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.
Going on position players, the 1975 Reds are the best team I’ve seen. They’re among the best teams anybody has seen. They won 108 games. Since 1906, only one NL club – last year’s Dodgers – has won more. Those Reds swept Pittsburgh in the NLCS and outlasted Boston in a classic World Series. Still, those feats aren’t the first thing I recall regarding the team I spent a college summer listening to Marty and Joe Nuxhall describe on radio.
I remember 41-9.
On May 21, 1975, the Reds beat Tom Seaver and the Mets. On July 5, the Reds again beat Seaver, en route to his third Cy Young. Over those 50 games, the Reds went from five games behind the Dodgers to 12-1/5 in front. The surge began with a seven-game winning streak; it closed with a 10-game run. A six-game streak was interspersed.
Only once over 50 games did the Reds lose twice in succession, that coming against the near-peer Pirates. Of 16 series, the Reds swept eight. They scored 10-plus runs five times in 50 games. They scored 39 over three days against the Cardinals and Cubs.
We pause to ask: Remind you of anybody?
Forgive me, Mr. Brennaman, for I’m about to sin again.
The Braves have won 17 of 19. They followed an eight-game streak with a nine-game streak. They’ve lost one game in regulation since June 11. They’re 24-4 since June 2. They’ve lost by more than one run once since Memorial Day.
They mightn’t go 41-9 – not many teams have – but they’re on pace for a rounded-up 43-7. Since 1912, only the 2017 Dodgers have gone 43-7.
Back to the Big Red Machine: Those Reds made the World Series in 1970 and ‘72, losing to a great Baltimore team and to a band of A’s without the injured Reggie Jackson. The 99-win Reds were stunned by the 82-win Mets in the 1973 NLCS. In 1974, the 98-win Reds finished second to the 102-win Dodgers.
The 1975 Reds would become the best edition of a historic team. On May 3, Sparky Anderson moved Rose from left field to third base, clearing a spot for Foster, who would hit 144 homers over the next four seasons. Away they went. As Dodgers second baseman Davey Lopes told Sports Illustrated: “We have been destroyed psychologically by the way the Reds have been playing.”
The Mets have won three in a row; they’re 18 games behind the Braves. The Phillies have won seven of 10 and lost ground to the Braves. Ditto the Marlins, who pulled within six games of first place but were swept at Truist Park by the aggregate score of 29-7. You might think you have a nice little team, and then you cast a glance at the Braves.
Every infielder, catcher included, is an All-Star. (This despite losing Freddie Freeman and Dansby Swanson, All-Stars themselves, to free agency.) Ronald Acuna is the sport’s best player. Two starting pitchers made the All-Star roster, neither being Max Fried.
The 2023 Braves have 77 games until the playoffs. They still lose every so often. They blew a lead in Cleveland last night. There’s no guarantee they’ll win a postseason series. But they’re a serial winner – five division titles and counting – with a slew of players in the sweet spots of their careers. The ‘75 Reds are the benchmark for that sort of team.
It’s too soon to know if the Braves can keep this going for another month. But if you’re asking, “Have you, M. Bradley, ever seen anything like what this team doing?”, the answer is yes. I’ve seen it once – 48 years ago.
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