This was a vintage Big Red Machine team in all it's glory. A lineup that put fear into anyone standing 60 feet 6 inches away from one of them. The Reds didn't exactly cruise to the NL West title. They had to claw their way back to topple the upstart Dodgers. Their low point was on Saturday June 30th when they lost a 13 inning affair to the Dodgers, at home, 8-7. That loss set the team back 11 games and left them with a record of 39-37. In their darkest hour the team veterans rallied the team to 3 straight walk off wins over the Dodgers to move to within 8 games. From that point on they kept closing like a ferocious tiger. Then on September 4 they took a one game lead of the division and never looked back. The Dodgers never quit, but the Reds were red hot going 19-8 in the final month of the season. Roaring into the playoffs vs an 82-79 Met team the Reds were overwhelming favorites, but as luck would have it the Mets were hot too and they had world class pitching. We all know what happens when great hitting meets up with great pitching in a short series, which is how the Mets hung on to win in 5 bitterly fought games. So for the 3rd time in 4 years the heavily favored Reds entered the post season being the odds on favorite, only to come up short. Pundits were starting to talk that this team couldn't win the big one. Oddly enough they were starting to be compared to the 1950's version of the Dodgers.
The heart and soul of this team was none other than 32 year old NL MVP Peter Edward Rose (.338-5-64). Charlie Hustle was the engine that drove the machine. His pal Tony Perez posted another "quiet" 100 RBI year, while hitting .314. All-World catcher Johnny Bench was just 25, but his name was now being mentioned along with luminaries like Berra and Campanella. He hit "just" .253, but still managed to catch 152 games and knock in 104 runs. Cincy did have some weak spots in their lineup. Bobby Tolan (RF) and Cesar Geronimo (CF) both barely hit over .200. Dennis Menke (.191) platooned with Dan Driessen (.301) at third and was definitely a weak spot. Little Joe Morgan was a 20/20 man popping 26 homers and swiping 67 bags, with an OBP of .406. The rotation was solid. Jack Billingham (19-10, 3.04) logged 293 innings, while tossing 7 shutouts. Young lefties Ross Grimsley (13-10, 3.23) and Don Gullett (18-8, 3.51) were well over 200+ innings as well. In season acquision Fred Norman (12-6, 3.30) solidified the rotation and helped spark the run. The pen was outstanding with a pair of 14 save guys in Pedro Borbon and Clay Carroll. Lefty Tom Hall saved 8 and offered balance. Pitching wise the big disappointment was seeing ace Gary Nolan pitch 2 games before going down with an arm injury. Just one year before he was 15-5, 1.99 in 25 starts. Once can only imagine how good this team would have been with a healthy Nolan.
In total 15 new cards and one fix of an error card were created to finish off the set.
31 year old veteran corner outfielder / infielder Andy Kosco did a great job filling in when needed and pinch hitting. In 47 games he blasted 9 homers and hit .280. Cincy had themselves a key veteran to anchor the bench. The following season he crashed and burned while hitting .189 in limited action and was by the Reds only to end up in the Phillies AAA affiliate in Toledo where he hit a meager .235 and was out of baseball having played 10 years in the bigs.
Driessen was signed by the Reds as an amateur free agent in 1969. He made his major-league debut at age 21 on June 9, 1973 in an 8-4 Reds win over the Chicago Cubs at Wrigley Field. Starting at third base and batting sixth, he had one hit and one walk in five at-bats. His first career hit was a ninth-inning double off Jack Aker. He had a productive rookie season, hitting .301 with four home runs and 47 runs batted in. Driessen received the nickname "The Cobra" during his rookie season because of the quick, lethal way his bat struck. He became Cincinnati's starting third baseman in 1974, but was soon replaced at that position by Pete Rose. In 1976, Driessen became the National League's first-ever designated hitter in a World Series. For years the Reds had trouble finding a permanent place for him in their loaded lineup, which is why they traded Perez to Montreal in 1977. Driessen performed well, as Perez' replacement, but never had the same "pop" as Doggie, or his clubhouse presence.
A local boy done good, Tomlin grew up in Kentucky and got to play for his virtual home team the Reds. He appeared in just 16 games for his hometown team in 1973 and even saw limited action in the NLCS vs the Mets. After the season ended he was dealt to San Diego along with Bob Tolan for Clay Kirby. After 4 solid years in SD's pen he returned back to the Reds in 1978 and went 9-1 with an inflated 5.78 ERA. He rebounded nicely in '79 (2-2, 2.62) and pitched in 3 games in the NLCS. After the 1980 season he bounced between the major and the minor and to Montreal, Pittsburgh and then back to Montreal, where he spent more time at Indianapolis (AAA) than with the parent club. After a disappointing AAA season in 1987 he hung up his spikes and embarked on a long career as a major league pitching coach.
The on the field story of Dick Baney for the '73 Reds is 11 games 2-1, 2.93 record in 30 innings pitched and a win vs the Mets in the NLCS. That's not half as interesting as the backstory, which includes being mentioned in Ball 4, being a model for one of the key characters in Bull Durham and speaking of modeling...posing in 1977 for Playgirl Magazine. To read the full story published in the March 30th, 2012 addition of OC Weekly, CLICK HERE.
In his 5 years with the Reds Armbrister served the role of 5th outfielder-pinch hitter-pinch runner to a "T". As a 24 year old rookie he hit just .216 in 18 games. He's best known for his bunt interference play in the '75 World Series. After hitting .276 in AAA in 1978 and realizing the Reds had no plans for him he headed to the Mexican League and played 2 more seasons before leaving baseball and returning back home to the Bahamas where he became big in the gaming industry. During his post baseball life he's been a government agent, consultant to the Ministry of Sports and even a top tier local softball player. In 2008 he was inducted into the Bahamas National HOF.
