The Philadelphia Phillies had been in a funk for over a decade coming into the 1975 season. After a historic collapse cost them the National League pennant in 1964, the Phils had enjoyed just one winning season and were never a serious contender. Danny Ozark took the managerial reins in 1973, and he was accompanied […]
The 1975 Kansas City Royals had a wild ride. A young franchise in just its seventh season of existence played well early and raised hopes of the postseason. A summer skid brought despair, tension, and a managerial change. But that change gave way to a strong finish that, while coming up short of the playoffs, […]
The 1975 New York Yankees entered the season infused with optimism. The proud franchise hadn’t won the World Series since 1962 or even been there since 1964. Since divisional play began in 1969, they had yet to win the AL East. But they came close in 1974. And in the just-starting era of free agency, […]
As he entered his 10th season on the sidelines at Marquette, Al McGuire had turned the Warrior basketball program into a consistent winner. He was routinely winning 20-plus games and making the NCAA Tournament, in an era when both objectives were far less commonplace than is the case today. What he hadn’t yet done was […]
What Cincinnati had—at long last, after 35 years of waiting—was a World Series trophy. Had they lost this Series, this group of players would have had the “Can’t Win The Big One” tag trailing them around. Instead, they were just getting started on a dynasty.
The Cincinnati Reds and Pittsburgh Pirates were two teams that had already gotten familiar with each other in National League Championship Series play. The two teams met in 1970 and the Reds won in a sweep. They met in 1972 and the Reds won a thriller. Cincinnati and Pittsburgh got together one more time in the 1975 NLCS. And one more time, the Big Red Machine asserted themselves
The Oakland A’s won three straight World Series from 1972-74, and the 1975 ALCS marked their fifth straight appearance in postseason play. It also marked the end of the dynasty, as the Boston Red Sox ended the A’s great run with three-game sweep in what was then a best-of-five League Championship Series.
… the city’s first World Series title since 1940 was still missing. The 1975 Cincinnati Reds rectified the omission with an extraordinary regular season and then winning one of the greatest Fall Classics ever played.
The “three-peat” of 1972-74 is one of just four times in MLB history that such has been done, and the only time it’s been done by a franchise not named the New York Yankees. It was an amazing run, and the 1975 Oakland A’s was the organization’s last run into October before coming apart.
Manager Danny Murtaugh had become a Steel City staple. He had been the skipper in 1960 when the Pirates won a dramatic World Series on Bill Mazeroski’s tiebreaking home run over the New York Yankees in the ninth inning of Game 7.
The 1975 Milwaukee Brewers came into the season with plenty of reasons for hope. Their young franchise, established in 1969 and then relocated to Milwaukee a year later, had been gradually improving and reached a respectable 76 wins in 1974. The Brewers were bringing home one of their city’s great legends, acquiring Henry Aaron who […]
The Baltimore Orioles had been the reigning dynasty of the American League’s Eastern Division since the MLB expansion of 1969 and the accompanying split of each league into two divisions. The Orioles won five of the first six AL East crowns, three American League pennants and the World Series in 1970. The 1975 Baltimore Orioles team were another strong team, but it was also the year the dynasty ended.