July 1992. We were standing around the batting cage. The Hall of Fame announcer Marty Brennaman gave me a word – 10 words, actually – of advice. “Don’t ever compare a team to the Big Red Machine,” he said, yours truly having mentioned the then-streaking Braves in the same sentence as the 1975 Reds in that morning’s AJC.
The ‘92 Braves were on a surge that lifted them from 44-37, six games behind the Reds, to 67-42, 4-1/2 games in front. They were coming off an epic World Series. They had good players – John Smoltz, Ron Gant, Steve Avery and David Justice, plus Terry Pendleton and Tom Glavine, the reigning National League MVP and Cy Young winners.
But I took Marty’s point. There’s good and there’s great. The ‘75 Reds had four players – Johnny Bench, Pete Rose, Joe Morgan and George Foster – who would, over an eight-year span, claim six MVPs. Tony Perez is in the Hall of Fame. Dave Concepcion and Ken Griffey graced 12 All-Star Games between them. The least decorated regular was center fielder Cesar Geronimo, who won four Gold Gloves and hit .307 in 1976.