On July 27, Crosby was traded along with Gene Dusan to the Cincinnati Reds for Ed Sprague, Sr. and later Roe Skidmore. Crosby spent the rest of the 1973 campaign with the Reds, then was selected by the Philadelphia Phillies in the 1973 rule 5 draft. Before playing a game for the Phillies, the Cardinals purchased his contract, and shortly afterward traded him to the Cleveland Indians with Luis Alvarado for Jack Heidemann. Crosby played in 37 games for the Indians in 1974 and 61 in 1975, finishing his major league career with two final games played in 1976 with Cleveland, having spent most of the season with the AAA Tulsa Oilers. Crosby played three more years in the minor leagues before retiring. In a six-season MLB career, Crosby posted a .220 batting average (149-for-677) with 67 runs and 44 RBI through 297 games played. His son, Bobby Crosby, had an eight-year Major League Baseball career and was the 2004 American League Rookie of the Year.
Was sent to St. Louis in exchange for Ed Crosby. In 28 games prior to the trade he was 1-3, 5.12 in 28 games in relief. He would move on to his 3rd team as the Cards sold his contract to the Brewers in September. Sprague had a decent '74 for the Brew Crew as a spot starter reliever. The next two seasons would see him fall apart on the mound, which earned him his release on June 15, 1976.
After starting the season at 1-7 in San Diego, Norman got the ultimate "get out of jail free card" when the Reds sent Mike Johnson and Gene Locklear with some cash to acquire him on June 12th. Interestingly that's right about the time that the Reds, who desperately needed a 4th starter began to turn it around. Norman was 12-6, 3.30 over the final 3 months of the season and was a major reason the team caught LA and won the NL West. He wold be a fixture in the rotation for the next 6 seasons winning two Championship rings with the Reds ('74 & '75).
Locklear hit just .192 in 29 games with the Reds before being packaged along with Mike Johnson to San Diego in exchange for lefty Fred Norman. This card was created by a colorization from a grainy B&W team issued post card. Hopefully someone finds a better pic, so I can replace it.
The light hitting Hal King was Johnny Bench's backup's (Bill Plummer) backup. Translation: Lots of time warming up pitchers in the pen and not much game action. King, who barely hit a lick in his stops in Houston, Atlanta and Texas didn't hit much in his 2 seasons in Cincy (.183) either, so after the '74 season he took his talent down to Mexico and played 5 more years.
In just 25 games as a September call up Ken Griffey ripped the cover off the ball hitting a rabid .384, which earned him a starting spot in right field the following season. Griffey was a key spark-plug for the Big Red Machine in his 12 seasons at Riverfront, where he hit .303. In total he would play 19 seasons and hit .296 lifetime. Most importantly he got to play in the same lineup with his future HOF son. They even hit back to back homers. Griff was some player in his prime.
Gagliano, who was a key bench player on 3 Cardinal pennant winners in the mid to late 60's was brought to Cincy to recreate that same role. In 63 games coming off the bench his hit .290. Phil would hit .065 in 46 games the following year and earn his release at the end of the season. Gagliano was a HS teammate of Tim McCarver. In fact they were signed by the Cardinals at the same time and moved through the system together. McCarver said, "at one time I think we were tethered at the hip".
After hitting .300 and making the All Star team with the KC Royals in 1972 Scheinblum found himself on the outside looking in because the Royals had so many young OF prospects, so he was traded to Cincy with Roger Nelson for Hal McRae and Wayne Simpson. Richie lasted just 29 games in Cincy, who had their own OF log jam, and was dealt to the Angels on June 15th where he hit .328. It would all start to unravel right after that with a .174 season in '74 split among 3 teams. Not one to take no for an answer he jetted off to Japan and had two outstanding seasons in a row before retiring. His final season in Japan he hit .307 with 20 homers. My old Facebook friend spent 8 seasons in the bigs and hit .263. He hit .311 in his minor league career and .295 in Japan. An off season pick up basketball game injury, where he severed his Achilles ended his playig career. On a personal note, Richie is a great guy and we chat a lot on FB. A "real mensch".
Nelson was an off season pickup from KC. He saw limited action (14 games / 8 starts) and went 3-2, 3.46 in almost 55 innings of work. He appeared in relief in the '73 NLCS after 3 Red pitchers before him were battered by the punchless Mets. Nelson had a similar season the following year, but his nagging arm injuries began acting up again and he was sold to the Chisox where he never even played a game before being cut. After starting 20 games for Tucson (Oakland AAA) in 1975 he found his way back to the place of his greatest success, Kansas City. The Royals assigned him to Omaha (AAA) where he had two average seasons out of the pen. He pitched in 3 games for the parent club as the drove toward their first AL West Flag. 1977 saw him return to Omaha for a full season, but no return to KC was imminent, so he was released and picked up by Pittsburgh where he spent the next two season in AAA before hanging it up.
Topps must not have remembered that Grimsley was a southpaw, because on his original card they used the Red bubble for a RHP. I took his original card and added the lefty blue bubble and revised it. Everyone's entitled to a mistake now an then.
What's left to say about George "Sparky" Anderson that you don't already know? In 9 seasons at the helm of the Reds (1970-78) he had one losing season (1971), which was due to injuries. He won 5 NL West Crowns, 4 NL Pennants and 2 World Championships. "Dr. Hook" was the best darn manager that Cincy ever had and Dick Wagner made a huge mistake canning him after the '78 season. When he won the World Series in Detroit in 1984 he felt vindicated. He was the first manager to win a championship in both leagues. His career record in Cincy was 863-586 for an almost .600 winning %. He was elected to the HOF in 2000 by the Veteran's Committee.
No comments:
Post a Comment