Sparky Anderson's "Big Red Machine" had once again dominated the National League, leaving no doubt that their 35-year drought was nearing an end. After steamrolling over the National League West with a 20-game lead, the Reds swept the Pittsburgh Pirates in the Championship Series and won a ticket to their seventh Fall Classic. The Boston Red Sox had shocked the American League after ending the defending champion Oakland A's three-year reign with a sweep of their own.
Game 1 featured a brilliant debut by pitcher Luis Tiant, who had led the Sox rotation during the regular season. The right-handed ace opened the tournament with a 6-0 victory and Boston looked to repeat the effort early on in Game 2. As Cincinnati entered the ninth, they were down 2-1 and running out of chances. However, as the old saying goes, "It ain't over till it's over," and Dave Concepcion proved it with a two-out, game-tying single in the ninth. After stealing second, Concepcion scored on a 3-2 game-winning double by Ken Griffey which squared the Series at a game apiece.
The Reds mounted a 5-1 lead in the third Game thanks to home runs from Concepcion, Johnny Bench and Cesar Geronimo, but the Sox were able to tie it up with Fred Lynn's sacrifice fly in the sixth, Bernie Carbo's pinch homer in the seventh and Dwight Evans' two- run bomb in the ninth. Geronimo continued the rally with a single in the bottom of the 10th and then it happened: Once again, controversy erupted at the plate involving umpire Ken Burkhart, who was responsible for the 1970 debacle involving a "bad tag" call on the Reds' Bernie Carbo. This time however, the ruling would go in Cincinnati's favor, after pinch-hitter Ed Armbrister attempted to sacrifice in the 10th. The bouncing ball landed a few feet from home and as Boston catcher Carlton Fisk sprinted forward to retrieve it, he nearly collided with the batter who was blocking his way. Fisk managed to get to the ball, but made a wild throw past second moving Geronimo to third and allowing Armbrister to reach second. Despite Sox manager Darrell Johnson 's heated argument for an interference call from umpire Larry Barnett, the play stood and the Reds went on to win 6-5 on a Joe Morgan drive into deep center field. Tiant returned for his second start in Game 4 and evened it up with a 5-4 performance, but Cincinnati regained the advantage after Tony Perez (then hitless through 15 at-bats) nailed Reggie Cleveland for both a bases-empty homer and a three-run shot. Don Gullett and Rawly Eastwick finished the job for a combined 6-2 outing on the mound.
As the Series shifted back to Boston, it ran into a drenching New England rain that postponed the contest for an excruciating 72 hours. Despite the setback, Game 6 proved worth waiting for, and has been heralded as one of the greatest games ever. Boston charged to an early 3-0 lead in the first when Lynn sent one into the right field seats at Fenway scoring Carl Yastrzemski and Fisk. The blast came as no surprise to Red Sox fans as the rookie had knocked 21 during the regular season while batting .331 with 105 runs batted in. Tiant held the Reds for a tense four innings, but Griffey's two-run triple and Bench's run-scoring single evened it up in the fifth. George Foster followed suit adding a two-run double of his own in the seventh and Geronimo finished the rally with a lead-off blast over the wall in the eighth. Now up 6-3, "The Big Red Machine" shifted into high-gear and was six outs away from a World Series title. Pedro Borbon, Cincinnati's fifth pitcher, started his third inning by surrendering a single to Lynn and a walk to Rico Petrocelli in the bottom of the eighth. Anticipating a disaster, Anderson-- who'd been appropriately dubbed "Captain Hook" for his pitching changes--called for Eastwick as Dwight Evans stepped up to the plate for the potential tying-run. The Reds' reliever came up big, striking out Evans and getting Rick Burleson on a liner to shallow left, but Bernie Carbo stepped in for reliever Roger Moret and became only the second man in World Series history to hit two pinch-homers. After Dick Drago sat down Cincy's line-up 1-2-3 to start the ninth, Boston went to work extending the Series.
