#TBT - Famous Baseball Games

Did you know that the Cincinnati Reds came to Middletown to play ball? Did you know they lost that game? Both are true! On July 17, 1926 the Cincinnati Reds came to town to play the Gardner-Harvey-Armco Representative team and walked away 3-2 losers. At the time, the Reds were leading the National League.

In fact, that wasn’t the only time the Reds came to Middletown and left defeated. On September 28, 1935, the Reds returned, playing the Armco Representative Team, and proceeded to lose 5-4 in extra innings.

It should be noted that these were exhibitions games and full-time Reds regulars weren’t playing, but both wins were impressive accomplishments for the semi-pro players of Middletown.

It is also only fair to point out that the Reds also played exhibitions games in 1927 – specifically on August 9, 1927 – and 1929 – specifically July 21, 1929 – and won both those games against the local competition.

In addition to the Cincinnati Reds, Middletown welcomed the Homestead Grays, a prominent negro / colored baseball team (recognized now as one of the greatest baseball teams of all times), to Middletown on June 2, 1936. The Grays made easy work of the Armco team, winning 7 to 4.

On September 10, 1937, the Grays returned to Middletown. This time they played a game against the Pittsburgh Crawfords, another team from the National Colored Baseball League.

The game was originally supposed to be between the local Armco team and the Grays, however that game had to be canceled because the Grays had double booked. Adding another wrinkle, the Armco vs Grays game was itself a replacement game for one that was supposed to take place between the Armco team and the St. Louis Cardinals. The Cardinals backed out due to a desire to focus on the pennant race – and maybe a healthy fear of losing to the Steelmakers?