Dynasty Days : Cincinnati’s Big Red Machine Cemented Its Place in History With 1976 Title

Twenty years ago, baseball’s last dynasty cranked it into full gear for the last time.

The Big Red Machine of hit king Pete Rose, Hall of Famers Johnny Bench and Joe Morgan and RBI machine Tony Perez had already put its stamp on the 1970s, winning division titles in 1970, ’72 and ‘73, when it finally won the big one in 1975, beating Boston in that wonderful World Series after going 108-54 in the regular season.

The season of 1976 was about cementing their place in the pantheon of the game’s great teams, which the Reds surely did, winning 102 regular-season games before sweeping the Philadelphia Phillies in the playoffs and the New York Yankees in the World Series.

It was a team that knew how good it was. It was a group that made pronouncements, like Morgan’s on the eve of a big series with the rival Dodgers, who happened to lead in the standings at the time: “They may be in first but they’re chasing us. They can’t think they’re better than us.”

Or when Manager Sparky Anderson noted, “Don’t never embarrass nobody by trying to compare them to Johnny Bench.”

For better or worse, the Reds were the last organization able to keep a core of great players together before free agency made it a nomad’s game.

“I’m a little prejudiced, but I really believe you won’t see that type of team again,” says San Diego Padre coach Davey Lopes, an all-star second baseman for the Dodgers at the peak of their rivalry. “They were as good as you’ll ever see. In ’75 and ’76 they may have been in a league by themselves. They combined speed, power, good defense and they were very intense-type players.

“People talk about the Dodgers and Giants. In the ‘70s there wasn’t any Dodger-Giant rivalry. It was Cincinnati. When you played Cincinnati, I always felt like it was a playoff situation.”

Padre hitting coach Merv Rettenmund, who played for and against those Reds, echoes Lopes: “I think offensively it’s impossible to put that type of team together in today’s finances. You’ll never see an offense like that again. Heck, Cesar Geronimo batted eighth and he hit .300. You could’ve put that team on the field for an All-Star game.”

Indeed, the lineup was an autograph junkie’s dream: the big four of Rose, Bench, Morgan and Perez, supported by the likes of Gold Glove center fielder Geronimo, young outfielder Ken Griffey and all-star shortstop Dave Concepcion. The starting pitching was solid, led by Don Gullett, Jack Billingham and Gary Nolan, and the bullpen, featuring closer Rawly Eastwick, was outstanding as Anderson pioneered the bullpen-by-committee.

But what put the Reds over the top was a move by Anderson early in the 1975 season, shortly after he proclaimed slick-fielding John Vukovich his third baseman for eternity.

By mid-May the team was struggling and Vukovich’s bat was a liability. George Foster was languishing on the bench. Anderson made the bold move.

He asked Rose, Cincinnati’s home-grown baseball god, to move to third base--a position he’d never played--to open a spot in left field for Foster. Rose agreed and the Big Red Machine was fine-tuned for greatness. The Reds played stellar ball to the midseason break and never looked back.

For ’75 and ‘76, postseason included, the Reds compiled a record of 224-117.

Griffey, now Colorado’s hitting coach, remembers, “We felt good out on the field. We had a confidence, not an arrogance, that we could beat anybody. We had a hell of a pitching staff. They just never got the recognition because the offense overshadowed ‘em, the big four. . . . It takes 25 guys to do what we did. The big four understood that themselves. It took 25 guys to do what the Big Red Machine did.”

It took a front office to derail it. Despite the back-to-back titles, management began to shake up the team, trading Perez--the most popular player in the clubhouse--to make room for Dan Driessen, and inexplicably letting Gullett, their best pitcher, go as a free agent to the Yankees.

Rose left bitterly, via free agency, after 1978, Morgan after helping the Reds win one more division title in ’79. Not coincidentally, their new teams would make playoff and World Series appearances.

Was the lineup dismantled too early?

“You don’t know,” Rettenmund said. “Those are tough decisions. It doesn’t go forever.”

The breakup “was not all that surprising,” says Lopes, who said at least five of those Reds should be in the Hall of Fame. “Who is to say when is too early? They had too many quality players [to afford]. . . . I’m not too proud to admit how good they were.”

Griffey’s not sure the team’s dismantling was inevitable, but prefers not to deal in speculation. He’s happy to remember what was: “The biggest thing was it was a hell of a mixture.”

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Cogs in the Machine

A look at key members of the 1976 Cincinnati Reds.

BATTERS

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Player AVG HR RBI Johnny Bench, C .234 16 74 Dave Concepcion, SS .281 9 69 Dan Driessen, 1B .247 7 47 George Foster, LF .306 29 121 Cesar Geronimo, CF .307 2 49 Ken Griffey, RF .336 6 74 Joe Morgan, 2b .320 27 111 Tony Perez, 1B .260 19 91 Pete Rose, 3B .323 10 63

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ROTATION

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Pitcher W-L ERA Jack Billingham 12-10 4.32 Don Gullett 11-3 3.00 Gary Nolan 15-9 3.46 Fred Norman 12-7 3.10 Pat Zachry 14-7 2.74

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BULLPEN

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Pitcher Sv ERA Pedro Borbon 8 3.35 Rawly Eastwick 26 2.09 Will McEnaney 7 4.88

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(Southland Edition) Cogs in the Machine

A look at key members of the 1976 Cincinnati Reds.

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Player Statistics Johnny Bench, C .234, 16 HR, 74 RBI Pedro Borbon, P 8 saves, 3.35 ERA Dave Concepcion, SS .281, 9, 69 Dan Driessen, 1B .247, 7, 47 Rawly Eastwick, P 26 saves, 2.09 George Foster, LF .306, 29, 121 Cesar Geronimo, CF .307, 2, 49 Don Gullett, P 11-3, 3.00 Ken Griffey, RF .336, 6, 74 Will McEnaney, P 7 saves, 4.88 Joe Morgan, 2b .320, 27, 111 Gary Nolan, p 15-9, 3.46 Fred Norman, P 12-7, 3.10 Tony Perez, 1B .260, 19, 91 Pete Rose, 3B .323, 10, 63 Pat Zachry, P 14-7, 2.74

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