Cincinnati Reds: The franchise all-time tournament

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Jose Rijo, a leader of the 1990 Cincinnati Reds. (Photo by Focus on Sport/Getty Images) /

Five World Series winners, among them the 1975-76 Big Red machine, compete for the title of best Cincinnati Reds club in history

The Cincinnati Reds are professional baseball’s original franchises. Established in 1869 as the game’s first openly professional aggregation the Reds have played as a member of the National League continuously since the 1880s.

In that nearly century and a half, the Reds have fielded some of the game’s memorable ballclubs. Both the 1975 and 1976 World Series winners are routinely ranked among the dominant teams in baseball history.

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Reds fans can revel in five recognized world champions, including those two plus the 1919, 1940 and 1990 teams.

The best Reds teams have traditionally favored offense. Of 31 Hall of Famers who wore the uniform of the Reds, nine spent most of their careers in Cincinnati and eight of those were every-day players. That list includes legendary batsmen of the stripe of Frank Robinson, Johnny Bench, Joe Morgan, Barry Larkin, Tony Perez, and Edd Roush.

The five World Series-winning teams are all included in our field of eight. Also making the cut are the 1939 and 1961 pennant winners as well as the 2012 NL Central champions. As a group, they represent the diversity as well as the quality of Reds history.

Each matchup in the tournament is decided based on seven criteria. You can think of each as a ‘game,’ the winner of four games advancing. The seven criteria are:

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Game 1: Regular season winning percentage.

Game 2: Post-season winning percentage

Game 3: Team OPS+

Game 4: Team ERA+

Game 5 (if necessary): Team WAR

Game 6 (if necessary): Defensive runs saved or, if unavailable, fielding percentage.

Game 7 (if necessary): Hall of Famers or likely future Hall of Famers

Sparky Anderson, manager of the 1976 and 1975 World Series winners. (Photo by Focus on Sport/Getty Images) /

Cincinnati Reds: The all-time tournament

1976 vs. 1939 Reds

The 1976 Reds emerge straight out of the franchise’s most glorious days. The lineup features the all-time hit leader, Pete Rose, along with possibly the greatest catcher in Johnny Bench, and arguably the best second baseman in Joe Morgan.

The team’s only weakness was an indifferent rotation, so Sparky Anderson relied on that lineup plus a heavily used bullpen.

The 1939 team won the franchise’s first pennant in 20 years thanks to a strong pitching staff led by veterans Bucky Walters and Paul Derringer. Between them, Walters and Derringer went 52-18 in 620 innings of work. Offensively the team was thin in spots but could count on burly catcher Ernie Lombardi and slugging first baseman Frank McCormick (.332, 128 RBIs.)

Game 1: This one narrowly goes to the 1939 Reds in a stunning upset. Their 97-57 record translates to a .6298 percentage that is a hair better than the 1976 team’s 102-60 .6296.

Game 2: With its perfect 7-0 post-season run topped by a 4-0 sweep of the American League champion Yankees, the 1976 team levels the series score at one game each.

Game 3: The Big Red Machine was justifiably known as one of the best offensive lineups in history. It’s collective 120 OPS+ dominates the 1938 team’s score of 98.

Game 4: Another surprise. The 1939 team’s 119 ERA+ takes this game in a romp over the 1976 club’s 100 ERA+.

Game 5: The 1976 team’s 54.1 WAR is dominated by its offense, which produced 43.5 WAR. Still, that’s good enough to beat the 1939 team’s 43.5 overall WAR.

Game 6: The 1976 Reds wrap up the series in six games with a superior .984 team fielding average. The 1939 club managed only .974.

Result: 1976 Reds in six games

A banner reading ‘Cincinnati Reds 1919 Champions of the World’, after the team won the 1919 World Series. (Photo by FPG/Getty Images) /

Cincinnati Reds: The all-time tournament

1919 vs. 1940 Reds

The 1919 Reds unjustly exist in the vast shadow cast by that season’s Chicago White Sox, who threw the World Series. The truth is the 1919 Cincinnati club may well have been the better team anyway.

Its attack was focused on outfielder Edd Roush (.321) and third baseman Heinie Groh (.310). But the 1919 team’s true strength was its deep and talented mound staff. The club’s top five starters all produced ERAs below 2.40 and did so while eating up nearly 87 percent of the 1,260 innings the Reds played.

