Cincinnati Reds vs. Pittsburgh Pirates rivalry that has been overlooked & forgotten

It’s less than 300 miles between Cincinnati and Pittsburgh and both the Cincinnati Reds & Pittsburgh Pirates have been around for a very long time. Is there a natural rivalry between the two cities due to proximity? The Reds were founded in 1881 in the American Association and moved into the National League in 1890. The Pirates were also founded in 1881 in the American Association and joined the NL in 1887. The Pirates have won 5 World Series Championships — 1909, 1925, 1960, 1971, and 1979, and 9 NL Pennants. The Reds have won (you guessed it), 5 World Series Championships — 1919, 1940, 1975, 1976, 1990, and 9 NL Pennants. A rivalry? Yes, you could say that. A bitter rivalry? The decade of the 1970’s proved that to be true.

Why would a Met fan be a fan of and write about the Pirates and Reds of the 1970’s? Because their rivalry was AWESOME! With a host of future Hall of Fame and star players, the Pirates and Reds were must-watch teams for the entire decade.

The 1970’s was a great decade for America’s Pastime. The advent of divisional play in 1969 creating two divisions in each league in turn created the ‘League Championship’ playoffs and young emerging baseball fans like me lapped it up. Although the NFL under then-commissioner Pete Rozelle was ascending to become the nation’s most popular sport, in the 1970’s baseball still reigned supreme in the U.S. During the decade, five teams were winners of the ten World Series titles. The Baltimore Orioles, Pittsburgh Pirates, Oakland A’s, Cincinnati Reds, and New York Yankees. Four of the five teams won multiple World Series titles and three of the teams won at least two in a row (the A’s won three straight 1972–74).

There were some great rivalries. The Orioles and the A’s met three times in the LCS playoffs in the 1970’s — 1971, 1973, and 1974 with the O’s winning in 1971 and the A’s in 1973 and 1974. The A’s followed with World Series titles after vanquishing their rival, but the Orioles went down to the Pirates in the ’71 Series. The Orioles were a dominant team and had five AL East titles in the decade also finishing 2nd three times. The A’s won five straight division titles but faded for the rest of the decade after 1975 while the Orioles reached the World Series again in 1979 losing to…the Pirates. More on that later. As a playoff rivalry, the Reds and Pirates outdid their AL counterparts meeting four times in the postseason during the 1970s.

To put things into context about how good it was in Pittsburgh and Cincinnati in the 1970’s, most recently, the Pirates were a Wild Card team in 2013–14–15. They have not reached the NLCS since 1992. The Reds were also a Wild Card team (of course losing to the Pirates) in 2013 and reached the Wild Card game again in the pandemic shortened 2020 season. The Reds have not been in the NLCS since 1995. Over the past 27+ years there’s not a great deal to crow about for either team. It was very different in the decade of the 1970’s.

Longtime baseball fans like me who were around for the emergence of MLB divisional play can recall many of the players who played for the Pirates and Reds. And it goes beyond the easy future Hall-of-Famers like Roberto Clemente and Willie Stargell of the ‘Bucs’, as well as Johnny Bench, Tony Perez, Joe Morgan, Tom Seaver, and of course the man with the most hits in baseball history, non-HOFer Pete Rose of the Reds. Pirates like Dave Parker, Al Oliver, and Manny Sanguillen were truly excellent ballplayers and both Parker and Oliver later received serious HOF consideration. Beyond the mentioned four HOFers that played for the Reds during the decade, were terrific MLB players like the Reds’ Lee May, Dave Concepcion, Dan Driessen, and Ken Griffey Sr. Pirates Richie Hebner, Rennie Stennett, John Candelaria, Kent Tekulve, and even future HOFer Rich Gossage, all played significant parts in the teams’ success. It was by all counts an amazing and memorable decade for both teams.

The Reds of the 1970’s finished first or second in the NL West every season except for 1971. Not quite as amazing as the Atlanta Braves 14 out of 15 NL East division championships between 1991 and 2005 (they finished 2nd the other year), but still a very impressive run. The Pirates of the 1970s’ were also a consistent winner finishing first or second in the division each year except for 1973 when they finished 3rd, but only 2 ½ games out of first place.