First, Denny Doyle forced an opening walk. Then Yastrzemski singled him to third as Will McEnaney came in to replace Eastwick. After intentionally walking Fisk to load the bases, Lynn fouled out and Doyle was caught at the plate trying to score. Finally, Rico Petrocelli grounded out and the opportunity was gone. With one out in the 11th, Griffey was on with Joe Morgan at the plate. The All-Star infielder nailed a long drive toward the right-field seats, but Evans made a spectacular, one-handed catch and caught the Reds' base runner off of first. As the Sox took their turn, Pat Darcy (a record-tying eighth pitcher) retired the side for the second consecutive inning. Rick Wise (a 19-game winner) entered the 12th as both bullpens continued to empty. Boston's top winner found himself in a two-on situation with one out, but managed to get Concepcion on a fly ball and Geronimo on a strikeout. Both teams were starting to show fatigue as Fisk and Darcy squared off in the bottom of the inning for what would become one of baseball's most iconic moments. After launching a rocket toward left field, Fisk started to run toward first, but stutter-stepped as the ball appeared to be heading foul. The Boston catcher jumped up and down waving his arms as if to "will" the ball fair. As it came down, it glanced fair off of the foul pole for the historic 7-6 game-winning walk-off.
Game 7 appeared to have picked up right where Game 6 had begun, as Boston seized a 3-0 lead in the third inning. However, the Reds remained determined, and Perez nabbed a two-run homer in the sixth off left-hander Bill Lee. Pete Rose tied the game 3-3, scoring on a Tony Perez single. The deadlock would last until the ninth. Griffey led off with a walk and managed to reach third on a sacrifice and a groundout. Jim Burton intentionally walked Rose, but Morgan knocked a clutch single up the middle for the 4-3 lead. Will McEnaney made the lead stand up with a 1-2-3 ninth and the Reds emerged as World Champions...with or without a little help from the curse of "The Babe."
"The unattended camera was focused on home plate and caught Carlton Fisk waving his arms, willing his fly ball into fair territory. His drive caromed off the left field foul pole, and NBC was rewarded with a clip capturing what TV Guide in 1998 ranked as the greatest moment in the history of sports television." - Dan Shaughnessy in Fenway (2000)
1975 World Series
1975 World Series Official Program Cincinnati Reds (4) vs Boston Red Sox (3) |
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| 1975 World Series Fast Facts | |||
| Game 1 | Date / Box Score | 10-11-1975 | |
| Location | Fenway Park | ||
| 1st Pitch | From | To | |
| William Simon | Carlton Fisk | ||
| Attendance | 35,205 | ||
| National Anthem | Jane Morin (Perkins School for the Blind graduate) | ||
| Game 2 | Date / Box Score | 10-12-1975 | |
| Location | Fenway Park | ||
| 1st Pitch | From | To | |
| Seaman Carl C. Glencross | Carlton Fisk | ||
| Attendance | 35,205 | ||
| National Anthem | Richard Davis (Navy Sea Chanters, U.S. Navy Band) | ||
| Game 3 | Date / Box Score | 10-14-1975 | |
| Location | Riverfront Stadium | ||
| 1st Pitch | From | To | |
| Warren C. Giles (N.L. President, 1951-1969) | Johnny Bench | ||
| Attendance | 55,392 | ||
| National Anthem | Marian Spelman (Actress, Singer & TV star) | ||
| Game 4 | Date / Box Score | 10-15-1975 | |
| Location | Riverfront Stadium | ||
| 1st Pitch | From | To | |
| Patsy Hutchinson (Widow, Reds' Mgr Fred Hutchinson) | Johnny Bench | ||
| Attendance | 55,667 | ||
| National Anthem | John Gary (Singer, Recording artist, TV host & Musical Performer) | ||
