After the 1881 series proved successful, Caylor and former Reds president Justus Thorner received an invitation from Philadelphia businessman Horace Phillips to attend a meeting of several clubs in Pittsburgh, planning to establish a new league to compete with the NL.

The Reds had been playing baseball on that same site – the corner of Findlay and Western Avenues on the city's west side – for 28 years in wooden structures that had been occasionally damaged by fires.

Frank McCormick was the 1940 NL MVP; other position players included Harry Craft, Lonny Frey, Ival Goodman, Lew Riggs and Bill Werber.

The Reds captured the 1961 National League pennant, holding off the Los Angeles Dodgers and San Francisco Giants, only to be defeated by the perennially powerful New York Yankees in the World Series.

After the 1965 season, DeWitt executed what is remembered as the most lopsided trade in baseball history, sending former MVP Frank Robinson to the Baltimore Orioles for pitchers Milt Pappas and Jack Baldschun, and outfielder Dick Simpson.

That same year, the Reds avoided a move to San Diego when the city of Cincinnati and Hamilton County agreed to build a state-of-the-art, downtown stadium on the edge of the Ohio River.

Under Howsam's administration starting in the late 1960s, all players coming to the Reds were required to shave and cut their hair for the next three decades in order to present the team as wholesome in an era of turmoil.

On at least one occasion, in the early 1980s, enforcement of this rule lost the Reds the services of star reliever and Ohio native Rollie Fingers, who would not shave his trademark handlebar mustache in order to join the team.

Playing at Crosley Field until June 30, 1970, when they moved into Riverfront Stadium, a new 52,000-seat multi-purpose venue on the shores of the Ohio River, the Reds began the 1970s with a bang by winning 70 of their first 100 games.

After the disastrous 1971 season – the only year in the decade in which the team finished with a losing record – the Reds reloaded by trading veterans Jimmy Stewart, May and Tommy Helms to the Houston Astros for Joe Morgan, César Gerónimo, Jack Billingham, Ed Armbrister and Denis Menke.

1971 was also the year a key component of future world championships was acquired, when George Foster was traded to the Reds from the San Francisco Giants in exchange for shortstop Frank Duffy.

The Reds trailed 9–3, and New York's manager Yogi Berra and legendary outfielder Willie Mays, at the request of National League president Warren Giles, appealed to fans in left field to restrain themselves.

This was the jolt that the Reds needed to propel them into first place, with Rose proving to be reliable on defense and the addition of Foster to the outfield giving the offense some added punch.

After a few close calls both ways, Carlton Fisk hit a dramatic 12th-inning home run off the foul pole in left field to give the Red Sox a 7–6 win and force a decisive game 7.

Game 2 featured a controversial play in which a ball hit by Pittsburgh's Phil Garner was caught by Reds outfielder Dave Collins but was ruled a trap, setting the Pirates up to take a 2–1 lead.

After the heartbreak of 1981, general manager Dick Wagner pursued the strategy of ridding the team of veterans, including third baseman Knight and the entire starting outfield of Griffey, Foster and Collins.

After raising the franchise from the grave, Howsam gave way to the administration of Bill Bergesch, who attempted to build the team around a core of highly regarded young players in addition to veterans like Parker.

However, he was unable to capitalize on an excess of young and highly touted position players including Kurt Stillwell, Tracy Jones and Kal Daniels by trading them for pitching.

In 1987, general manager Bergesch was replaced by Murray Cook, who initiated a series of deals that would finally bring the Reds back to the championship, starting with acquisitions of Danny Jackson and José Rijo.

Led by Chris Sabo, Barry Larkin, Eric Davis, Paul O'Neill and Billy Hatcher on the field, and by José Rijo, Tom Browning and the "Nasty Boys" – Rob Dibble, Norm Charlton and Randy Myers – on the mound, the Reds took out the Pirates in the NLCS.

On the field, manager Lou Piniella wanted outfielder Paul O'Neill to be a power hitter to fill the void Eric Davis left when he was traded to the Los Angeles Dodgers in exchange for Tim Belcher.

Controversy erupted after the 1992 season when team owner Marge Schott was reported to have racially and ethnically slurred players and business associates, and in a November interview, praised the early efforts of Adolf Hitler.

Great American Ball Park opened in 2003, with high expectations for a team led by local favorites, including outfielder Ken Griffey Jr., shortstop Barry Larkin and first baseman Sean Casey.

The offense was led by All-Star third baseman Todd Frazier, Joey Votto and Brandon Phillips, but although they had plenty of star power, the Reds never got off to a good start and ended the season in lowly fourth place in the division to go along with a 76–86 record.

The Reds were forced to trade star pitchers Johnny Cueto and Mike Leake to the Kansas City Royals and San Francisco Giants, respectively, receiving minor league pitching prospects for both.

Shortly after the season's end, the Reds traded Home Run Derby champion Todd Frazier to the Chicago White Sox and closing pitcher Aroldis Chapman to the New York Yankees.

[35] Great American Ball Park is the seventh home of the Cincinnati Reds, built immediately to the east of the site on which Riverfront Stadium, later named Cinergy Field, once stood.

Sparky AndersonJake BeckleyJohnny Bench *Jim BottomleyMordecai BrownCharles ComiskeySam CrawfordKiki CuylerLeo Durocher Buck EwingWarren Giles *Ken Griffey Jr.Clark GriffithChick HafeyJesse HainesNed HanlonHarry HeilmannRogers Hornsby Miller HugginsJoe KelleyGeorge KellyBarry Larkin *Ernie Lombardi *Rube MarquardChristy Mathewson Bill McKechnie *Bid McPhee * Joe Morgan *Hank O'DayDave ParkerTony Pérez *Charles RadbournEppa Rixey *Frank Robinson *Scott Rolen Edd Roush * Amos RusieTom SeaverAl SimmonsLee Smith Joe TinkerDazzy VanceLloyd WanerBobby Wallace Red Barber Marty Brennaman Al Helfer Russ Hodges Al Michaels The Reds have hosted the Major League Baseball All-Star Game five times: twice at Crosley Field (1938, 1953), twice at Riverfront Stadium (1970, 1988) and once at Great American Ball Park (2015).

Since 2020, the Reds broadcast team has been former Pensacola Blue Wahoos radio play-by-play announcer Tommy Thrall and retired relief pitcher Jeff Brantley on color commentary.

[54] During the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, since no spectators were allowed at MLB games, the Reds offered fans the opportunity to purchase paper cutouts of their own photographs in the stands at Great American Ball Park.