Both teams were constructed similarly. Feared hitters up and down the lineup. Smart players both in the field and on the bases. Both featured pitching staffs that were good but not great. It all made for a dynamic, new, and interesting intra-divisional rivalry.

For the decade, the Reds and Pirates played 133 regular season games against each other with the Reds winning 74 and the Pirates 59. In those games, both teams scored and allowed 4.3 runs per game. In the postseason the Reds also had the upper hand winning 9 of 14 games and 3 out of 4 playoff series played between the two teams. Their overall records for the decade were terrific with the Reds winning 953 games averaging 95 per year and the Pirates 916 games averaging 91 wins per year.

The Reds get off to a running start

1970 — The decade opened with the Reds winning the NL West, then in the NLCS, defeating the NL East Champion Pirates 3 games to 0. At the time it did not seem that the two teams would fight for supremacy for most of the decade. The Reds did go on to lose the World Series to a very determined Baltimore Oriole team still smarting from the upset loss in the 1969 World Series to the upstart Mets. That 1970 Reds team featured Bench, Perez, and Rose (Morgan did not join the team until 1972), as well as SS Dave Concepcion as well as power hitting 1B Lee May and one of my personal boyhood favorites, the (mostly) unheralded OF Bobby Tolan. Tolan had by far his best season batting .316 and stealing 57 bags. The pitching staff featured 5 starting pitchers who totaled 150 starts between them led by All-Star Jim Merritt. Wayne Granger turned in 35 saves and Clay Carroll 16. 19-year-old lefty rookie fireballer Don Gullett was an effective reliever.

The Pirates return to the winner’s circle

1971 — The very next season the even more determined Pirates won both the 1971 NL Pennant and the World Series with manager Danny Murtaugh at the helm. In addition to Clemente, who batted .341 and Stargell (48 HRs), the team featured professional hitter OF Al Oliver (.303 career BA and would win his only BA title ten years later in 1982), 1B Bob Robertson (26 HRs), and dynamic catcher Manny Sanguillen, who hit .319 himself and was a stalwart behind the plate. The pitching staff was anchored by Steve Blass and Dock Ellis and relievers Dave Giusti, Nelson Briles, Mudcat Grant, and Bob Veale (6–0 despite an ERA of nearly 7) were reliable. I always remember my dad joking that the Pirates should have acquired then catcher Joe Torre so they’d have a battery of ‘Pitcher Veale, Catcher Torre’. The Bucs then beat the NL West champion Giants and upset the Baltimore Orioles in the World Series, a team attempting to win back-to-back titles that also featured four 20-game winners — the only time it has happened in MLB history. The Reds started the season poorly and never really recovered finishing 4th in the division at 79–83.

The back-and-forth rivalry of the decade was just getting started!

1972 — Joe Morgan’s arrival from the Astros in 1972 gave the Reds a leg up over the NL West teams. His 58 stolen bases combined with Bobby Tolan’s 42 gave the Reds an even greater dimension of speed. Johnny Bench, Tony Perez, and Pete Rose all did what they seemingly always did — hit, score, and drive in runs. Young OF Cesar Geronimo played an important role but young George Foster showed he was not quite ready for prime time batting .200 in 59 games. Jim Merritt only contributed 8 innings on the season with All-Star Ross Grimsley, RHP Jack Billingham, and Gary Nolan anchoring the starting staff. Clay Carroll contributed 38 saves and hard-throwing Pedro Borbon added 11 saves. The Reds featured 4 All-Stars — Bench, Morgan, Carroll, and Nolan. Rose and Perez had good but not great seasons by their standards.

They faced NL East champion Pittsburgh Pirates in the NLCS. They were now led by new Manager Bill Virdon since former manager Danny Murtaugh after leading the team to the 1971 World Series title went into the Pittsburgh farm system as Farm Director. The squad consisted of most of the players from that championship team the prior year. Of the four NLCS series the two teams would play in the 1970’s, 1972’s was by far the most exciting and competitive of the four. It would end with a wild pitch by Bob Moose!