| Game 5 | Date / Box Score | 10-16-1975 | |
| Location | Riverfront Stadium | ||
| 1st Pitch | From | To | |
| Rogers Morton (U.S. Secretary of Commerce, 1975-6) | Johnny Bench | ||
| Attendance | 56,393 | ||
| Game 6 | Date / Box Score | 10-21-1975 | |
| Location | Fenway Park | ||
| 1st Pitch | From | To | |
| Duffy Lewis (Outfielder, Boston Red Sox, 1910-17) | Carlton Fisk | ||
| Attendance | 35,205 | ||
| National Anthem | Rene Rancourt (Professional Singer) | ||
| Game 7 | Date / Box Score | 10-22-1975 | |
| Location | Fenway Park | ||
| 1st Pitch | From | To | |
| Joey Tramontola | Carlton Fisk | ||
| Attendance | 35,205 | ||
| National Anthem | The Winged Victory Chorus (43rd U.S. Army Airborne Infantry Division) | ||
| 1975 World Series Fast Facts | |||
1975 World Series
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| 1975 World Series Game 1 Capsule | ||||||||||||
| Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E |
| Cincinnati | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 0 |
| Boston | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 0 | x | 6 | 12 | 0 |
| Cincinnati Pitcher(s) | Boston Pitcher(s) | |||||||||||
| Don Gullett (L) Clay Carroll (7th) Will McEnaney (7th) |
Luis Tiant (W) - - |
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| Cincinnati Home Runs | Boston Home Runs | |||||||||||
| None | None | |||||||||||
1975 World Series
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| 1975 World Series Game 2 Capsule | ||||||||||||
| Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E |
| Cincinnati | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 3 | 7 | 1 |
| Boston | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 7 | 0 |
| Cincinnati Pitcher(s) | Boston Pitcher(s) | |||||||||||
| Jack Billingham Pedro Borbon (6th) Will McEnaney (7th) Rawly Eastwick (W, 8th) |
Bill Lee Dick Drago (L, 9th) - - |
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| Cincinnati Home Runs | Boston Home Runs | |||||||||||
| None | None | |||||||||||
1975 World Series
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| 1975 World Series Game 3 Capsule | |||||||||||||
| Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | R | H | E |
| Boston | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 5 | 10 | 2 |
| Cincinnati | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 6 | 7 | 0 |
| Boston Pitcher(s) | Cincinnati Pitcher(s) | ||||||||||||
| Rick Wise Jim Burton (5th) Reggie Cleveland (5th) Jim Willoughby (L, 7th) Roger Moret (10th) |
Gary Nolan Pat Darcy (5th) Clay Carroll (7th) Will McEnaney (7th) Rawly Eastwick (W, 9th) |
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| Boston Home Runs | Cincinnati Home Runs | ||||||||||||
| Carlton Fisk (2nd) Bernie Carbo (7th) Dwight Evans (9th) |
Johnny Bench (4th) Dave Concepcion (5th) Cesar Geronimo (5th) |
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1975 World Series
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| 1975 World Series Game 4 Capsule | ||||||||||||
| Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E |
| Boston | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 11 | 1 |
| Cincinnati | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 9 | 1 |
| Boston Pitcher(s) | Cincinnati Pitcher(s) | |||||||||||
| Luis Tiant (W) - - - |
Fred Norman (L) Pedro Borbon (4th) Clay Carroll (5th) Rawly Eastwick (7th) |
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| Boston Home Runs | Cincinnati Home Runs | |||||||||||
| None | None | |||||||||||
1975 World Series
