1973 NLCS
Johnny Bench won Game 1 of the 1973 National League Championship Series against the New York Mets with a home run on Oct. 6, 1973.
"Those folks from New York have been trying to resurrect the 1969 Miracle Mets mania, but the only Miracle Workers in Riverfront Stadium Saturday afternoon were Johnny Bench and Pete Rose - the two men most symbolic of Cincinnati baseball.
"Bench ended the first game of the National League playoffs as abruptly as possible, cremating a Tom Seaver fast ball over the left field wall with one out in the ninth inning for a 2-1 Cincinnati escape act."
Game 6, 1975 World Series
Called by many the greatest baseball game every played, Game 6 ended in the 12th inning with an iconic Carlton Fisk home run on Oct. 21, 1975.
"Carlton Fisk swing hus bat, then froze near the batters box to watch the majestic flight of the baseball soaring toward the ugly Green Monster that protects Lansdowne St. down the left field line.
"His arms were over his head in a prayer to the gods, 'Stay fair, stay fair. It's either foul or off the foul pole for a homer. Stay fair, please.'
"Fisk's request was answered, barely. The ball thudded against the tall, gold pole, 315 feet from home plate and 55 feet above the ground. Home run ... Boston beats Cincinnati, 7-6.
"It was a dramatic 12th-inning finish to an ultra-dramatic World Series game, Game Six, and made certain there would be a Game Seven tonight at 8:30 for baseball's World championship. The blow was administered at 12:34 a.m., four hours and one minute after the game's first pitch."
1975 World Series champions
A night after the disappointing, but exhilerating, Game 6 loss on Fisk's home run, the Reds beat the Boston Red Sox in the 1975 World Series on Oct. 22, 1975.
"For three years, in any idle ear, the Cincinnati Reds insisted, unequivocally, that they were the best baseball team in the world.
"But, the Oakland A's, New York Mets and Los Angled Dodgers kept making liars out of them. Chit-Chat Champions. Paper Tigers.
"Vindication arrived, at least for 1975, at 11:22 p.m. Wednesday night under a full moon at Fenway Park. The Cincinnati Reds defeated the Boston Red Sox, 4-3, in the final game of the World Series.
"One slender run, a run scored on a blooper hit by Joe Morgan, was the difference. One skinny run. It was apropos. The World Series was that close"
....
"The Cincinnati Reds were World champions for the first time in 35 years, and none of the current Big Red Machinists were born yet, though Rose was only six months from birth and may have arrived early to get in on it if he had known."
1976 World Series champions
Continuing their Big Red Machine dominace, Cincinnati powered past the New York Yankees in the 1976 World Series on Oct. 21, 1976.
"If the New York Police Department had done its duty, the Cincinnati Reds would have been arrested late Thursday night for total desecration of Sacred Grounds.
"On land once played upon by Babe Ruth, Lou Gehrig, Joe DiMaggio and Mickey Mantle, the Cincinnati Reds thoroughly embarrassed a bunch of impostors wearing the proud New York Yankee pinstripes.
"As a World Series, it was a Crashing Bore, made so because the Cincinnati Reds carried all the weapons and the Yankees were unarmed.
"The Reds fired the final bullet into the Yankee corpse Thursday night, 7-2, completing a four-game sweep. The scores were 5-1, 4-3, 6-2, 7-2. In four games, the pitching staff the world laughs at gave the Yankees only 30 hits."
Pete Rose, 4,192
On Sept. 11, 1985, Pete Rose became baseball's Hit King by passing Ty Cobb with hit No. 4,192.
"Tears aren’t a part of Pete Rose, the epitome of a macho man, the man known affectionately in the press box as the stubby little truck driver because of his barrel build, his exterior toughness and his rugged work ethic.
"But, on Wednesday night, standing embarrassingly alone on first base in Riverfront Stadium in front of 47,237 worshippers, Rose let is all loose. As pandemonium swept the stadium, as fireworks exploded overhead, as adulation and admiration engulfed him and swept over him, Peter Edward Rose, man-child permitted 23 years of accomplishments to flow down his tough, craggy cheeks.
"He dipped his chiseled chin on his chest and cried unashamedly. In the Cincinnati dugout and in the stands, he had company."
Tom Browning perfect game
Reds pitcher Tom Browning tossed a perfect game in a rain-delayed contest on Sept. 16, 1988.
"Tom Browning worked so quickly Friday night it was as if he had an appointment. He did. In Cooperstown.
"Browning claimed a corner in baseball's Hall of Fame by pitching a perfect game against the Los Angeles Dodgers - 27 up, 27 down.
"The 28-year-old left-hander didn't only claim his niche, he grabbed it by the neck and choked it."