Pittsburgh won the first game 5–1 in Three Rivers Stadium behind the eight-hit pitching of Steve Blass and Ramon Hernandez, and the hitting of Al Oliver, who was 2-for-4 with an RBI triple and a two-run homer. The Reds came right back to win Game 2 by a score of 5–3. The Reds scored four of their runs in the first to chase Bob Moose before he retired a batter, but it was the winning relief work of Tommy Hall that made the difference. Coming in for Jack Billingham with two out in the fifth, the Reds up 4–2, two Pirates on base, and a two-ball, no-strike count on Willie Stargell. Hall threw a perfect pitch for a called strike three and the Reds were on their way to a victory.

Pittsburgh came back from a 2–0 deficit to win 3–2 in Game 3 at Riverfront Stadium, but Cincinnati evened the series with a 7–1 romp in Game 4.

In the third straight game in Cincinnati, the Pirates took a 3–2 lead into the bottom of the ninth of Game 5 and Manager Virdon called on right-handed relief ace Dave Giusti to protect it against the Reds’ right-handed power hitters. But Giusti was unable to hold down the Reds as Johnny Bench greeted him with a game-tying home run, and Tony Perez and Denis Menke followed with singles. Virdon replaced Giusti with Moose.

Moose got Cesar Geronimo on a fly to deep right with George Foster pinch-running for Perez, taking third. Darrel Chaney popped out and Hal McRae came up to pinch-hit for reliever Clay Carroll. Moose then threw the now infamous wild pitch that bounced in front of home plate past catcher Manny Sanguillen, and Foster romped home to give Cincinnati the pennant, 4–3.

The Pirates dream of back-to-back titles ended in crushing fashion. The Reds would go on to lose the WS to the Oakland A’s — the first of three consecutive WS wins for those great A’s teams.

The year that could have been…

1973 — The Reds won the NL West by 3.5 games over the Dodgers. Gary Nolan was injured most of the season forcing Jack Billingham to make 40 starts (Tommy John in 1983 was the last pitcher to make 40 starts in one season). The Pirates now back under Danny Murtaugh (who managed the Bucs four separate times and was back for his final stint, were still reeling from the tragic death of Roberto Clemente (who had exactly 3,000 career hits) on New Year’s Eve 1972. They stumbled enough to allow the ‘Ya Gotta Believe’ New York Mets to swoop in, taking the division crown with a lowly 82–79 record. The Mets continued to shock baseball by then beating the powerful Reds propelling them to the World Series. That 1973 NLCS was highlighted by a fight between Pete Rose and diminutive Met shortstop Bud Harrelson in game three at 2nd base.

Close but no cigar

1974 — The Pirates avenged their division loss of the prior year and finished just ahead of the Cardinals by winning 88 games. The hitters were terrific — Stargell, Oliver, and Sanguillen all had excellent seasons. Young Rennie Stennett was solid at 2B hitting .291 as did Richie Hebner at 3B. RF Richie Zisk chipped in with 17 HRs batting .313 himself. The pitching was solid if not unspectacular. Lefties Jerry Reuss, Jim Rooker, Ken Brett, (George’s older brother and one of the best hitting pitchers ever), and Dock Ellis led the starting staff.

The Reds finished behind the Dodgers who won 102 games. Bench, Morgan, Perez, Rose, Concepcion, Cesar Geronimo and young players Dan Driessen and Ken Griffey Sr. all had excellent seasons. The starters Gullett, Billingham, Fred Norman, and newcomer Clay Kirby were steady, but it was not enough to beat a very good Dodger team that would in turn go down to defeat vs. the mighty A’s. However, the stage was set for the Big Red Machine to really get into gear for 1975.

The best team of all time?

1975 — The Reds posted one of the best season records in history winning twice as many games as they lost at 108–54. All but 2 of the starting 8 (non-pitchers) had OPS+ of well over 100 and the team had an OPS+ of 108! Bench, Morgan, Rose, and Perez were their usual spectacular selves, George Foster announced himself with a .300 batting average and 23 home runs. The pitchers were terrific too. All 6 starters had winning records (the Big Red Machine got its name more for scoring runs for grateful hurlers — lots, and lots of runs!). The staff was again led by Nolan and Billingham as well as Norman, Gullet and Pat Darcy.