The 1940 team personnel was virtually identical to the 1939 club with one significant difference: it won the World Series. The first Cincy team to win 100 games, Lombardi batted .319, McCormick hit .309, and they combined to drive in 201 runs.

On the mound, Walters and Derringer were as powerful a one-two punch as they had been one season earlier. They won a combined 40 games and worked a combined 602 innings.

Game 1: The first great Reds team compiled a 96-44 record for a .686 percentage. That’s good enough to beat the 1940 World Champions, who went 100-53 for .654.

Game 2: The 1919 Reds beat the scandal-rocked White Sox in eight games of a scheduled best-of-nine. That’s a .625 post-season percentage. The 1940 Reds also won the World Series, but it took them a full seven games to subdue Detroit. That’s a .571 percentage.

Game 3: Behind Roush and Groh, the 1919 Reds piled up a 103 OPS+ that was good enough to best the 1940 club’s ordinary 93 OPS+.

Game 4: It’s a sweep for the 1919 team. Their pitching staff compiled a 126 ERA+, just barely good enough to polish off the 1940 Reds, whose staff of Walters and Derringer topped out at 125.

Result: 1919 Reds in four games

Pedro Borbon of the Cincinnati Reds pitches during a Major League Baseball game circa 1975. (Photo by Focus on Sport/Getty Images) /

Cincinnati Reds: The all-time tournament

1975 vs. 1961 Reds

The 1975 and 1976 teams are also essentially identical, the biggest distinctions involving some personnel changes on the mound. Five regulars – Morgan, Rose, Foster Cesar Geronimo, and Ken Griffey – topped .300. Morgan drove in 111 runs and Foster drove in 121.

The 1961 team surprised many, beating out the Dodgers by four games. This was the season when Frank Robinson emerged as a front-rank star, batting .323 with 37 home runs and 124 RBIs. Center fielder Vada Pinson batted .343.

Joey Jay and Jim O’Toole led the pitching staff, combining for 40 victories in 499 innings of work.

Game 1: The 1975 Reds; 108-54 record is good for a .667 winning percentage, far superior to the 1961 team’s 93-61 .604.

Game 2: The 1975 team swept its NLCS and then won a seven-game World Series from Boston. That’s a .700 post-season record, far better than the 1961 club’s .200 percentage in losing four of five to the Yankees.

Game 3: Another rout for the Big Red Machine, whose 108 OPS+ easily bests the 1961 team’s 97.

Game 4: The 1961 club narrowly avoids a sweep, its 107 staff ERA+ tying the 1975 staff’s performance.

Game 5: The 1975 team completes a pseudo-sweep with a 50.2 to 40.1 victory in team WAR. The Big Red Machine’s 40.4 offensive WAR alone is by itself enough to win.

Result: 1975 Reds in five games, one ending in a tie

Brandon Phillips of the Cincinnati Reds. (Photo by Jonathan Daniel/Getty Images) /

Cincinnati Reds: The all-time tournament

1990 vs. 2012 Reds

Like the 1961 team, the 1990 club was a surprise pennant winner, showing a 16 game improvement in the standings that lifted the team from fifth place to first in the NL West.

A balanced pitching staff was led by Tom Browning, 15-9 in 227 innings, and Jose Rijo, 14-8 in 197 innings. Manager Lou Piniella’s three bullpen aces, Norm Charlton, Randy Myers, and Rob Dibble, produced 24 victories and 44 saves in a combined 338 innings.

Offensively, the Reds’ balanced attack featured shortstop Barry Larkin, center fielder Eric Davis and third baseman Chris Sabo. The Reds shocked Oakland’s defending champions in four games in the World Series.

Joey Votto was in his prime during the 2012 season, batting .337 with a 1.041 OPS. On the mound, Johnny Cueto went 19-9 in 33 starts with a 2.78 ERA. Aroldis Chapman highlighted the bullpen, picking up 38 saves on a 1.51 ERA.

Unfortunately for the 2012 team, they ran afoul of the San Francisco Giants in five games during the divisional round.

