The machine : a hot team, a legendary season, and a heart-stopping World Series : the story of the 1975 Cincinnati Reds

“The best book ever written about the Big Red Machine... You'll see Bench, Morgan, and Sparky in different lights than you've ever seen them before.” —Cincinnati EnquirerThe New York Times–BestsellerAward-winning sports columnist Joe Posnanski hits a grand slam with The Machine—a thrilling account of the magical 1975 season of the Cincinnati Reds, baseball's legendary “Big Red Machine,” from spring training through the final game of the'75 World Series. Featuring a Hall of Fame lineup of baseball superstars—including Johnny Bench, George Foster, Joe Morgan, Cesar Geronimo, and “Charlie Hustle” Pete Rose himself—The Machine is a wild ride with one of the greatest baseball teams in the history of the American Pastime.“One of the best sportswriters in America offers a definitive account of the 1975 Cincinnati Reds. [His] conversational style brings to life a great season.” —The Washington Times“A fun, engaging, and fascinating look at one of baseball's all-time great teams.” —St. Louis Post-Dispatch“Posnanski offers an eloquent reminder that the great Cincinnati Reds teams—especially the'75 Reds—deserve a place of prominence in our memory, same as this book demands a place of prominence on your shelf.” —New York Post“If you like baseball you will love this book. If you don't like baseball you will wonder how you could not like baseball when a book about the game is so entertaining... The writing in this book is inviting, the storytelling magical, and the detail fanatical.” —Augusta Chronicle (Georgia) There are memorable teams in baseball'and then there are utterly unforgettable teams like the 1975 Cincinnati Reds. From 1972 to 1976, the franchise known as the Big Red Machine dominated the National League, winning four division crowns, three league pennants, and two World Series titles. But their 1975 season has become the stuff of sports legend. In The Machine, award-winning sports columnist Joe Posnanski captures all of the passion and tension, drama and glory of this extraordinary team considered to be one of the greatest ever to take the field. Helmed by Hall of Fame manager Sparky Anderson, the lineup for the '75 Reds is a Who's Who of baseball stars: Pete Rose, Ken Griffey, Joe Morgan, Johnny Bench, Tony Perez, George Foster, Cesar Geronimo, and Dave Concepcion. Like a well-oiled engine, the '75 Reds ended the regular season with 108 wins and finished a whopping 20 games ahead of their closest division competitor, the Los Angeles Dodgers. But that remarkable year was not without controversy. Feuds, fights, insults, and run-ins with fans were as much a part of the season as hits, runs, steals, and strikeouts. Capturing this rollicking thrill-ride of a story, Posnanski brings to vivid life the excitement, hope, and high expectations that surrounded the players from the beginning of spring training through the long summer and into a nail-biting World Series, where, in the ninth inning of the seventh game, the Big Red Machine fulfilled its destiny, defeating the Boston Red Sox 4-3. As enthralling and entertaining as the season and players it captures, The Machine is the story of a team unlike any other in the sport's glorious history Award-winning sports columnist Joe Posnanski hits a grand slam with The Machine—a thrilling account of the magical 1975 season of the Cincinnati Reds, baseball’s legendary “Big Red Machine,” from spring training through the final game of the ’75 World Series. Featuring a Hall of Fame lineup of baseball superstars—including Johnny Bench, George Foster, Joe Morgan, Cesar Geronimo, and “Charlie Hustle” Pete Rose himself—The Machine is a wild ride with one of the greatest baseball teams in the history of the American Pastime. Captures all of the passion and tension of a great championship team, focusing on the key players--Pete Rose, Ken Griffey, Sr., Johnny Bench, and manager Sparky Anderson--and examining the controversy that came with the glory.