Meanwhile the Pirates won the NL East by 6.5 games over the Phillies and were itching to beat the Reds to pay them back the disappointing loss in the ’72 NLCS. The top performers were no surprise — Stargell, Sanguillen, Parker, Oliver, Stennett, and Zisk. The Bucs were able to overcome a subpar year from 3B Richie Hebner, as well as carry Frank Tavares at SS who batted .215 with an OBA of .284 and season OPS+ of 53! Oddly enough it was by far Tavares’ worst year with the bat, but it made no difference as the Pirates cruised to the title. A 20-year-old middle infielder and future Yankee star (and Mets manager), made his debut that year as well — Willie Randolph. The pitchers — Ruess, Rooker, Bruce Kison, Dock Ellis, Ken Brett, and 21-year -old John Candelaria, were solid all year and the bullpen was deep and strong. Dave Giusti, Larry Demery, Bob Moose, Ramon Hernandez, and odd-looking and throwing Kent Tekulve were terrific and even 32-year-old ‘Sudden’ Sam McDowell made 14 appearances.

What the Pirates did not expect was a Reds team that was on a mission. The Reds dominated games one and two in Cincinnati outscoring the Bucs 14–4 and then after allowing a game three 9th inning tying run, the Big Red Machine lived up to its name and came up with two runs in the top of the 10th and Pedro Borbon followed with the save. The Reds were going back to the World Series for the first time since 1970!

So much has been written about that 1975 World Series between the Reds and the Red Sox. Considered by some to be one of the greatest WS of all-time, it featured some epic moments. The image of Carlton Fisk waving his walk-off home run in game 6 is one of the best in baseball history. Neither team was able to gain a two-game advantage and while the Red Sox won the epic game six. In a tight game seven, the Reds scratched out a run in the top of the ninth, with a walk, a sacrifice bunt, and a go-ahead RBI single from future HOFer Joe Morgan — the Big Red Machine succeeded by playing small ball! The Reds were WS champions for the first time since 1940. The Pirates would have to wait 4 long years to gain their revenge.

Back-to-back titles

1976 — The Pirates started somewhat slowly and did not reach 10 games over .500 until June 28. They would go on a late-season run that brought their final season record to 92–70 — very respectable but only good enough for a distant second place finish behind their in-state rival Philadelphia Phillies.

The team hit .267 which was very good, but the team OBA was only .321 and the power hitting was at a minimum. Zisk led the team with 21 HR and Stargell added 20 but the team only hit 110 homers and could just not generate quite enough consistent offense to take pressure off a capable but unspectacular pitching staff with a team ERA of 3.36.

As for Cincinnati, when things are going well, why make changes? That would sum up the 1976 roster and season for the Reds. They won early and going away, finishing 102–60–10 games ahead of the Dodgers who would go onto make the WS the following two seasons. Joe Morgan won his second straight MVP (the only 2B ever to do so), and despite that Bench and Perez both had subpar seasons, Pete Rose, George Foster, Ken Griffey Sr. (.336 BA) all had +.400 OBA’s which more than picked up the slack. The Big Red Machine rumbled through the playoffs sweeping the Mike Schmidt-led Phillies 3–0 and then whitewashed the Yankees four games to none. The Yankees would redeem themselves by winning the WS the following two years but never got the chance to avenge that stinging defeat delivered by the Reds in the 1976 World Series.

The pitching staff was again solid top to bottom with 6 starters combining to make 156 of 162 starts — unimaginable today! Eastwick, Borbon, and lefty Will McEnaney, totaled 41 saves for a team that was often way ahead in the late innings. The Reds of 1975 and 1976 are regarded to be among the greatest teams of all time for very valid reasons!

Another year that could have been more special

1977 — The Pirates won 4 more games in 1977 than the year prior. That was good but again not good enough to overtake another excellent Phillies team that again finished 101–61. After his fine 1976 season, inexplicably, star catcher Manny Sanguillen was dealt away to Oakland. )Oddly enough he was to be re-acquired the next season for $100,000 and Manager Chuck Tanner). Duffy Dyer stepped in to catch 94 games, but the pitching staff missed Manny’s experience and talent behind the plate.

