50 best MLB teams that didn’t win the World Series
102-60. Lost in the World Series. 1970 Cincinnati Reds. 8. player. 61.
The 1970 Cincinnati Reds won the NL West in a route, beating the second place Los Angeles Dodgers by 14.5 games in the standings. After the regular season, the Reds disposed of the Pittsburgh Pirates in three games in the NLCS – and held the Bucs to a total of three runs in three games while the Reds never scored more than three in a game themselves.
However, the Reds couldn’t keep that momentum through the World Series, and fell to the Baltimore Orioles in five games. It didn’t help that Baltimore had one of the best teams ever assembled, but in three of the Reds’ losses to the Orioles, Cincinnati squandered leads of 3-0, 4-0, and 3-0 in Game 1, Game 2 and Game 5, respectively.
The potent Cincinnati lineup featured several important of what would become the Big Red Machine, including 22-year old MVP and future Hall of Fame catcher Johnny Bench (.293/.345/.587, 45 HR, 148 RBI), Tony Perez (.317/.401/.589, 40 HR, 129 RBI) and Pete Rose (.316/.385/.470, 15 HR, 52 RBI). First baseman Lee May (34 HR, 94 RBI) and outfielder Bernie Carbo (.310/.454/.551, 21 HR, 63 RBI) had career years as well.
The Reds pitching staff was also solid, led by 22-year old Gary Nolan (18-7, 3.27), Jim Merritt (20-12, 4.08), and Wayne Simpson (14-3, 3.02) and closer Wayne Granger (2.66 ERA, 35 saves). Unfortunately, the young starters weren’t quite ready to face a strong Baltimore lineup in the Series, and came up short of a World Championship.
Next: 1994 Montreal Expos