1975 Major League Baseball postseason

The 1975 Major League Baseball postseason was the playoff tournament of Major League Baseball for the 1975 season. The winners of each division advance to the postseason and face each other in a League Championship Series to determine the pennant winners that face each other in the World Series.

1975 Major League Baseball postseason
Tournament details
DatesOctober 4–22, 1975[1]
Teams4
Final positions
ChampionsCincinnati Reds
(3rd title)
Runners-upBoston Red Sox
(9th World Series appearance)
Most valuable playerPete Rose
(CIN)

In the American League, the Oakland Athletics made their fifth straight postseason appearance, and the Boston Red Sox made their first postseason appearance since the 1967 World Series. In the National League, the Cincinnati Reds returned for the fourth time in the past six seasons, and the Pittsburgh Pirates returned for the fifth time in the past six seasons. This edition of the postseason would replicate itself in 1990, as all four teams from the 1975 postseason would return that year.

The playoffs began on October 4, 1975, and concluded on October 22, 1975, with the Cincinnati Reds defeating the Boston Red Sox in seven games in the 1975 World Series. It was the first title for the Reds since 1940, and their third overall.

Playoff seeds

The following teams qualified for the postseason:

American League

National League

Playoff bracket

League Championship Series
(ALCS, NLCS) 		World Series
      
East Boston 3
West Oakland 0
AL Boston 3
NL Cincinnati 4
East Pittsburgh 0
West Cincinnati 3

American League Championship Series
Main article: 1975 American League Championship Series

Oakland Athletics vs. Boston Red Sox

Boston won the series, 3–0.

GameDateScoreLocationTimeAttendance 
1October 4Oakland Athletics – 1, Boston Red Sox – 7Fenway Park2:4035,578[6] 
2October 5Oakland Athletics – 3, Boston Red Sox – 6Fenway Park2:2735,578[7] 
3October 7Boston Red Sox – 5, Oakland Athletics – 3Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum2:3049,358[8]

This was the first postseason meeting between the Red Sox and Athletics. The Red Sox shockingly swept the three-time defending World Series champion Athletics to advance to the World Series for the first time since 1967.

Luis Tiant pitched a complete game for the Red Sox as they blew out the Athletics, 7-1, in Game 1. In Game 2, the Athletics jumped out to an early 3-0 lead in the top of the fourth, but it was quickly erased as the Red Sox scored six unanswered runs over the course of the next five innings. When the series moved to Oakland for Game 3, the Red Sox jumped out to a 4-0 lead early and did not relinquish it, as they held on to win 5-3 and secure the pennant. Game 3 was the first night game in ALCS history.[9]

The Red Sox and Athletics would meet in the postseason again three more times - in the ALCS in 1988 and 1990, and the 2003 ALDS, with the Athletics sweeping the former two series, and the Red Sox winning the latter. Oakland would not return to the postseason again until 1981. This was the last AL pennant won by the Red Sox until 1986, where they defeated the California Angels in seven games after trailing 3 games to 1.

National League Championship Series
Main article: 1975 National League Championship Series

Pittsburgh Pirates vs. Cincinnati Reds

Cincinnati won the series, 3–0.

GameDateScoreLocationTimeAttendance 
1October 4Pittsburgh Pirates – 3, Cincinnati Reds – 8Riverfront Stadium3:0054,633[10] 
2October 5Pittsburgh Pirates – 1, Cincinnati Reds – 6Riverfront Stadium2:5154,752[11] 
3October 7Cincinnati Reds – 5, Pittsburgh Pirates – 3 (10 innings)Three Rivers Stadium2:4746,355[12]

This was the third postseason meeting between the Reds and Pirates (1970, 1972). The Reds swept the Pirates to advance to their third World Series appearance in five years (in the process denying a rematch of the 1903 World Series between the Pirates and Red Sox).

This series was not close - Don Gullett pitched a complete game as the Reds blew out the Pirates in Game 1, and Fred Norman and Rawly Eastwick held the Pirates' offense to just one run scored in Game 2 as the Reds went up 2-0 in the series headed to Pittsburgh. In Game 3, the Pirates held a 2-1 lead after seven innings, until Pete Rose hit a two-run home run in the top of the eighth to put the Reds ahead for good, effectively securing the pennant. Game 3 was the first game of the NLCS played at night.[13]

The Reds returned to the NLCS the next year, where they swept the Philadelphia Phillies en route to a second straight World Series title. The Pirates would make their next postseason appearance in 1979, where they got revenge on the Reds in the NLCS and went on to win the World Series over the Baltimore Orioles.

1975 World Series
Main article: 1975 World Series

Boston Red Sox (AL) vs. Cincinnati Reds (NL)

Cincinnati won the series, 4-3.

GameDateScoreLocationTimeAttendance 
1October 11Cincinnati Reds – 0, Boston Red Sox – 6Fenway Park2:2735,205[14] 
2October 12Cincinnati Reds – 3, Boston Red Sox – 2Fenway Park2:3835,205[15] 
3October 14Boston Red Sox – 5, Cincinnati Reds – 6 (10)Riverfront Stadium3:0355,392[16] 
4October 15Boston Red Sox – 5, Cincinnati Reds – 4Riverfront Stadium2:5255,667[17] 
5October 16Boston Red Sox – 2, Cincinnati Reds – 6Riverfront Stadium2:2356,393[18] 
6October 21†Cincinnati Reds – 6, Boston Red Sox – 7 (12)Fenway Park4:0135,205[19] 
7October 22Cincinnati Reds – 4, Boston Red Sox – 3Fenway Park2:5235,205[20]

†: postponed from October 18 due to rain

This World Series featured two teams with lengthy championship droughts. The Red Sox last won the World Series in 1918, while the Reds won their last title in 1940.

