The 1975 World Series of Major League Baseball was played between the Boston Red Sox (AL) and Cincinnati Reds (NL). In 2003, it was ranked by ESPN as the second-greatest World Series ever played.[1] Cincinnati won the series in seven games. The Cincinnati Reds won the National League West division by 20 games over the Los Angeles Dodgers then defeated the Pittsburgh Pirates, three games to none, in the National League Championship Series. The Boston Red Sox won the American League East division by 4½ games over the Baltimore Orioles then defeated the three-time defending World Series champion Oakland A's, three games to none, in the American League Championship Series. The Reds won the seventh and deciding game of the series on a ninth-inning RBI single by Joe Morgan. The sixth game of the Series was a 12-inning classic at Boston's Fenway Park. While there are many memorable moments from that game (among them Red Sox pinch hitter Bernie Carbo hitting a game-tying home run in the eighth; Reds reliever Will McEnaney pitching out of a bases loaded, no out jam in the bottom of the ninth; and Boston's Dwight Evans making a spectacular eleventh-inning catch to rob Joe Morgan of a go-ahead home run), it is remembered in Boston for the walk-off home run hit in the bottom of the twelfth by Carlton Fisk. Fisk's home run gave the Sox a 7–6 win to send the series to a deciding seventh game, which the "Big Red Machine" won to clinch the first of back-to-back World Series championships. The series also included a controversial play involving Fisk and the Reds' Ed Armbrister in Game 3, Tony Pérez's home run off Bill Lee's blooper pitch in Game 7, and many other memorable events. This was also the eleventh consecutive World Series that did not feature the New York Yankees, the Red Sox' archrival. The Yankees would win the next three pennants afterwards, and the last two World Series in that same run, as well as a memorable tiebreaker game against the Red Sox in 19
1976 World Series: The Big Red Machine Sweeps Their Way To A Dynasty One team was the powerful defending champions, already one of the dominant teams of the decade and looking to secure the legacy of a dynasty. Another was the team making its first World Series appearance in over a decade. It was the Cincinnati Reds and New York Yankees.But unlike what we would expect today, it was the Reds aiming for a dynasty and the Yankees who were thrilled to be back at the party, when they met in the 1976 World Series.
The 1990 World Series was the 87th edition of Major League Baseball's championship series and the conclusion of the 1990 Major League Baseball season. The Series featured the defending champions and heavily favored American League (AL) champion Oakland Athletics against the National League (NL) champion Cincinnati Reds. The Reds defeated the Athletics in a four-game sweep. It was the fifth 4-game sweep by the National League and second by the Reds after they did it in 1976, as well as the second consecutive World Series to end in a sweep, after the A's themselves did it to the San Francisco Giants in 1989. It is remembered for Billy Hatcher's seven consecutive hits. The sweep extended the Reds' World Series winning streak to nine games, dating back to 1975. This also was the second World Series meeting between the two clubs (Oakland won four games to three in 1972). As of 2018, this remains both teams' most recent appearance in the World Series. Athletics manager Tony La Russa and Reds manager Lou Piniella were old friends and teammates from their Tampa American Legion Post 248 team.