The everyday lineup with Dave Parker (who had an excellent year batting .338 with 21HR’s and terrific defense in right field), 1B Bill Robinson, Al Oliver, and Rennie Stennett (.336 BA and .396 OBP) was productive. Omar Moreno stole 53 bags and injured 37-year-old Willie Stargell while only in a part-time role, remained a team leader. The Pirates as a team had a .274 team BA and finished near the top of the league in many offensive categories. The 4 primary starting pitchers — Candeleria, Bruce Kison, Jim Rooker, and Jerry Ruess started 128 games. Newly-acquired closer Rich Gossage tallied 26 saves in his only season with the Bucs.

The Pirates won 11 of their last 12 games but the Phillies were just too solid, and another winter of discontent was straight ahead.

Coming off back-to-back WS titles, the 1977 Reds can only be described as a disappointment. They got off to a slow start and did not reach .500 until June 8th. By that time the Dodgers already had a 12-game lead in the NL West. The Reds tried to claw back into contention and won 11 of their last 14 but finished 10 games behind the Dodgers who would go on to defeat the Phillies in the NLCS.

What went wrong for the Reds in 1977? It wasn’t the hitters. Bench bounced back with another terrific season slamming 31 HRs and driving in 109. In fact, almost all the Reds’ regulars had good or excellent seasons including Morgan, Driessen, Foster, Rose, and Griffey Sr. Even Concepcion had a good year (for him) with the bat.

The pitching outside of newly-traded-for Tom Seaver, was inconsistent at best and lousy at worst. Somehow the Reds were able to pry a discontented Seaver away from the Mets for three forgettable players in what became known by Mets fans as ‘The Midnight Massacre’. Tom Terrific quickly became the ace of the staff. But even his greatness could not lift a moribund staff. Fred Norman and Jack Billingham had down seasons and little-known starters like Doug Capilla and Paul Moskau were cuffed around as was 37-year-old Woodie Fryman. The bullpen outside of Rawly Eastwick who threw 43.1 innings, was mostly awful. It was impressive that Sparky Anderson and the hitters were able to win 88 games!

The Reds were itching to make amends in 1978.

1978 — The Pirates again started slowly and trailed the Phillies, again, all season. They won 14 of their last 18 games only to fall 1 ½ games short of the division winning Phillies, again. Once again, the hitters were good if not quite as good as in recent years, led by a resurgent Stargell, an MVP season from Parker, and generally solid contributions from Stennett, Tavares, and Phil Garner. Omar Moreno stole an eye-popping 71 bases. Reserves like John Milner and the re-acquired Sanguillen helped propel the Pirates.

The Pirate pitching staff bounced back in a big way. Future HOFer and curveball specialist Bert Blyleven joined and led the Pirate staff. 21-year-old Rookie Don Robinson came out strong and finished with a 14–3 record and threw 228.1 innings. Candelaria, Rooker, Kison, and Grant Jackson all were better than the previous season and reliever Kent Tekulve had one of his best campaigns. It was an exciting season but also one that again ended in disappointment. The cries of ‘Wait ’til next year’ were loud and clear.

The Reds also had another good season in 1978. And like the Pirates, they again had the misfortune of chasing a very good Dodger team that would go on to face the Yankees in the World Series (and lose) for the second consecutive season. A 6–14 slide in August put the Reds in a hole too deep to climb out of and despite the Dodgers going 3–7 in their final 10 games, the Reds finished 2 games behind.

30-year-old Johnny Bench was showing signs of wear and tear batting only .260 with 23 HRs in 120 games. 34-year-old Joe Morgan also had a subpar campaign hitting only .236 with 13 HRs and 23 steals in 132 games. Griffey Sr. had a solid year, 37-year-old Pete Rose batted .302, and George Foster hit 40 homers. Players like Driessen and Cesar Geronimo were respected but it all indicated that the Big Red Machine was a thing of the past.

The pitching staff (as usual) was led by Seaver, who threw 259.2 innings, far more than any other starter. And the other starters, Norman, Hume, Moskau, Bill Bonham, and 22-year-old Mike LaCoss, could not pick up enough slack for the now aging hitters. Doug Bair had a good year in the pen, and reliever Manny Sarmiento was a pleasant surprise. Since second place was not apparently good enough for the Reds brass, manager Sparky Anderson was sent packing after the season.

