Big Red Machine
1975 Cincinnati RedsHome Field: Riverfront Stadium
World ChampionsHit: #1 R, #2 BA
W - 108 L - 54Pitch: #3 OR, ERA
Manager: Sparky AndersonDef: #4t FA

The Big Red Machine of the 1970s featured one of the most potent attacks of all time. The lineup featuring Pete Rose, Joe Morgan, Johnny Bench, and Tony Perez among others was powerful enough to make even the best pitchers nervous.

Cincinnati had been on the threshhold of a championship for several years. In 1970, rookie manager Sparky Anderson had guided the Reds to a pennant. Two years later, they won the pennant again. Yet both times, they came up short in the World Series. Finally in 1975, it was their turn. The team won a club record 108 games. Morgan was the league's MVP, hitting .327. Rose batted .317 and led the loop in runs scored.

Cincinnati continued its post season mastery of Pittsburgh with a sweep of the Bucs. The World Series, one of the most memorable of all time, pitted the Reds against Boston. Five of the seven games were decided by a run and there was at least one lead change in all but the first game. When Boston took a 3-0 lead in Game 7, it looked like fate might against the Reds once again. The Reds battled back. A two run homer by Perez in the sixth made it 3-2. Rose tied the game up with an RBI single in the seventh. In the ninth, Morgan came up with Ken Griffey on third and Rose on first and two out. A single to center produced the game winner. Will McEnaney retired the side in order in the bottom of the ninth to wrap up the series.

A year later, on the strength of a lineup that featured five .300 hitters, the Reds repeated as World Champions, sweeping both the Phillies and the Yankees in the post season.



Pos Player Bats AB H R HR RBI BA    NL Rank
C-1B Johnny Bench R 530 150 83 28 110 .283    #2 RBI; #4 HR
1B Tony Perez R 511 144 74 20 109 .282    #3 RBI
2B Joe Morgan L 498 163 107 17 94 .327    #4 BA, R
SS Dave Concepcion R 507 139 62 5 49 .274  
3B-OF Pete Rose B 662 210 112 7 74 .317    #1 R
LF George Foster R 463 139 71 23 78 .300  
CF Cesar Geronimo L 501 129 69 6 53 .257  
RF Ken Griffey L 463 141 95 4 46 .305  
                   
1B-OF Dan Driessen L 210 59 38 7 38 .281  
OF Merv Rettenmund R 188 45 24 2 19 .239  
2B-3B Darrell Chaney L 160 35 18 2 26 .219  
C Bill Plummer R 159 29 17 1 19 .182  
3B-2B-SS Doug Flynn R 127 34 17 1 20 .268  
OF-1B Terry Crowley L 71 19 8 1 11 .268  
OF Ed Armbrister R 65 12 9 0 2 .185  
                   
TOTAL: Team   5581 1515 840 124 779 .271  
  League Average   66102 17002 8014 1233 7409 .257  


Pitcher Throw G IP W L ERA PCT    NL Rank
  Gary Nolan R 32 211 15 9 3.16 .625  
  Don Gullett L 22 160 15 4 2.42 .789  
  Jack Billingham R 33 208 15 10 4.11 .600  
  Fred Norman L 34 188 12 4 3.73 .750  
  Pat Darcy R 27 131 11 5 3.57 .688  
  Clay Kirby R 26 111 10 6 4.70 .625  
  Pedro Borbon R 67 125 9 5 2.95 .643  
  Clay Carroll R 56 96 7 5 2.63 .583  
  Will McEnaney L 70 91 5 2 2.47 .714  
  Rawly Eastwick R 58 90 5 3 2.60 .625    #1t SV
                   
TOTAL: Team       108 54 3.37    
  League Average           3.63    

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