Editing Cincinnati Reds (section)

===The Big Red Machine (1970–1976)===
[[File:Riverfront Stadium Cincinnati Ohio 1974.jpg|thumb|upright=1.1|[[Riverfront Stadium]] (pictured in 1974), the home stadium of the Reds from 1970 to 2002]]

In {{baseball year|1970}}, little-known [[Sparky Anderson|George "Sparky" Anderson]] was hired as manager of the Reds, and the team embarked upon a decade of excellence, with a lineup that came to be known as "[[the Big Red Machine]]." Playing at Crosley Field until June 30, 1970, when they moved into [[Riverfront Stadium (Cincinnati)|Riverfront Stadium]], a new 52,000-seat multi-purpose venue on the shores of the [[Ohio River]], the Reds began the 1970s with a bang by winning 70 of their first 100 games. [[Johnny Bench]], [[Tony Pérez]], [[Pete Rose]], [[Lee May]] and [[Bobby Tolan]] were the early offensive leaders of this era. [[Gary Nolan (baseball)|Gary Nolan]], [[Jim Merritt]], [[Wayne Simpson]] and [[Jim McGlothlin]] led a pitching staff that also included veterans [[Tony Cloninger]] and [[Clay Carroll]], as well as youngsters [[Pedro Borbón]] and [[Don Gullett]]. The Reds breezed through the 1970 season, winning the NL West and capturing the NL pennant by sweeping the [[1970 Pittsburgh Pirates season|Pittsburgh Pirates]] in three games. By the time the club got to the [[1970 World Series|World Series]], however, the pitching staff had run out of gas, and the veteran [[Baltimore Orioles]], led by Hall of Fame third baseman and World Series MVP [[Brooks Robinson]], beat the Reds in five games.

After the disastrous {{baseball year|1971}} [[1971 Major League Baseball season|season]] – the only year in the decade in which the team finished with a losing record – the Reds reloaded by trading veterans [[Jimmy Stewart (baseball)|Jimmy Stewart]], May and [[Tommy Helms]] to the [[Houston Astros]] for [[Joe Morgan]], [[César Gerónimo]], [[Jack Billingham]], [[Ed Armbrister]] and [[Denis Menke]]. Meanwhile, [[Dave Concepción]] blossomed at [[shortstop]]. 1971 was also the year a key component of future world championships was acquired, when [[George Foster (baseball)|George Foster]] was traded to the Reds from the San Francisco Giants in exchange for shortstop [[Frank Duffy (baseball)|Frank Duffy]].

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The {{baseball year|1972}} [[1972 Cincinnati Reds season|Reds]] won the NL West in baseball's first-ever [[1972 Major League Baseball strike|strike-shortened]] [[1972 Major League Baseball season|season]], and defeated the [[1972 Pittsburgh Pirates season|Pittsburgh Pirates]] in a [[1972 National League Championship Series|five-game playoff series]]. They then faced the [[1972 Oakland Athletics season|Oakland Athletics]] in the [[1972 World Series|World Series]], where six of the seven games were decided by one run. With powerful slugger [[Reggie Jackson]] sidelined by an injury incurred during Oakland's [[1972 American League Championship Series|playoff series]], Ohio native [[Gene Tenace]] got a chance to play in the series, delivering four home runs that tied the World Series record for homers, propelling Oakland to a dramatic seven-game series win. This was one of the few World Series in which no starting pitcher for either side pitched a complete game.

The [[1973 Cincinnati Reds season|Reds]] won a third NL West crown in {{baseball year|1973}} after a dramatic second-half comeback that saw them make up {{frac|10|1|2}} games on the [[1973 Los Angeles Dodgers season|Los Angeles Dodgers]] after the [[1973 Major League Baseball All-Star Game|All-Star break]]. However, they lost the NL pennant to the [[1973 New York Mets season|New York Mets]] in five games in the [[1973 National League Championship Series|NLCS]]. In Game 1, [[Tom Seaver]] faced Jack Billingham in a classic pitching duel, with all three runs of the 2–1 margin being scored on home runs. [[John Milner]] provided New York's run off Billingham, while Pete Rose tied the game in the seventh inning off Seaver, setting the stage for a dramatic game-ending home run by Johnny Bench in the bottom of the ninth. The New York series provided plenty of controversy surrounding the riotous behavior of [[Shea Stadium]] fans toward Pete Rose when he and [[Bud Harrelson]] scuffled after a hard slide by Rose into Harrelson at second base during the fifth inning of Game 3. A full bench-clearing fight resulted after Harrelson responded to Rose's aggressive move to prevent him from completing a double play by calling him a name. This also led to two more incidents in which play was stopped. The Reds trailed 9–3, and New York's manager [[Yogi Berra]] and legendary outfielder [[Willie Mays]], at the request of National League president [[Warren Giles]], appealed to fans in left field to restrain themselves. The next day the series was extended to a fifth game when Rose homered in the 12th inning to tie the series at two games each.

The Reds won 98 games in {{baseball year|1974}} but finished second to the 102-win [[1974 Los Angeles Dodgers season|Los Angeles Dodgers]]. The [[1974 Major League Baseball season|1974 season]] started off with much excitement, as the [[1974 Atlanta Braves season|Atlanta Braves]] were in town to open the season with the Reds. [[Hank Aaron]] entered opening day with 713 home runs, one shy of tying [[Babe Ruth]]'s record of 714. The first pitch Aaron swung at in the 1974 season was the record-tying home run off Jack Billingham. The next day, the Braves benched Aaron, hoping to save him for his record-breaking home run on their season-opening homestand. Then-commissioner [[Bowie Kuhn]] ordered Braves management to play Aaron the next day, where he narrowly missed a historic home run in the fifth inning. Aaron went on to set the record in Atlanta two nights later. The 1974 season also saw the debut of Hall of Fame radio announcer [[Marty Brennaman]] after [[Al Michaels]] left the Reds to broadcast for the [[San Francisco Giants]].

