1921 would be the first of many holdouts that Roush would start. After his stellar 1920 where he led the team in hits, triples, RBI, stolen bases and average, he argued that his salary of $15,000 () was not enough. He failed to show up to spring training and continued to hold out until April 30 when he reached an agreement with the Reds. The Reds played poorly in 1921, and by the end of May they were 14–28. Roush had been sidelined a couple of times during the season with leg injuries, but he finished the year batting .385 over the last 37 games of the season to finish with a career-high .352 batting average, second to Rogers Hornsby.