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How The Cincinnati Red Stockings 'Made Baseball Famous'

baseball revolutionaries
Courtesy of Amazon
The 1869 Cincinnati Red Stockings, the first professional baseball team, went undefeated in its opening season, winning 57 games.

This season you may notice Major League Baseball players wearing a patch on their uniforms that reads "MLB 150."

The patch commemorates the Cincinnati Red Stockings, which, in 1869, become the first professional baseball team.

Up until that time, baseball was a sport played by amateurs, "for the love of the game." But that first season, the Red Stockings dominated its more established competition, and its winning streak made it the first sports team in the country to receive national recognition.

Local writers Greg Rhodes, John Erardi and Greg Gajus tell the story of how the team paved the way for the major league baseball of today, and established Cincinnati as a baseball town, in their latest book, Baseball Revolutionaries: How the 1869 Cincinnati Red Stockings Rocked the Country and Made Baseball Famous.

Joining Cincinnati Edition for a look at the history and impact of the 1869 Cincinnati Red Stockings are sports writer John Erardi (@johnerardi); and Cincinnati Reds team historian Greg Rhodes.

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Michael Monks brings a broad range of experience to WVXU-FM as the host of Cincinnati Edition, Cincinnati Public Radio's weekday news and information talk show.