The decade closes with a bang

1979 — Under new manager John McNamara the Reds again won the division but this time only by 1.5 games over the fast-rising Houston Astros as the Dodgers slipped to under .500. A mostly familiar cast led the way — Bench had a solid season for him but what would be an excellent one for most any other catcher with 22 HR’s and a 276 BA. Driessen, Foster, a slowing-down Morgan, Concepcion, and Griffey made it tough on opposing pitchers. Ray Knight had his best season hitting .318 and playing tight defense at third. Cesar Geronimo had lost a step, but it was no problem as fleet outfielder Dave Collins had a great season batting .313 and was seemingly everywhere in the outfield and on the bases.

Tom ‘Terrific’ once again led the Reds starting staff although he was not quite the same strikeout pitcher any longer fanning 131 in 215IP which is about half of what he did in his prime. But Seaver was such a smart pitcher and only walked 61 hitters for the season in 32 starts. Mike LaCoss had his best season to date and the other starters — Norman, Bonham, and Moskau were good enough most of the time to enable the solid bullpen led by Hume and Doug Bair, to get the wins sealed.

As of July 23rd the Reds sat at 51–49, 5 ½ games behind the pace-setting Astros. They went 39–22 the rest of the way and held off the Astros to take the division title. The Pirates would be eagerly waiting for them in the NLCS.

The 1979 Pirates were not expected to be a championship caliber team. The Pirates started 4–10 but won six straight to reach 18–18 in late May. And like the ’79 Reds, the Pirates trailed the division leading Expos by a substantial margin — 7 games as late as July 8th. The Bucs would go 58–26 for the remainder of the season, catching and passing the Expos by winning 3 out of 4 games in a late September series after the Expos had retaken the division lead less than one week earlier.

39-year-old Willie Stargell’s 1979 season was by all accounts, magical. He hit 32 home runs and batted .281 and was NL co-MVP with the Cardinal’s Keith Hernandez. ‘Pops’ as he was affectionately known was the heart and soul of the team that wore gaudy yellow uniforms, wore odd-looking caps, won baseball games, and danced to the beat of the Sister Sledge chart-topping hit ‘We are Family’ all season long. The Pirates batted .272 as a team and were led by Bill ‘Mad Dog’ Madlock who came over to the Pirates in an in-season trade with the San Francisco Giants, and batted .338. Tim Foli also joined the Bucs in-season coming over from the moribund Mets batting .291 (his best year) and solidifying the infield defense at shortstop. Omar Moreno swiped 77 bags and Phil Garner played all over the infield and batted .293. Catcher Ed Ott was excellent behind the plate and with backup Steve Nicosia (who did play 70 games) hitting .288 the pair were an excellent 1–2 combination.

Dave Parker was his usual terror on opposing pitchers batting .318 with 25 HR’s and won his third straight gold glove in right field. Parker has a career bWAR of 40.1 but when I saw him play, he seemed like a future HOFer! Some of his laser-beam-like throws to home plate from the right field corner still stick in my mind. In that way he reminded me of Roberto Clemente.

The Pirate pitching from starters to bullpen was very good in 1979. Blyleven, Candelaria, Rooker, Robinson, and Kison were a formidable starting five. 34-year-old Jim Bibby had the first of what would be two terrific consecutive seasons. Kent Tekulve who looked vulture-like on the mound with his wire-rimmed glasses and low sidearm motion, preyed on hitters for 31 saves in 94 games. Tekulve also won 10 games. Bullpen stalwarts like Enrique Romo and Grant Jackson were terrific and just about any pitcher manager that Chuck Tanner (remember they traded Sanguillen to bring Tanner in), put out there, excelled.

The Pirates would finally get the opportunity to avenge their bitter defeat in the 1975 playoffs. History shows that the Pirates swept the Reds three games to none in the 1979 NLCS. But that result does not tell the story of what happened.