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| 1975 World Series Game 5 Capsule | ||||||||||||
| Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E |
| Boston | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 5 | 0 |
| Cincinnati | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 1 | x | 6 | 8 | 0 |
| Boston Pitcher(s) | Cincinnati Pitcher(s) | |||||||||||
| Reggie Cleveland (L) Jim Willoughby (6th) Dick Pole (8th) Diego Segui (8th) |
Don Gullett (W) Rawly Eastwick (S, 9th) - - |
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| Boston Home Runs | Cincinnati Home Runs | |||||||||||
| None - |
Tony Perez (4th) Tony Perez (6th) |
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1975 World Series
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| 1975 World Series Game 6 Capsule | |||||||||||||||
| Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | R | H | E |
| Cincinnati | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 14 | 0 |
| Boston | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 7 | 10 | 1 |
| Cincinnati Pitcher(s) | Boston Pitcher(s) | ||||||||||||||
| Gary Nolan Fred Norman (3rd) Jack Billingham (3rd) Clay Carroll (5th) Pedro Borbon (6th) Rawly Eastwick (8th) Will McEnaney (9th) Pat Darcy (L, 10th) |
Luis Tiant Roger Moret (8th) Dick Drago (9th) Rick Wise (W, 12th) - - - - |
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| Cincinnati Home Runs | Boston Home Runs | ||||||||||||||
| Cesar Geronimo (8th) - - |
Fred Lynn (1st) Bernie Carbo (8th) Carlton Fisk (12th) |
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1975 World Series
|
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| 1975 World Series Game 7 Capsule | ||||||||||||
| Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E |
| Cincinnati | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 4 | 9 | 0 |
| Boston | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 5 | 2 |
| Cincinnati Pitcher(s) | Boston Pitcher(s) | |||||||||||
| Don Gullett Jack Billingham (5th) Clay Carroll (W, 7th) Will McEnaney (S, 9th) - |
Bill Lee Roger Moret (7th) Jim Willoughby (7th) Jim Burton (L, 9th) Reggie Cleveland (9th) |
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| Cincinnati Home Runs | Boston Home Runs | |||||||||||
| Tony Perez (6th) | None | |||||||||||
1975 World Series
Composite Hitting Statistics |
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| Name | Pos | G | AB | H | 2B | 3B | HR | R | RBI | Avg | BB | SO | SB |
| Ed Armbrister Johnny Bench Jack Billingham Pedro Borbon Clay Carroll Darrel Chaney Dave Concepcion Terry Crowley Pat Darcy Dan Driessen Rawly Eastwick George Foster Cesar Geronimo Ken Griffey Don Gullett Will McEnaney Joe Morgan Gary Nolan Fred Norman Tony Perez Merv Rettenmund Pete Rose |
ph c p p p ph ss ph p ph p of of of p p 2b p p 1b ph 3b |
4 7 3 3 5 2 7 2 2 2 5 7 7 7 3 5 7 2 2 7 3 7 |
1 29 2 1 0 2 28 2 1 2 1 29 25 26 7 1 27 1 1 28 3 27 |
0 6 0 0 0 0 5 1 0 0 0 8 7 7 2 1 7 0 0 5 0 10 |
0 2 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 1 0 3 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 1 |
0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 |
0 1 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 3 0 0 |
1 5 0 0 0 0 3 0 0 0 0 1 3 4 1 0 4 0 0 4 0 3 |
0 4 0 0 0 0 4 0 0 0 0 2 3 4 0 0 3 0 0 7 0 2 |
.000 .207 .000 .000 .000 .000 .179 .500 .000 .000 .000 .276 .280 .269 .286 1.000 .259 .000 .000 .179 .000 .370 |
2 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 3 4 0 0 5 0 0 3 0 5 |
0 4 0 0 0 1 1 1 1 0 0 1 5 2 2 0 1 0 0 9 1 1 |
0 0 0 0 0 0 3 0 0 0 0 1 0 2 0 0 2 0 0 1 0 0 |
