs batted in. Trevino came to the Reds from the Mets as part of the trade for Foster.

Trevino and Vuckovich look like both would fit in with the hitting skills of the current 2025 Reds. It’s early for sure and hopefully the offense will snap out of it but three shutouts in a row is both disgusting and discouraging.

Teams that have scored points, runs, and goals since the Cincinnati Reds last did

By now you are aware of the sad state of affairs around these parts. The Cincinnati Reds, once proud, once promising, dropped a two-touchdown hammer on the Texas Rangers way back when, and have subsequently forgotten how to score a run since.

They’ve been outscored by the score of 1-0 in a trio of consecutive games, the first time since 1960 that a Major League Baseball club has had that happen. The offense, as is evident, has cratered, prompting we at Red Reporter to do some digging.

Since it’s Friday, and since on Fridays we list, here’s a mostly complete list of all North American based top level pro sports teams who have scored a point, run, or goal professionally since the Cincinnati Reds last did