There are great teams in baseball and then there are classic teams. The 1975 Cincinnati Reds is a classic team. From 1972-1976, the Reds, dubbed The Big Red Machine, dominated the National League, winning four division crowns, three pennants, and two World Series titles. But it's the 1975 season that is the stuff of sports legend.
Helmed by Hall of Fame manager Sparky Anderson, the lineup for the '75 Reds reads like a Who's Who of baseball greats: Pete Rose, Ken Griffey Sr., Joe Morgan, Johnny Bench, Tony Perez, George Foster, Cesar Geronimo, and Dave Concepcion. They were a well-oiled engine, winning 108 games that year and finishing 20 games ahead of the Los Angeles Dodgers in the National League West.
But that doesn't mean it was a season without drama. There were feuds, fights, insults, and run-ins with fans. And, of course, there were high expectations. The Reds seemed destined for greatness that year. And, after 9 innings in the 7th game of a classic World Series matchup, they achieved it by defeating the Boston Red Sox 4-3.
In THE MACHINE, award-winning sports columnist Joe Posnanski captures all of the passion and tension, drama and glory, of one of the greatest baseball teams of all time: the 1975 Cincinnati Reds.