Game 1: The 1990 World Series winners went 90-71 for a .562 regular-season percentage. The 2012 club beat that at 97-65, .559.

Game 2: With an 8-2 .800 post-season percentage, the 1990 team easily evens the score against the 2012’s 2-3 .400 post-season record.

Game 3: Neither team survived on its offense, but with a 95 OPS+ the 1990 team edges out the `2012 club by two points.

Game 4: The 2012 team’s 123 ERA+ is just good enough to best the 1990 champions’ 118 and even this series at two games aside.

Game 5: The 1990 Reds’ 46.3 team WAR is barely superior to the 2012 team’s 41.6.

Game 6: With a fielding percentage of .985, the 2012 team edges out the 1990 champions’ .983 fielding percentage, and sends this series to a decisive seventh game.

Game 7: The 1990 club rosters one Hall of Famer, shortstop Barry Larkin.

Among members of the 2012 team, MLB.com ranks Joey Votto as the ninth-best future Hall of Fame bet and puts Aroldis Chapman at 31. But Baseball-Reference ranks Votto’s similarity score on a par with Matt Holliday, Will Clark, Magglio Ordonez And Ellis Burks, none a likely future Hall of Famer.

It’s debatable, but the nod goes to Larkin and the 1990 club.

Result: 1990 Reds in seven

Johnny Bench. (Photo by Focus on Sport/Getty Images) /

Cincinnati Reds: The all-time tournament

1976 vs. 1919 Reds

This series pitted a highly touted 1976 team against a lesser-known but powerful 1919 world champion.

The 1919 team had only two losing streaks longer than two games all season, neither exceeding four games.

It wrapped up the pennant with nearly two weeks left in the season.

The 1976 team was almost equally as consistent, suffering through no losing streak longer than four games, and only three longer than two games.

Game 1: The .629 percentage of the 1976 world champs is no match for the widely under-rated 1919 Reds’ .686 winning percentage.

Game 2: For post-season performance, it’s impossible to improve on the 1976 team’s 10-0 record.

Game 3: At 120, the 1976 team’s OPS+ proves it to be offensively superior to the 1919 version, which registered 103.

Game 4: The 1919 team evens the series at two games aside thanks to its 126 ERA+. The 1976 club managed a neutral 100 OPS+

Game 5: The 1976 Reds take a three-games-to-two advantage thanks to its 54.1 team WAR, more than a dozen points superior to the 1919 team’s 41.6.

Game 6: With a .974 fielding percentage, the 1919 team was superb for its day. But the 1976 club, at .984, closes out the series in six games.

Winner: 1976 Reds in six

1975 vs. 1990 Reds

The teams featured similar pitching staffs led by their bullpens: Charlton, Myers, and Dibble for the 1990 club versus Rawly Eastwick, Pedro Borbon and Clay Carroll for the 1975 champions.

The 1975 club was managed by Hall of Famer Sparky Anderson, who used that pen profusely. The Reds won despite a league-low 22 complete games, far lower than the league average of 36.

Game 1: At .667, the 1976 team’s winning percentage is 11 games better than the 1990 champions’ .562.

Game 2: Both world championship teams won 80 percent of their post-season games, including sweeps of their respective World Series. This game is a tie.

Game 3: Few teams are offensively superior to the 1976 Reds, with their 120 OPS. Certainly, the 1990 champions, at 95, can’t match up.

Game 4: Led by Jose Rijo, the 1990 champions produce a 118 ERA+ to even the series against the 1976 club’s pedestrian 100 staff rating.

Game 5: The 1976 club wins the WAR war, with a team total of 54.1. The best the 1990 club can do is 46.3.

Game 6: This game goes down to the wire, the 1976 team wrapping up the series in six games with a .984 fielding percentage, barely one point better than the 1990 team’s .983.

Winner: 1975 Reds in six

Cincinnati Reds: The all-time tournament

1975 vs. 1976 Reds

The two best teams in Reds history played in consecutive seasons and featured virtually identical lineups.

The biggest difference was the 1976 emergence of fifth and sixth starters Pat Zachry and Santo Alcala, taking over for Clay Kirby and Pat Darcy.

Statistically, the biggest performance decline involved Bench, whose batting average fell from .283 to .234 with a 30 point decline in OPS+.