As if outfields becoming infields and infield grandstands becoming outfield grandstands
wasn't confusing enough... consider the fact that the Cincinnati Reds were
not the only Cincinnati Reds. An outlaw team dubbed by many as "Kelly's Killers"
also called themselves the Cincinnati Reds and claimed East Side Park aka
Pendleton Park as the true home of the Cincinnati Reds. They did a fairly good
job of it as the team is listed as a professional Cincinnati Reds franchise even
though they are not in any way related to today's Cincinnati Reds. This franchise
played on the banks of the Ohio river and did their best to try to steal away
the "real Reds" fans by ignoring the Blue Laws and playing on Sunday's (which
is very illegal in those days). Figuring it would be the best way to poach fans
and maybe keep them there once they got used to their version of the "Cincinnati
Redlegs", Kelly's Killers took the field every Sunday... usually with a swarm
of Police cars surrounding the grandstand. Sometimes they made it all the
way to the 5th inning before the cops came in and arrested the whole lot of them
for their blasphemous ways of playing baseball on God's resting day. Eventually,
poor attendance and a constant stream of bail money killed Kelly's Killers
aka the "other" Cincinnati Redlegs and Cincinnati became a single (and now hopping?)
Red Leg town... |