1976: Sparky Anderson says
there was no stopping the
Big Red Machine

BY CHRIS HAFT
The Cincinnati Enquirer

Sparky Anderson knew.

He knew that baseball was the sport where improbable comebacks were always possible and that the only true definition of security was the final out.

"That uncertainty is always there," Anderson said recently, still sensitive to the game's pitfalls despite being retired and four years removed from managing.

This time, Anderson knew something else -- that no ballclub on earth could outclass his Cincinnati Reds.

The Reds had just won Game 2 of the 1976 World Series, edging the New York Yankees, 4-3. Moments after Tony Perez's single off Yankees ace Catfish Hunter scored Ken Griffey with the winning run in the ninth inning, Anderson saw one of his favorite writers, Si Burick of The Dayton Daily News, near the tunnel leading to the Reds' clubhouse at Riverfront Stadium.

Anderson paused in front of Burick. "Si," said Anderson, "it's all over in four."

Cincinnati indeed swept the Series, completing an undefeated seven-game romp through the postseason that would prompt comparisons of the Reds to the sport's all-time greatest teams.

Reds catcher Johnny Bench chats with the Yankees' Lou Piniella before Game 3 of the World Series. (Enquirer file)

1975 vs. 1976

So great were these Reds that they're probably best compared to themselves -- that is, to their near-identical twin that captured the National League pennant and a memorable World Series over Boston one year earlier. The '75 Reds were six games better in the regular season (108-54) and won the NL West by 20 games over Los Angeles, doubling the '76 team's cushion.

As the club's manager from 1970-78, Anderson might be better-equipped than anyone to gauge the ebb and flow of talent during the Big Red Machine era.

The 1976 team, he insisted, topped all.

"We had come into full bloom in '75," Anderson said. "But now (in '76) everybody was at his prime. I'm not going to get into comparing them with last year's Yankees (who won 125 games, including postseason). They don't play each other. But I know that in my time, that '76 club is the best I've ever seen."

Supporting evidence abounds:

• Seven of Cincinnati's eight starters made the NL All-Star team -- catcher Johnny Bench, shortstop Davey Concepcion, left fielder George Foster, right fielder Griffey, second baseman Joe Morgan, first baseman Perez and third baseman Pete Rose. The year before, the Reds had five representatives.

"We complemented each other so well," said Griffey, now the Reds' bench coach.

• The Reds broke the club record of 840 runs they established in 1975 by amassing 857 -- the most since the 1962 San Francisco Giants tallied 878. Versatility was Cincinnati's offensive hallmark.

"Early in the game, if we saw that the opposing pitcher was going to have a good night, we'd go to our speed game," Anderson said. "If they wanted to let us stay in power mode, we'd stay in power mode."

• The Reds achieved the unprecedented feat of leading the major leagues in 10 primary offensive and defensive categories: batting and fielding average, on-base and slugging percentage, runs, hits, doubles, triples, homers and walks.

"We had the speed, defense, great power, great everything," Anderson said. "But their best and strongest asset was, they were good people. You never heard of any problem, not one single time. Today, my Lord, you're afraid to pick up the paper."

Joe Morgan greets Dave Concepcion after he scored the game- and series-winning run on a Ken Griffey single in Game 3 of the NL Championship Series against the Philadelphia Phillies. (Enquirer file)

Keeping it on the field

Virtually all the news the Reds generated focused on their on-field heroics.

Morgan won his second consecutive Most Valuable Player award, combining power (27 homers), production (111 RBI, 113 runs) and speed (60 steals) as few players have done. Rose had a typical year, batting .323 while leading the league in hits (215), doubles (42) and runs scored (130).

Foster continued his emergence as a preeminent slugger, totaling 29 homers and a league-high 121 RBI. Griffey hit .336 and lost the NL batting title to Chicago's Bill Madlock on the season's final day.

"For some reason, Kenny got lost in the shuffle," Anderson said. "They talk about his son (Seattle center fielder Ken Griffey Jr.), but in my opinion, he still has a long way to go to match his papa."

Underrated pitching

On the surface, the pitching staff looked ordinary. It featured no 20-game winner, and its 3.51 ERA exceeded the NL average by .01.

But seven different Reds won 10 games or more, believed to be a first. Rawly Eastwick saved an NL-high 26 games to earn the league's Fireman of the Year award for relief excellence.

"No one talks about our pitching, but I thought it was the best in the league," said Griffey, citing mainstays such as Gary Nolan (15-9, 3.46 ERA), Fred Norman (12-7, 3.10), Don Gullett (11-3, 3.00) and Jack Billingham (12-10, 4.32).

