1976 Cincinnati Reds
One of the easiest ways to stand out as among baseballs greatest teams isn't to win just one World Series, but to win multiple, especially when they're done in back-to-back years. This is why the Big Red Machine stands among the very few when we talk about the absolute best. For the early 70's they were among the most dangerous teams to go up against in the National League, but when they finally hit paydirt in 1975 with the championship, they truly put themselves on the doorstep of "the greatest ever" conversation.
As always with defending champions, the 1976 Reds opened the season with targets on their backs. Very little had changed from the year before on roster, so the expectation for Sparky Anderson's group was to defend their title. To that end, they crushed all competition with a 102-60 record, 10 games beyond the 2nd place Dodgers and hands down the best record in baseball.
The first victim on the playoffs were the Philadelphia Phillies in the NLCS. The Reds handled business in Philly to take a quick 1-0 lead in the best-of-5 series, but Game 2 saw the Phillies start to fight back. The Phillies had a 2-0 lead while Jim Lonborg had a no-hitter through 5 innings. Then the Reds' bats came to life in the 6th, scoring 4 runs to take the lead in their eventual 6-2 victory.
In Game 3, the Phillies once again jumped to an early lead, taking a 3-0 advantage into the bottom of the 7th. But once again, the Reds were only spotting their opponents the first half of the game only to strike late, as they scored a 4 spot to take the lead. This time, the Phillies didn't roll over and actually wrestled the lead back immediately, taking a 6-4 lead into the bottom of the 9th. George Foster and Johnny Bench would homer back-to-back to tie the game, then later with the bases loaded, Ken Griffey would single in the winning run, sending the defending champs back to the World Series.
The National League hadn't produced a team that won consecutive year championships since the 1922 New York Giants, and that team was denied a 3rd straight title by the New York Yankees. In fact, more often than not, an NL team trying to win consecutive titles will have to go through the Yankees, and 1976 was going to be no exception. The Reds took a quick 1-0 series lead and had a 3-0 lead in Game 2 when the Yankees rallied back to tie. That's the closest New York would get to derailing the Big Red Machine as Tony Perez singled in the 9th to bring home the walk-off run. The only lead the Yankees had in the series was a 1-0 advantage in the 1st inning of Game 4, but that too was only a footnote as the Reds won the game 7-2 to cap off the series sweep.
The Reds enjoyed the only perfect postseason (since divisional playoffs began) in history by going 7-0, a feat that may never be repeated with the addition of two additional playoff rounds (or one, depending on seeding) to the format. The 2nd straight title secured the Reds as having a place at the all time greats discussion.
The hit king had another stellar Hall of Fame worthy season, naturally leading baseball with 215 Hits, as well as 130 Runs and 42 Doubles. He finished 4th for MVP, which is normally a pretty big deal, but his own team had 2 other guys finish better.
The championship wasn't the only repeat going in in 1976, as Joe Morgan took home the NL MVP award just like the year before. The Hall of Famer would win the Gold Glove while leading the Reds with 60 Stolen Bases and 114 Walks.
Foster finished 2nd to Morgan for the MVP as his 29 Home Runs led the team and his 121 RBI led baseball. He had a couple homers in the NLCS, including the go-ahead shot in Game 1 that set the stage for Cincinnati's dominating October.
Most of the other regulars. Concepcion brought home a Gold Glove of his own while Griffey led the team with his .336 Average. Cesar Geronimo was the only of the eight regulars to not be an all star, but he did win a Gold Glove, meaning the entire starting lineup for the Reds had at least one individual accomplishment on the year.
Off the bench, which Cincinnati didn't need to call upon too often with the way their starters played.
It's hard to stand out when you're joining the rotation of the defending world champions, but Zachry did just that as he won 14 games, threw over 200 Innings and had a team best 2.74 ERA and 143 Strikeouts to win NL Rookie of the Year. He'd continue his stellar rookie campaign with wins in both the NLCS and World Series.
Gary Nolan would lead the Reds staff with 15 Wins in 239.1 Innings. He brought serious control with only 27 Walks, giving him baseball's best K-per-BB of 4.19 and just 1.0 BB/9.
The other Starters. All 6 starters on staff would have at least 11 Wins on the year and well over 100 Innings. Gullett would start and Win each playoff series for the Reds.
Eastwick led baseball with 26 Saves in 1976, but get none in the postseason. He blew the Save in Game 3 of the NLCS, but hung on to get the Win.
Other Relievers for the champs. Borbon and McEnaney would pick up Saves in October, with McEnaney closing the door on both Games 3 and 4 of the World Series.
Johnny Bench enjoyed yet another Gold Glove season in '76. Injury held his numbers back in the regular season, but he saved some serious dramatics for October as he hit the tying homer in Game 3 of the NLCS, then went on to hit 2 in Game 4 of the World Series to secure his series MVP.