| Totals | 244 | 59 | 9 | 3 | 7 | 29 | 29 | .242 | 25 | 30 | 9 | ||
1975 World Series
Composite Hitting Statistics |
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| Name | Pos | G | AB | H | 2B | 3B | HR | R | RBI | Avg | BB | SO | SB |
| Juan Beniquez Rick Burleson Jim Burton Bernie Carbo Reggie Cleveland Cecil Cooper Denny Doyle Dick Drago Dwight Evans Carlton Fisk Doug Griffin Bill Lee Fred Lynn Rick Miller Bob Montgomery Roger Moret Rico Petrocelli Dick Pole Diego Segui Luis Tiant Jim Willoughby Rick Wise Carl Yastrzemski |
of-2 ss p of-2 p 1b 2b p of c ph p of of-2 ph p 3b p p p p p 1b-4,of-4 |
3 7 2 4 3 5 7 2 7 7 1 2 7 3 1 3 7 1 1 3 3 2 7 |
8 24 0 7 2 19 30 0 24 25 1 6 25 2 1 0 26 0 0 8 0 2 29 |
1 7 0 3 0 1 8 0 7 6 0 1 7 0 0 0 8 0 0 2 0 0 9 |
0 1 0 1 0 1 1 0 1 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 |
0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 |
0 0 0 2 0 0 0 0 1 2 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 |
0 1 0 3 0 0 3 0 3 5 0 0 3 0 0 0 3 0 0 2 0 0 7 |
1 2 0 4 0 1 0 0 5 4 0 0 5 0 0 0 4 0 0 0 0 0 4 |
.125 .292 .000 .429 .000 .053 .267 .000 .292 .240 .000 .167 .280 .000 .000 .000 .308 .000 .000 .250 .000 .000 .310 |
1 4 0 1 0 0 2 0 3 7 0 0 3 0 0 0 3 0 0 2 0 0 4 |
1 2 0 1 2 3 1 0 4 7 0 3 5 0 0 0 6 0 0 4 0 0 1 |
0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 |
| Totals | 239 | 60 | 7 | 2 | 6 | 30 | 30 | .251 | 30 | 40 | 0 | ||
1975 World Series
Composite Pitching Statistics |
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| Name | W | L | G | GS | CG | S | Sh | IP | ERA | H | SO | ER | BB |
| Jack Billingham Pedro Borbon Clay Carroll Pat Darcy Rawly Eastwick Don Gullett Will McEnaney Gary Nolan Fred Norman |
0 0 1 0 2 1 0 0 0 |
0 0 0 1 0 1 0 0 1 |
3 3 5 2 5 3 5 2 2 |
1 0 0 0 0 3 0 2 1 |
0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 |
0 0 0 0 1 0 1 0 0 |
0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 |
9.0 3.0 5.2 4.0 8.0 18.2 6.2 6.0 4.0 |
1.00 6.00 3.18 4.50 2.25 4.34 2.70 6.00 9.00 |
8 3 4 3 6 19 3 6 8 |
7 1 3 1 4 15 5 2 2 |
1 2 2 2 2 9 2 4 4 |
5 2 2 2 3 10 2 1 3 |
| Totals | 4 | 3 | 30 | 7 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 65.0 | 3.88 | 60 | 40 | 28 | 30 |
1975 World Series
Composite Pitching Statistics |
|||||||||||||
| Name | W | L | G | GS | CG | S | Sh | IP | ERA | H | SO | ER | BB |
| Jim Burton Reggie Cleveland Dick Drago Bill Lee Roger Moret Dick Pole Diego Segui Luis Tiant Jim Willoughby Rick Wise |
0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 0 1 |
1 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 |
2 3 2 2 3 1 1 3 3 2 |
0 1 0 2 0 0 0 3 0 1 |
0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 0 0 |
0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 |
0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 |
1.0 6.2 4.0 14.1 1.2 0.0 1.0 25.0 6.1 5.1 |
9.00 6.75 2.25 3.14 0.00 ![]() 0.00 3.60 0.00 8.44 |
1 7 3 12 2 0 0 25 3 6 |
0 5 1 7 1 0 0 12 2 2 |
1 5 1 5 0 1 0 10 0 5 |
3 3 1 3 3 2 0 8 0 2 |
| Totals | 3 | 4 | 22 | 7 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 65.1 | 3.86 | 59 | 30 | 28 | 25 |

Did you know that the Boston Red Sox, as a team, had a better batting average and earned run average than their opponents yet lost the World Championship?
Was Game 6 was one of the most legendary / memorable World Series games ever played? Share your opinion of that particular game and others like it on our very popular & very informative baseball message boards.
Two World Series Most Valuable Players Awards are given each year. Did you know that Luis Tiant was the first recipient of the Babe Ruth Award to play on the losing team?