Cincinnati Reds: Top five home runs in team history

1.  Tony Perez starts the comeback

Everyone remembers Game 6 of the 1975 World Series. Whenever someone is discussing the most memorable moments in MLB history, inevitably the conversation works its way to Boston’s Carlton Fisk pleading for his shot down the left field line to stay fair. Of course, we all know what happened regarding Fisk’s antics, but little mention is made of the pivotal home run hit during Game 7. Let’s change that.

Entering the 1975 Fall Classic, the Big Red Machine were heavy favorites. Winners of a remarkable 108 games during the regular season, the Cincinnati Reds were making their third trip to the World Series in six years. However, they had yet to hoist the World Series trophy.

The Reds were on the brink of being remembered as akin to the 1970s Minnesota Vikings or 1990s Buffalo Bills as teams good enough to reach the championship, yet always falter at the finish line.

If the Reds were ever going to stake their claim to a dynasty, they had to win a championship and losing to an underdog as great as the Red Sox would have forever sullied the reputation of the Big Red Machine.

Unfortunately, all signs pointed to another Reds meltdown in Game 7. Entering the top of the sixth inning, the Reds found themselves down 3-0 with defeat staring them straight in the face. With two out and Johnny Bench on second base, Tony Perez ahead in the count 1-0 got Boston’s Bill “Spaceman” Lee’s infamous slow curve that had fooled Perez twice already in the series. It didn’t fool him a third time.

The Big Doggie sent the Spaceman’s offering over the Green Monster and the comeback was on. An inning later, Pete Rose tied the game with an RBI single and in the top of the ninth inning, MVP Joe Morgan blooped a single with two outs into shallow center field in front of a charging Fred Lynn to give Cincinnati a 4-3 lead they would not relinquish.

To a man, everyone on the Big Red Machine would claim Tony Perez was the player they would most like to see at the plate in a pressure situation. In the biggest at-bat of his career, The Big Doggie rewarded their trust and forever altered the course of the franchise.