The last of the playoff series between the Pirates and Reds

Game One of the NLCS featured a 3rd inning home run from Phil Garner off Tom Seaver, a sacrifice fly from Tim Foli later that inning, a rare triple by Johnny Bench, and a 2-run homer from George Foster in the 5th. The score was deadlocked at 2–2 after 9 innings. In the 11th, a leadoff single from Foli followed by a single from Parker set the table for Willie Stargell’s heroic 3-run homer and the Pirates led 5–2. The Reds were not quite done yet though. Down to their last out, the Reds rallied with a single from Concepcion and a walk to George Foster. Don Robinson was called in to relieve Grant Jackson and promptly walked Johnny Bench to load the bases. However, Robinson was able to get Ray Knight on a foul-tipped third strike that catcher Ed Ott threw to MVP-to-be Stargell to complete the out and the Pirates sighed in relief to take the series opener.

Game 2 saw a pitcher’s duel between Jim Bibby and less-known Frank Pastore. Both pitched 7 innings, with the runs having being scored on a sacrifice fly by pitcher Pastore in the 2nd, and a 4th inning groundout by Madlock that scored Foli. A 5th inning double from Foli drove in Garner, who had singled, and the Pirates inched ahead 2–1. In the 7th, Ott led off with a single and after a fly out was sacrificed to 2nd by Bibby. Omar Moreno singled and Ott who was a slow runner, was gunned down at home for out number three by left fielder George Foster who was not known for his great throwing arm. The score remained 2–1 through 8 innings and in the bottom of the 9th Kent Tekulve came in to shut the door. It was not to be. After striking out leadoff hitter Geronimo, pinch-hitter Hector Cruz doubled, and Dave Collins followed with a game-tying double of his own. The Pirates were thunderstruck. Reliever Dave Roberts came in and after a walk to Morgan was replaced by Don Robinson who got the final two outs of the inning to keep the score knotted at 2–2.

Doug Bair came into the game in the 10th inning and Moreno started things off with a single. While it often seemed that Moreno was a walking double, the Bucs played it safe and Foli sacrifice bunted Moreno over to 2nd. Dave Parker singled on a 2–1 pitch scoring Moreno for a 3–2 lead! Old-style baseball had prevailed once again. Robinson stayed in and got Bench, Driessen, and Knight 1–2–3 in the bottom of the inning to secure the game two win. 7 years later in 1986 Ray Knight would have a pivotal extra-inning World Series single in the Mets amazing game 6 comeback vs. the Red Sox but after making the last out in extra innings in both games one and two he, like the entire team, had to be feeling down.

The Reds as a team never recovered from those two tight extra inning losses. Game three was a rout as the Pirates behind Bert Blyleven scored early and often off starter Mike LaCoss as well as Fred Norman leading 6–0 in the 5th inning. Only a solo homer from Johnny Bench in the 6th inning prevented the shutout as the Pirates closed out the Reds 7–1. Finally, the ghosts had been put to rest!

The World Series vs. the Baltimore Orioles saw the Pirates a bit let down after the epic win vs. the Reds. They trailed the Orioles 3 games to 1 before righting themselves to win three straight and take the series in 7 games. The 1979 Pirates were a fun-loving team that fans loved to watch!

And then it was over for more than ten years for both the Pirates and Reds. At least as far as the playoffs go. The Reds would have a surprising run to win the World Series in 1990, defeating the Pirates (of course) in the NLCS that season, the first of three straight NLCS appearances for the Bucs. But the Pirates have not returned to the NLCS in 30 years and the Reds added a NLCS appearance in 1995 but lost to the Braves and have not returned since. That makes a combined 57 years between the two franchises without making it to the League Championship much less the World Series — a very long drought for two of the most venerated franchises in MLB history.

Of note in looking at the rosters of both the Pirates and Reds of the 1970’s was the impact and significance of players of color on both rosters — and not just players, but bona fide MLB stars. It had been less than 25 years since Jackie Robinson had broken the color barrier. While many teams featured a few African-American and Latin players, the Pirates often started 7 or 8 players of color and the Reds 5 or 6. This was far from the norm at the time and fans like me both noticed and thought it was great as well as long overdue!

These days both teams play in the same division — the NL Central and play each other as many as 19 times per season. A far cry from when they were members of different divisions as it was from 1969–1993 and their NLCS clashes during the 1970’s remains some of baseball’s best and most exciting in baseball history!