The 1976 MLB season ushered in a new era for baseball—the era of free agency, which had previously appeared only in snippets, but now loomed over the entire sport. But before the new era could begin, the old order had to get a fitting conclusion, and so it was the Big Red Machine, the great Cincinnati Reds teams rolled to a second World Series title.
This is part of a series of sports history articles aimed at preserving the best moments of the modern sports era, from 1976 to the present. The focus is team sports—college & pro basketball and football, major league baseball and hockey. This article offers a snapshot of 1976 sports, a year that saw future legends like Bob Knight and John Madden win their first championships, an aging dynasty in the Celtics win one more and the Big Red Machine solidify their place in history. We go through the seasons in order–college basketball, to the NBA & NHL, to major league baseball, to college football and concluding with the NFL.