On August 10, 2004, outfielder Adam Dunn hit this baseball for the longest home run in Great American Ball Park history. The shot sailed over the batter’s eye in centerfield, bounced off Mehring Way and eventually came to rest on a piece of driftwood on the bank of the Ohio River. It is estimated that the ball travelled 535 feet.
Reds second baseman Scooter Genett crossed this home plate after each of the four home runs he hit against the Brewers at Great American Ball Park on June 6, 2017 to become the first Red with a four home run game.
The 1956 Reds were a home run hitting phenomenon. Boasting a powerful lineup headlined by Frank Robinson and Ted Kluszewski, the “Western Avenue Bombers” launched balls out of National League ballparks at a record pace in 1956. On September 29, in the second-to-last game of the season, Smoky Burgess belted the team’s 221st home run of the season, tying the then-major league record. The club commissioned commemorative rings to mark the achievement including this one that was issued to Burgess.
This pair of batting gloves was worn by Ken Griffey Jr during the 2003 season. During his Reds career, Griffey surpassed both the 500 and 600 career home run plateaus.
The Reds were 11 games behind the Dodgers in the NL West standing as the two teams squared off in a double-header at Riverfront Stadium on July 1, 1973. Trailing 3-1 and down to their last strike in the first game of the day, reserve catcher Hal King hit a walk-off, pinch-hit home run to give the Reds the victory. The Reds won the second game as well and posted a remarkable 60-26 record the rest of the way and won the division by 3.5 games.
With his bulging biceps, Ted Kluszewski stands as arguably the most iconic of power hitters in Reds history. No one looked the part more than “Big Klu.” The Reds decision to adopt vest-style jerseys in 1956 was motivated in part by a desire to accommodate the team’s preeminent home run hitter. This example was worn by Klu during home games in the 1956 season.
In the Reds’ long and storied Opening Day tradition, no player had ever won an Opening Day contest for the Reds with a walk-off home run. That all changed on Opening Day in 2005 when third baseman Joe Randa’s solo shot in the bottom of the ninth inning gave the Reds a victory in the season’s first game. This is Randa’s bat from the game and the ball he hit to make Reds Opening Day history. The home run baseball is on loan to the Reds Hall of Fame courtesy of Alec Holste.
The 2023 Reds set a franchise record when rookies combined to hit 68 home runs on the season. Topping the list was Spencer Steer, whose 23 long balls led the team, making him the first rookie to lead the Reds in home runs since 1983. This is one of the bats Steer used during his debut season with the Reds in 2022.
Before it was retired following the game in which he collected his 2,000th career hit on August 15, Joey Votto had worn this batting helmet throughout the 2021 season. This included the games in which he hit his 300th career home run and the stretch during which he set a Reds franchise record by hitting a home run in seven consecutive games.
In the top of the third inning of the Reds game against the Brewers on July 8, 2023, outfielder Will Benson launched this baseball for a solo home run to deep right field. Benson’s shot set a new franchise record as it marked the 22nd consecutive game in which the Reds had hit a home run. The club combined for 45 homers over the 22-game span.
At the time of the ill-fated trade that sent him to the Orioles after the 1965 season, Frank Robinson was the franchise record holder for career home runs with 325. His mark would not be broken until Johnny Bench hit his 326th home run in 1979. This is one of the bats Robinson used during his Reds career.
On September 26, 2007, second baseman Brandon Phillips joined a most exclusive club. In Reds history only two players, Eric Davis in 1987 and Barry Larkin in 1996, had become members of baseball’s 30 home run/30 stolen base club. Phillips made it a trio when he became a member with home run #30, a two-run shot in the bottom of the first inning. These are the cleats Phillips wore during the game. They are on loan to the Reds Hall of Fame courtesy of Brandon Phillips.
No one knew it at the time but when Eric Davis belted a two-run home run off Oakland ace Dave Stewart in the bottom of the first inning of Game 1 of the 1990 World Series, the die had been case for one of the most stunning sweeps in World Series history. This is one of the jerseys Davis wore during the Series.
Of the many honors the 1977 NL MVP received for his dominant 1977 season, the Babe Ruth Crown might be the most distinctive. Awarded by the Maryland Professional Baseball Players Association and named in honor of Babe Ruth, the crown was awarded to the player who led the majors in combined home runs and RBIs. Foster set franchise records with 52 home runs and 149 RBIs in 1977. He remains the only Red to hit 50 homers in a season. The crown is on loan to the Reds Hall of Fame courtesy of George Foster.
Baseball’s greatest catcher was also the Reds’ most prolific home run hitter, topping the all-time franchise list with 389. This bat dates to the early 1970s, a period during which Bench led the NL in home runs in both his 1970 and 1972 MVP seasons.
