| 1975 World Series | ||||||||||
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| Dates | October 11–22 | |||||||||
| Venue(s) | Fenway Park (Boston) Riverfront Stadium (Cincinnati) | |||||||||
| MVP | Pete Rose (Cincinnati) | |||||||||
| Umpires | Art Frantz (AL), Dick Stello (NL), George Maloney (AL), Satch Davidson (NL), Larry Barnett (AL), Nick Colosi (NL) | |||||||||
| Hall of Famers | Reds: Sparky Anderson (mgr.) Johnny Bench Joe Morgan Tony Pérez Red Sox: Carlton Fisk Jim Rice (injured) Carl Yastrzemski | |||||||||
| Broadcast | ||||||||||
| Television | NBC | |||||||||
| TV announcers | Curt Gowdy (Games 1, 3, 5, 7) Joe Garagiola (Games 2, 4, 6) Dick Stockton (Games 1, 6; in Boston) Ned Martin (Games 2, 7; in Boston) Marty Brennaman (in Cincinnati) Tony Kubek | |||||||||
| Radio | NBC | |||||||||
| Radio announcers | Joe Garagiola (Games 1, 3, 5, 7) Curt Gowdy (Games 2, 4, 6) Marty Brennaman (in Boston) Ned Martin (Games 3, 5–6) Dick Stockton (Games 4, 7) | |||||||||
| Streaming | ||||||||||
| ALCS | Boston Red Sox over Oakland Athletics (3–0) | |||||||||
| NLCS | Cincinnati Reds over Pittsburgh Pirates (3–0) | |||||||||
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The 1975 World Series was the championship series of Major League Baseball's (MLB) 1975 season. The 72nd edition of the World Series, it was a best-of-seven playoff played between the American League (AL) champion Boston Red Sox and the National League (NL) champion Cincinnati Reds. The Reds won the series, four games to three. In 2003, ESPN ranked it the second-greatest World Series ever played, trailing only the 1991 series,[1] while in 2020, Sam Miller of ESPN named it the best World Series ever.[2]
The Reds, at the height of their Big Red Machine dynasty, recorded a franchise-high 108 victories in 1975 and won the NL West division by 20 games over the Los Angeles Dodgers, then defeated the Pittsburgh Pirates, three games to none, in the NL Championship Series. The Red Sox won the AL East division by 4+1⁄2 games over the Baltimore Orioles, then defeated the three-time defending World Series champion Oakland Athletics, three games to none, in the AL Championship Series. The sixth game of the World Series was a 12-inning classic at Boston's Fenway Park, which culminated with a walk-off home run by Carlton Fisk to extend the series to seven games. The Reds rallied from a 3–0 deficit to win the seventh and deciding game of the series on a ninth-inning single by Joe Morgan.
It was Cincinnati's third World Series appearance in six years, losing in 1970 to Baltimore and in 1972 to Oakland. It was the first of back-to-back championships for the Reds. For the Red Sox, the 1975 World Series was their first World Series appearance since losing to St. Louis in seven games in 1967. It would be 11 more years until Boston returned to the World Series in 1986, in which they suffered another seven-game loss to the New York Mets.
This was the fourth time in five years that a seven-game World Series winner (following Pittsburgh in 1971, and Oakland in 1972 and 1973) was outscored.
Reds third baseman Pete Rose was named World Series MVP. Rose batted .370 with 10 hits and two RBIs and scored 3 runs.
- ^ ESPN: WORLD SERIES 100th ANNIVERSARY
- ^ Miller, Sam (October 30, 2020). "Which World Series is the best ever? We rank all 116 Fall Classics". ESPN. Retrieved November 24, 2020.