Mr. Red is the first

mascot A mascot is any human, animal, or object thought to bring luck, or anything used to represent a group with a common public identity, such as a school, sports team, university society, society, military unit, or brand, brand name. Mascots are als ...

of the

Cincinnati Reds The Cincinnati Reds are an American professional baseball team based in Cincinnati. The Reds compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (baseball), National League (NL) National League Central, Central Divisi ...

baseball team. He is a

humanoid A humanoid (; from English ''human'' and '' -oid'' "resembling") is a non-human entity with human form or characteristics. By the 20th century, the term came to describe fossils which were morphologically similar, but not identical, to those of ...

figure dressed in a Reds uniform, with an oversized baseball for a head. Sometimes, Mr. Red is referred to by the team as "The Running Man" for the way he has posed on the logo c.

1968 Events January–February * January 1968, January – The I'm Backing Britain, I'm Backing Britain campaign starts spontaneously. * January 5 – Prague Spring: Alexander Dubček is chosen as leader of the Communist Party of Cze ...

. Mr. Red was created by Henry "Hank" Zureick, the Reds Publicity Director. The character first appeared on the cover of the 1953 Cincinnati Red Stockings yearbook, which was also produced by Mr. Zureick, along with many yearbooks and programs during his career. Mr. Red made his first appearance on a Reds uniform as a sleeve patch in

1955 Events January * January 3 – José Ramón Guizado becomes president of Panama. * January 17 – , the first nuclear-powered submarine, puts to sea for the first time, from Groton, Connecticut. * January 18– 20 – Battle of Yijian ...

. The patch featured Mr. Red's head, clad in an old-fashioned white pillbox

baseball cap A baseball cap is a type of soft cap, hat with a rounded crown and a stiff bill projecting in front. The front of the hat typically displays a design or a logo (historically, usually only a sports team, namely a baseball team, or names of releva ...

with red stripes. The following season,

1956 Events January * January 1 – The Anglo-Egyptian Sudan, Anglo-Egyptian Condominium ends in Sudan after 57 years. * January 8 – Operation Auca: Five U.S. evangelical Christian Missionary, missionaries, Nate Saint, Roger Youderian, E ...

, saw the Reds adopt sleeveless jerseys, and Mr. Red was eliminated from the home uniform. He was moved to the left breast of the road uniform, and remained there for one season before being eliminated entirely. In

1999 1999 was designated as the International Year of Older Persons. Events January * January 1 – The euro currency is established and the European Central Bank assumes its full powers. * January 3 – The Mars Polar Lander is launc ...

, the Reds re-designed their uniform and "Mr. Red" was reintroduced as a sleeve patch on the undershirt. A human version of the mascot had appeared in 1972 and went full time in 1973 season. By the end of 1973 Tom Kindig replaced his older brother Chuck as the day to day Mr. Red mascot for remainder of the 1970s. Many viewed Mr. Red nationally in Game 5 of 1975 World Series, when he appeared on screen during the

NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a subsidiary of Comcast. It is one of NBCUniversal's ...

broadcast (see the DVD version available on A&E Video). The mascot disappeared in the late 1980s for unknown reasons. The costumed mascot was reintroduced in 1997. Mr. Red was joined by '' Gapper'', a new furry mascot created by David Raymond (the original

Phillie Phanatic The Phillie Phanatic is the official mascot for the Philadelphia Phillies Major League Baseball team. He is a large, furry, green bird with an extendable tongue. He performs various routines to entertain fans during baseball games at Citizens Ban ...

), as the franchise moved to

Great American Ballpark Great American Ball Park is a baseball stadium in Cincinnati, Ohio, United States. It is the ballpark of Major League Baseball's Cincinnati Reds, and opened on March 31, 2003, replacing Cinergy Field (formerly Riverfront Stadium), the Reds' for ...

2003 2003 was designated by the United Nations as the International Year of Fresh water, Freshwater. In 2003, a Multi-National Force – Iraq, United States-led coalition 2003 invasion of Iraq, invaded Iraq, starting the Iraq War. Demographic ...

. In 2007, the current Mr. Red has been supplemented by a retro 1950s version known as "Mr. Redlegs", complete with handlebar mustache and old fashioned baseball uniform. Throughout the 1970s and 1980s, Mr. Red wore uniform number 27. The humanoid Mr. Red retired in 2007 leaving "Gapper" and a mascoted "Mr. Redlegs" to take his place. In August 2008, a female companion named "Rosie Red" named in honor of the group that supports the team, the Rosie Reds, was introduced. A new Mr. Red Mascot was unveiled at Redsfest for the 2012 season, the mascot is now on the field with "Gapper" and "Rosie Red" and "Mr. Redlegs."

References

External links

{{Cincinnati Reds Major League Baseball team mascots Cincinnati Reds Fictional balls Anthropomorphic objects Object mascots Mascots introduced in 1953