Baseball is basically a ball and bat game played between two teams of nine players each who take turns at batting and fielding. Baseball in the 1970’s was a lot of fun if you were an Orioles fan, a Reds fan or an Athletics fan. The irony being in the fact that none of these teams even came close to a pennant in as many years. The seventies were awesome and fans got to see uniforms with collars and shorts, pretty much like softball apparel.
The early seventies were dominated by the A’s mustaches, while the mid-seventies were dominated by the Big Red Machines. The late 70’s were predominantly dominated by the Yankees. In 1972, the Oakland A’s with their green and gold uniforms that would have done justice to a softball team managed to produce a victory in the 1972 world series. The Cincinnati Reds –the much favored team- was the team they beat n a tense seven game series.
The Reds had managed to beat the 1971 reigning world champions the Pittsburg Pirates in five games in the national league playoffs, scoring the winning run in a decisive game on a wild pitch. The A’s on the other hand, had managed to beat the Detroit Tigers in five games to win the American league pennant. The Oakland A’s won the first two games of the world series, lost the third, won the fourth, with the Cincinnati Red’s winning the fifth and sixth. In the seventh, the decisive game, the A’s won. The World Series that year was most unusual as six of the seven games were decide by one run, which was a record.
The seventies was a decade where Nolan Ryan set off to become one of the greatest pitchers of all time, he did things on the pitch few could have thought possible. It was also an era where the Cincinnati Reds had a full line of pitchers that would have any opposing team cringing at the prospect of facing them.
Here is a list of some of the World Series winners from the ’70s
- In 1970 the Baltimore Orioles won 4-1 to the Cincinnati Reds
- N 1971 the Pittsburg Pirates won 4-3 to the Baltimore Orioles
- In 1972 the Oakland A’s won 4-3 to the Cincinnati Reds
- In 1973 the Oakland A’s won 4-3 to the New York Mets
- In 1974 the Oakland A’s won 4-1 to the LA Dodger’s
- In 1975 the Cincinnati Reds won 4-3 to the Boston Red Sox
- In 1976 the Cincinnati Reds won 4-0 to the New York Yankees
- In 1977 the New York Yankees won 4-2 to the LA Dodger’s
- In 1978 the New York Yankees won 4-2 to the LA Dodgers
- In 1979 the Pittsburg Pirates won 4-3 to Baltimore Orioles
Some of the National League MVPs in the 1970s
- In 1970, Johnny Bench from Cincinnati
- In 1971, Joe Torre from St. Louis
- In 1972, Johnny Bench from Cincinnati
- In 1973, Pete Rose from Cincinnati
- In 1974 Steve Garvey from Los Angeles
- In 1975 Joe Morgan from Cincinnati
- In 1976 Joe Morgan from Cincinnati
- In 1977 George Foster from Cincinnati
- In 1978 Dave Parker from Pittsburg
- In 1979, Keith Hernandez from St. Louis
Some of the American League MVPs in the 1970s
- In 1970, Boog Powell from Baltimore
- In 1971, Vida Blue from Oakland
- In 1972, Dick Allen from Chicago
- In 1973, Reggie Jackson from Oakland
- In 1974, Jeff Burroughs from Texas
- In 1975, Fred Lynn from Boston
- In 1976, Thurman Munson from New York
- In 1977, Rod Carew from Minnesota
- In 1978, Jim Rice from Boston
- In 1979, Don Baylor from California
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