In what many consider to be one of the greatest World Series ever played, the Reds defeated the Red Sox in seven games in a back-and-forth series.

The Red Sox blew out the Reds in Game 1 as Luis Tiant allowed only five hits in a complete game performance, while the Reds took Game 2 by one run to tie the series. When the series shifted to Cincinnati, the Reds narrowly took Game 3 in extra innings to go up 2-1 in the series. In Game 4, Tiant pitched another complete game for the Red Sox on three-days rest as Boston evened the series. In Game 5, Don Gullett and closer Rawly Eastwick helped the Reds win by a 6-2 score to gain a 3-2 series lead going back to Fenway Park.

Game 6 of the series is widely regarded as one of the greatest games ever played in World Series history - Boston's Fred Lynn got the Red Sox an early lead in the bottom of the first inning with a three-run home run, and after four more innings, the Reds scored three runs to tie the game at three runs each. The Reds then scored three more runs in the seventh and eighth innings to take a 6-3 lead, then Boston's Bernie Carbo hit another three-run home run to tie the game in the bottom of the eighth. Then, no runs were scored in the ninth, tenth, or eleventh innings of play. In the twelfth inning, Carlton Fisk hit one of the most famous walk-off home runs in postseason history to win the game for the Red Sox, and the series then moved on to a seventh game. Footage of the home run by Fisk can be viewed on sports highlights videos on YouTube and elsewhere on the Internet.

In Game 7, the Red Sox again took an early 3-0 lead, however it would not hold, as the Reds rallied late in the sixth and seventh innings to tie the game, and then they took the lead for good in the top of the ninth thanks to a single by Joe Morgan which scored Ken Griffey. The Reds closed out the series in the bottom of the ninth to capture their first championship in 35 years. The Red Sox's collapse in Game 7 contributed to the popular mythology of the Curse of the Bambino, which had now been extended to 57 years by the Reds.

The Reds would go on to repeat as World Series champions the next year, sweeping the New York Yankees. The Red Sox would not return to the World Series again until 1986, where they fell to the New York Mets, also in seven games.

Broadcasting

This was the last year that NBC televised all postseason games nationally in the United States. Beginning in 1976, the postseason would be split between NBC and ABC.

Each team's local broadcaster also televised coverage of LCS games.

References
  1. "1975 Major Leagues Schedule". Baseball-Reference.com. Archived from the original on May 20, 2022. Retrieved July 11, 2022.
  2. "1975 Boston Red Sox Statistics". Baseball-Reference.com. Archived from the original on April 22, 2022. Retrieved July 11, 2022.
  3. "1975 Oakland Athletics Statistics". Baseball-Reference.com. Archived from the original on April 22, 2022. Retrieved July 11, 2022.
  4. "1975 Pittsburgh Pirates Statistics". Baseball-Reference.com. Archived from the original on July 7, 2017. Retrieved July 11, 2022.
  5. "1975 Cincinnati Reds Statistics". Baseball-Reference.com. Archived from the original on June 17, 2022. Retrieved July 11, 2022.
  6. "1975 ALCS Game 1 – Oakland Athletics vs. Boston Red Sox". Retrosheet. Archived from the original on September 24, 2015. Retrieved July 11, 2022.
  7. "1975 ALCS Game 2 – Oakland Athletics vs. Boston Red Sox". Retrosheet. Archived from the original on September 24, 2015. Retrieved July 11, 2022.
  8. "1975 ALCS Game 3 – Boston Red Sox vs. Oakland Athletics". Retrosheet. Archived from the original on September 24, 2015. Retrieved July 11, 2022.
  9. "Baseball plans night playoffs". Lewiston Morning Tribune. (Idaho). Associated Press. August 16, 1975. p. 2B. Retrieved November 21, 2022.
  10. "1975 NLCS Game 1 – Pittsburgh Pirates vs. Cincinnati Reds". Retrosheet. Archived from the original on July 15, 2021. Retrieved July 11, 2022.
  11. "1975 NLCS Game 2 – Pittsburgh Pirates vs. Cincinnati Reds". Retrosheet. Archived from the original on July 15, 2021. Retrieved July 11, 2022.
  12. "1975 NLCS Game 3 – Cincinnati Reds vs. Pittsburgh Pirates". Retrosheet. Archived from the original on July 14, 2021. Retrieved July 11, 2022.
  13. "Baseball plans night playoffs". Lewiston Morning Tribune. (Idaho). Associated Press. August 16, 1975. p. 2B. Retrieved November 21, 2022.
  14. "1975 World Series Game 1 – Cincinnati Reds vs. Boston Red Sox". Retrosheet. Archived from the original on March 7, 2021. Retrieved July 11, 2022.
  15. "1975 World Series Game 2 – Cincinnati Reds vs. Boston Red Sox". Retrosheet. Archived from the original on March 8, 2021. Retrieved July 11, 2022.
  16. "1975 World Series Game 3 – Boston Red Sox vs. Cincinnati Reds". Retrosheet. Archived from the original on March 8, 2021. Retrieved July 11, 2022.
  17. "1975 World Series Game 4 – Boston Red Sox vs. Cincinnati Reds". Retrosheet. Archived from the original on March 8, 2021. Retrieved July 11, 2022.
  18. "1975 World Series Game 5 – Boston Red Sox vs. Cincinnati Reds". Retrosheet. Archived from the original on March 8, 2021. Retrieved July 11, 2022.
  19. "1975 World Series Game 6 – Cincinnati Reds vs. Boston Red Sox". Retrosheet. Archived from the original on March 8, 2021. Retrieved July 11, 2022.
  20. "1975 World Series Game 7 – Cincinnati Reds vs. Boston Red Sox". Retrosheet. Archived from the original on March 8, 2021. Retrieved July 11, 2022.
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