… 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.
The 1975 Boston Red Sox scratched the seven-year itch, won the pennant and nearly ended the franchise’s now 57-year drought on winning the whole thing.
Coming into 1997, the New York Jets had been barely relevant for over a decade. Since 1986, they had only made the playoffs once and that 1991 run was at 8-8. In 1996, the Jets bottomed out at 1-15. In the offseason, New York hired Bill Parcells. Not only were the Jets getting an all-time […]
Jimmy Johnson’s much-ballyhooed arrival in Miami had fizzled in 1996, when the Dolphins failed to make the playoffs. The 1997 Miami Dolphins took a step forward, nudging into the postseason and beginning a run of consistent success. Dan Marino was now 36-years-old, but the future Hall of Famer was still an effective quarterback. Throwing more […]
Coming into 1997, it had been a long time since Tampa Bay Buccaneer fans had seen playoff football—or even anything resembling a competitive team. Since the 1979-82 stretch where they made three postseason trips in four years, the Bucs had not only failed to make the playoffs, they also never had a winning season, never […]
The Minnesota Vikings entered the 1997 season as an established contender. They had made the playoffs four times in their five seasons under head coach Dennis Green. One thing they had not done, however, was actually win a postseason game. After a wild roller-coaster ride of a regular season, the Vikings again made the playoffs—and […]
The Washington Redskins entered 1997 looking for a breakthrough. Norv Turner had taken over in 1994 and his rebuilding project showed signs of life by 1996, when the Redskins nearly made the playoffs. Improvement was expected in ’97. But while Washington was still competitive and stayed in the hunt to the bitter end, the postseason […]
The New York Giants were on a four-year decline coming into the 1997 season. After making the playoffs in 1993 under Dan Reeves, the Giants steadily slipped and then bottomed out with an 11-21 record over 1995-96. New York made a coaching change, hired Jim Fassel and won the NFC East for the first time […]