"To me, (pitching coach) Larry Shepard never received the credit he deserved," Anderson said. "That staff was not as bad as people made it to be. They said it was 'ugly.' No, it was not ugly! We just did not have the dominant staff that the Dodgers and maybe even Houston had.

"Larry molded it into a defensive staff. They were able to defend what our offense had already accomplished. We'd get out in front, and we could manipulate our pitchers down the stretch over the last three innings. Our advance scout, Ray Shore, would watch the scoreboard at another ballpark and see our (pitchers') numbers change in the eighth and ninth innings, and it never bothered him.

"When you have a club like that that looks so superior and is superior, some things get lost in the shuffle."

Reds statistics
Player	r	hr	rbi	sb	avg.
Griffey	111	6	74	34	.336
Rose	130	10	63	9	.323
Morgan	113	27	111	60	.320
Geronimo	59	2	49	22	.307
Foster	86	29	121	17	.306
Bailey	17	6	23	0	.298
Armbrister	20	2	7	7	.295
Flynn	20	1	20	2	.284
Concepcion	74	9	69	21	.281
Perez	77	19	91	10	.260
Plummer	16	4	19	0	.248
Driessen	32	7	44	14	.247
Bench	62	16	74	13	.234
Lum	15	3	20	0	.228
Youngblood	8	0	1	1	.193
Totals	857	141	802	210	.280
Pitcher	w	l	so	bb	era
Eastwick	11	5	70	27	2.08
Zachry	14	7	143	83	2.74
Gullett	11	3	64	48	3.00
Norman	12	7	126	70	3.10
Borbon	4	3	53	31	3.35
Nolan	15	9	113	27	3.46
Billingham	12	10	76	62	4.32
Alcala	11	4	67	67	4.70
McEnaney	2	6	28	23	4.87
Totals	102	60	790	491	3.51

Feeling defensive

Such as defense, often an underappreciated facet. The Reds committed only 102 errors and recorded a .984 fielding percentage.

"It was probably the best defensive club that we had in my tenure," said Gullett, now Cincinnati's pitching coach, who was a top Reds left-hander from 1970-76.

"Up the middle, we were terrific, with Bench, Davey, Morgan and (center fielder Cesar) Geronimo," Griffey said. "Then you had Pete, who wouldn't miss anything at third base. His range wasn't like Brooks Robinson's or Mike Schmidt's, but anything he could get close to, he could throw you out. And Doggie (Perez) at first base. Doggie didn't look pretty, but I'll tell you what, he caught everything they threw."

The Reds also handled everything opponents threw at them. Their chief West Division rival, the Dodgers, improved their outfield by acquiring Dusty Baker from Atlanta. They bolstered their starting rotation with Tommy John, who was returning from the extensive elbow surgery now nicknamed for him, and 23-year-old right-hander Rick Rhoden, who improved from 3-3 in 1975 to 12-3.

But Cincinnati built a 9 1/2-game lead over Los Angeles with two months to go and was never seriously challenged thereafter.

Self-discipline was no problem for these Reds.

"They knew how you had to act," Anderson said.

Nor was self-motivation any trouble.

"When we made a mistake, we understood what it was," Griffey said. "We knew not to make that mistake again under the same circumstances. We learned quickly."

And if even the mildest hint of slippage occurred, Anderson rectified the situation.

"I used to say they tolerated me," he said of his players. "I'm sure there were some guys who didn't like me. No player can hardly like a manager, if you're taken out or pinch hit for. To me, you wouldn't be much of a competitor."

No easy games

Sweeping Philadelphia in the NL Championship Series wasn't as simple as 1-2-3. The Phillies led in each of the first two games and had a 6-4 edge in Game 3 before home runs by Foster and Bench fueled a victorious three-run rally in the ninth.

"We always battled with Philadelphia," Griffey said. "The World Series was easier for us, because Philadelphia knew us. They had played us tough all year. Tug McGraw, (Larry) Bowa, Schmidt, (Garry) Maddox -- those guys weren't going to give us what we wanted."

Then the Reds simply overwhelmed the Yankees. Bench, who batted a career-low .234 while coping with an injured shoulder, made everybody forget about his regular-season performance. The future Hall of Famer hit .333 against the Phillies in the NLCS and a monstrous .533 against the Yankees, including a two-homer, five-RBI outburst in Game 4.

Dan Driessen, among the Reds' many key reserves, capitalized on the designated-hitter rule in the Series to bat .357 and match Bench's team-high four runs.

Such greatness is rarely effortless.

"We worked," Griffey said. "We did the same thing everybody else did, day-in and day-out. We played."

They just happened to do it better than anybody else.