Rose and Co. Roll Into Town

Katherine Rose, who besides being Pete's wife, is a Cincinnati sportscaster, called the 1975 Reds "the greatest team in baseball history." While this may be a slight exaggeration, it is not all that far off the mark. This year the Reds put together 108 victories, highest in the NL since 1908, and clinched their division earlier than any other team in baseball history. "Offensively and defensively" said Montreal manager Gene Mauch, "the Reds have been awesome."

Certainly the Cincinnati offense is one of the finest in recent memory. Basically, the Reds line up is a three spark-plug, three piston machine. Morgan, Rose and Griffey, all hitting well over 300, are the spark-plugs; Bench, Perez and Foster, who collectively accounted for 66 home runs and 316 RBI's are the pistons. The sparkplugs hit 'em where they ain't and the pistons hit 'em over the walls.

Incredible

Morgan, in particular, defies belief: besides hitting 327 and slugging 20 home runs, he led the league in walks drawn, and placed second in stolen bases. George Foster's credentials, although much less publicized, are equally impressive: Foster hit 311, with 26 home runs, and the third highest slugging percentage in the majors.

The Reds are speedsters as well as hitters; this was forcibly demonstrated in the playoffs when the Reds stole 18 bases in 3 games. Sporting News in July called Cincy "the fastest team in baseball."

While more publicity has been focused on Cincinnati's hitting attack, the Reds' fielding is equally unsurpassed. This season the Reds strung together fourteen consecutive errorless games, another alltime baseball record. Six Reds--Morgan, Concepcion, Bench, Rose, Perez and Geronimo -- have won Golden Glove awards in the past; four won last year alone.

While Cincy's hitting and fielding are somewhat appreciated by the Eastern press, the Reds pitching is highly underrated. Don Gullet is second to none in the NL, and he does not balk. Gary Nolan, who has made the comeback of the year, possesses one of the most baffling change ups in baseball, a change-up which allowed Nolan to strike out 15 straight Boston Red Sox batters in a 1968 exhibition game.

The Reds bullpen is replete with ace troubleshooters, including Clay Carrol, Pedro Borbon and the "kiddie korps" of Rawly Eastwick and Will McEnany. Eastwick leads the league in saves this year, while the veteran Carrol has consistently been one of baseball's finest relievers.

In the past five years Cincinnati has taken three NL pennants, and won more ball games than any other ballclub, yet a world championship has repeatedly eluded them. This year they are determined to end things differently. "We started this year with one goal" said Pete Rose in August, "and that was to take it all." I'll say Cincinnati... in five.