With 1975, the Big Red Machine lineup solidified with the "Great Eight"<ref>{{cite web|last=Taylor|first=Kelly|title=Big Red Machine's "Great Eight" to reunite at GABP|url=http://www.fox19.com/story/23302499/big-red-machines-great-eight-reuniting-for-joe-morgan-weekend|work=FOX 19|publisher=FOX19-WXIX|access-date=September 6, 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140521032207/http://www.fox19.com/story/23302499/big-red-machines-great-eight-reuniting-for-joe-morgan-weekend|archive-date=May 21, 2014}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|last=Pahigian|first=Joshua|title=The Ultimate Baseball Road-Trip: A Fan's Guide to Major League Stadiums|year=2004|publisher=Lyons Press|location=Guilford, Conn|isbn=1592281591|page=208|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=FM1YtoSZEnAC&q=%22Great+Eight%22+reds&pg=PA208|author2=Kevin O'Connell}}</ref> starting team of [[Johnny Bench]] (catcher), [[Tony Pérez]] (first base), [[Joe Morgan]] (second base), [[Dave Concepción]] (shortstop), [[Pete Rose]] (third base), [[Ken Griffey Sr.|Ken Griffey]] (right field), [[César Gerónimo]] (center field) and [[George Foster (baseball)|George Foster]] (left field). The starting pitchers included [[Don Gullett]], [[Fred Norman (baseball)|Fred Norman]], [[Gary Nolan (baseball)|Gary Nolan]], [[Jack Billingham]], [[Pat Darcy]] and [[Clay Kirby]]. The bullpen featured [[Rawly Eastwick]] and [[Will McEnaney]], who combined for 37 saves, and veterans [[Pedro Borbón]] and [[Clay Carroll]]. On Opening Day, Rose still played in left field and Foster was not a starter, while [[John Vukovich]], an off-season acquisition, was the starting third baseman. While Vuckovich was a superb fielder, he was a weak hitter. In May, with the team off to a slow start and trailing the Dodgers, Sparky Anderson made a bold move by moving Rose to third base, a position where he had very little experience, and inserting Foster in left field. This was the jolt that the Reds needed to propel them into first place, with Rose proving to be reliable on defense and the addition of Foster to the outfield giving the offense some added punch. During the season, the Reds compiled two notable streaks: 1.) winning 41 out of 50 games in one stretch, and 2.) by going a month without committing any errors on defense.

[[File:Pete rose at bat.jpg|thumb|left|[[Pete Rose]] at bat in a game at Dodger Stadium during the 1970s]]

In the [[1975 Major League Baseball season|1975 season]], [[1975 Cincinnati Reds season|Cincinnati]] clinched the NL West with 108 victories before sweeping the [[1975 Pittsburgh Pirates season|Pittsburgh Pirates]] in three games to win the NL pennant. They went on to face the [[1975 Boston Red Sox season|Boston Red Sox]] in the [[1975 World Series|World Series]], splitting the first four games and taking Game 5. After a three-day rain delay, the two teams met in Game 6, considered by many to be the best World Series game ever. The Reds were ahead 6–3 with five outs left when the Red Sox tied the game on former Red [[Bernie Carbo]]'s three-run home run, his second pinch-hit, three-run homer in the series. After a few close calls both ways, [[Carlton Fisk]] hit a dramatic 12th-inning home run off the [[foul pole]] in left field to give the Red Sox a 7–6 win and force a decisive game 7. Cincinnati prevailed the next day when Morgan's [[run batted in|RBI]] [[single (baseball)|single]] won Game 7 and gave the Reds their first championship in 35 years. The Reds have not lost a World Series game since Carlton Fisk's home run, a span of nine straight wins.

{{baseball year|1976}} saw a return of the same starting eight in the field. The starting rotation was again led by Nolan, Gullett, Billingham and Norman, while the addition of rookies [[Pat Zachry]] and [[Santo Alcalá]] comprised an underrated staff in which four of the six had ERAs below 3.10. Eastwick, Borbon and McEnaney shared closer duties, recording 26, eight and seven saves, respectively. The [[1976 Cincinnati Reds season|Reds]] won the NL West by 10 games and went undefeated in the postseason, sweeping the [[1976 Philadelphia Phillies season|Philadelphia Phillies]] (winning game 3 in their final at-bat) to return to the [[1976 World Series|World Series]], where they beat the [[1976 New York Yankees season|Yankees]] at the newly renovated [[Yankee Stadium (1923)|Yankee Stadium]] in the first Series held there since 1964. This was only the second-ever sweep of the Yankees in the World Series, and the Reds became the first NL team since the 1921–22 [[History of the New York Giants (baseball)|New York Giants]] to win consecutive World Series championships. To date, the 1975 and 1976 Reds were the last NL team to [[List of Major League Baseball franchise postseason streaks|repeat as champions]].

Beginning with the 1970 National League pennant, the Reds beat either of the two Pennsylvania-based clubs – the [[Phillies–Pirates rivalry|Philadelphia Phillies and the Pittsburgh Pirates]] – to win their pennants (they beat the Pirates in 1970, 1972, 1975 and 1990, and the Phillies in 1976), making the Big Red Machine part of the rivalry between the two Pennsylvania teams. In 1979, [[Pete Rose]] added further fuel to the Big Red Machine, being part of the rivalry when he signed with the Phillies and helped them win their first World Series in {{wsy|1980}}.