How the Cincinnati Reds Got Their Name
Few people know that the Reds, the oldest existing professional team got their name from the 1800's version of a political action committee.
The Cincinnati baseball club was funded by the local worker's unions at the riverfront. In those days communists were not yet looked on with the fear and disgust that would develop in the 20th century.
However the "Red Flag" had been adopted widely as a symbol of communists socialists and other workers parties. The union heads kept a low profile in the Cincy club but local sportswriters still referred to the Riverfront nine as "the Red's Club" which later became just the Reds.
