The Big Red Machine
Sparky Anderson's 1975 Cincinnati Reds the Best Team of the Decade
In a decade full of great teams, the Cincinnati Reds led by Johnny Bench, Pete Rose and Joe Morgan were the very best.
The 1970s. What a fabulous decade. It gave the world John Travolta, punk rock, two Godfather movies, and some of the greatest teams in baseball history.
Take the Oakland Athletics. They won three straight World Series from 1972 to 1974. Then, after Catfish Hunter and Reggie Jackson bolted the team for George Steinbrenner's millions, the Yankees won back to back titles in 1977 and 1978.
The Phillies, Dodgers, and Royals were also powerhouse teams that would have won championships in any other decade but the '70s.
But the best team of them all was the Big Red Machine, also known as the 1975 Cincinnati Reds.
Years of Frustration Lead up to 1975
Prior to the 1975 season, the Reds had come close, very close, to winning it all. The team reached the World Series in both 1970 and 1975, only to suffer the agony of defeat on both ocassions. In 1973, Cincinnati won the National League West division again, but lost to the underdog New York Mets in a memorable seven game National League Championship Series.
The next year, the Reds won 98 games, but still finished four games behind a Los Angeles Dodgers team that featured Steve Garvey, Ron Cey, and Davey Lopes.
In fact, despite being the oldest franchise in professional baseball, the Reds had only won two World Series, and one of those victories was tarnished because it came in the 1919 World Series against the Chicago Black Sox. So, by the time the spring of 1975 rolled around, the Reds and their fans were practically starving for a championship. The Reds would not disappoint.
An Historic Regular Season
On the first day of spring training, Pete Rose told a group of reporters that the Reds would finally win it all. By the middle of May, however, the Reds had a very mediocre 18-19 record and were a full six games behind the Dodgers in the NL West. Then they went on a tear.
By June 1st, they had closed the gap to one game, and by August, Cincinnati was running away with the division. In the end, the Reds won the division by 20 games over the Dodgers, avenging the prior year's defeat in historic fashion.
Then they swept through the Pittsburgh Pirates in the NLCS and outscored them 19-7 in the process. That set up a World Series matchup with the American League champion Boston Red Sox.
A Fall Classic for the Ages
The Red Sox hadn't won a World Series for 57 years, but that year they won 95 games during the regular season and then ended the Oakland A's championship run with a 3-0 sweep in the ALCS. They also had the two best young hitters in the American League in Jim Rice and AL MVP Fred Lynn, and a strong pitching rotation featuring Luis Tiant and the Space Bill Lee.
After five hard fought games, the Reds had a three games to two lead over the Sox when the Series returned to Boston. However, they lost Game 6, a legendary 12-inning affair that culminated with Carlton Fisk hitting a walk-off home run that won the game 7-6.
The next night, reeling from exhaustion and the psychological letdown from the night before, the Reds fell behind 3-0. In the top of the sixth, Cincinnati began to chip away at Boston's lead when Tony Perez hit a two run blast that closed the gap. Pete Rose tied the score in the top of the seventh inning when he singled home Ken Griffey with two outs.
Then, in the top of the ninth inning, Morgan drove a single to right field that scored Griffey and put the Reds ahead by a run. Reds' reliever Will McEnany pitched the bottom of the ninth and got Carl Yazstremski to fly out to center field for the final out. The Reds had done it: the first world championship for Cincinnati in 35 years.
The Reds Place in History
With four Hall of Fame-level players, a top flight pitching staff and Sparky Anderson as their manager, the Big Red Machine was surely one of baseball's greatest teams. Only the 1998 Yankees, who had a better pitching staff, and the 1927 Yankees, who had the best lineup in history, are considered by most baseball historians to be better teams. Third best isn't so bad.
