The Big Red Machine is the nickname given to the Cincinnati Reds baseball team which dominated the National League from 1970 to 1976, recognized as among the best in baseball.[1][2] Over that span, the team won five National League Western Division titles, four National League pennants, and two World Series titles.[3] The team's combined record from 1970-1976 was 683 wins and 443 losses, an average of nearly 98 wins per season.
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The nickname was introduced in a July 4, 1969 article by Bob Hertzel in The Cincinnati Enquirer,[4] but gained prominence in reference to the 1970 team,[5][6][7][8] which posted a regular season record of 102-60 and won the National League pennant.[9] Rookie and future-Hall of Fame manager Sparky Anderson headed the team,[10] which at its peak featured Pete Rose, Johnny Bench, Joe Morgan and Tony Pérez, and was supported by George Foster, César Gerónimo, Ken Griffey, Sr., and Dave Concepción.[11] The eight players most frequently referenced as members of the Big Red Machine include baseball's all-time hit leader in Rose;[12] 3 Hall of Fame players in Bench, Peréz and Morgan; 6 National League MVP selections; 4 National League home run leading seasons; 3 NL Batting Champions; 25 Gold Glove winning seasons, and 63 collective All-Star Game appearances.[13] The starting lineup of Bench, Rose, Morgan, Pérez, Concepción, Foster, Griffey, and Gerónimo (collectively referred to as the "Great Eight") played 88 games together during the 1975 and 1976 seasons, losing only 19.[14]
The Cincinnati Reds of the 1970s garnered more World Series appearances than any other team during that decade, with an overall record of 953 wins and 657 losses.[15] They are the only National League team during the last 75 years to win back-to-back World Championships. Before them, the 1921 and 1922 New York Giants are the last NL team to accomplish this feat.[15] Although some of the original players departed the team, some extend the Big Red Machine nickname for two more years until the departures of Anderson and Rose following the 1978 season.[4] The Reds turned around to finish in second place in 1977[16] and 1978.[17] The Cincinnati Reds would not return to the World Series until their championship season of 1990, when manager Lou Piniella led the team to the team's most recent championship, a four-game sweep of the heavily-favored Oakland Athletics, a re-match of sorts from the 1972 World Series.
The Big Red Machine was part of the rivalry between the Philadelphia Phillies and the Pittsburgh Pirates. Although the Reds won four pennants in the 1970s, all of them came against both teams (Pirates in 1970, 1972, and 1975, and Phillies in 1976). In 1979, Pete Rose added further fuel in The Big Red Machine being part of the rivalry when he signed with the Phillies and helped them win their first World Series championship in 1980.
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