The 1970 World Series was the championship series of Major League Baseball's (MLB) 1970 season. The 67th edition of the World Series, it was a best-of-seven playoff between the American League champion Baltimore Orioles (108–54 in the regular season) and the National League champion Cincinnati Reds (102–60). The Orioles won, four games to one.
In this series Emmett Ashford became the first African American to umpire a World Series. It also featured the first World Series games to be played on artificial turf, as Games 1 and 2 took place at Cincinnati's first-year Riverfront Stadium.
This was the last World Series in which all games were played in the afternoon. It was also the third time in a World Series in which a team leading three games to none failed to complete the sweep by losing Game 4 but still won Game 5 to clinch the series; 1910 and 1937 were the others. It would later happen again in 2024 when the Los Angeles Dodgers failed to sweep the New York Yankees in Game 4, but won the series in Game 5. This was the last World Series until 2017 in which both participating teams won over 100 games during the regular season. This was also the first World Series to feature names on the back on both team uniforms, and the last in which teams wore wool flannel uniforms.
Background
The Baltimore Orioles won the American League East division by 15 games over the New York Yankees and the Cincinnati Reds won the National League West division by games over the Los Angeles Dodgers.
Coming into the World Series, the Orioles had won 14 straight including the final 11 during the regular season then defeated the Minnesota Twins, three games to none, in the American League Championship Series for the second straight year. The Reds went 32–30 in their last 62 regular season games, but swept the Pittsburgh Pirates, three games to none, in the National League Championship Series.
This World Series included a pair of teams full of all-star players.
The 1970 Cincinnati Reds squad was the first edition of the "Big Red Machine." Sparky Anderson's first year as a major league manager produced 102 wins and the first of four NL pennants in a seven-year stretch. The Reds featured a heavy-hitting lineup that included future Hall of Famers in catcher Johnny Bench (45 home runs, 148 RBI and .293 batting average) and third baseman Tony Pérez (40, 129, .317), as well as all-time hits leader Pete Rose (15, 52, .316) in right field, NL stolen base leader Bobby Tolan (16, 80, .316) in center field and power-hitting first baseman Lee May (34, 94, .253). The Reds led the National League in batting average and finished third in runs scored. Cincinnati pitching, however, would be a weak spot throughout the Series. Two-time 20-game winner Jim Maloney could only make three starts during the regular season and was shelved with a ruptured tendon in his toe. Two 1970 All Star game representatives, Jim Merritt (20–12) and rookie Wayne Simpson (14–3), were suffering arm injuries. Merritt, who won 20 games by the end of August, pitched less than four regular season innings after September 4. Merritt started Game 5 against Baltimore, but was unable to get through the second inning. Simpson started 8–1 and had 14 wins by July 26, Mike Cuellar (24–8, 3.48 ERA), Dave McNally (24–9, 3.22) and future Hall of Famer Jim Palmer (20–10, 2.71) were all well-rested and ready for the Series. Weaver balanced good pitching with the hitting of 1970 AL MVP Boog Powell (35, 114, .297), Merv Rettenmund (18, 58, .322), as well as future Hall of Famers Frank Robinson (25, 78, .306) and Brooks Robinson (18, 94, .276). The Orioles led the AL in most runs scored (792), fewest runs allowed (574), complete games (60), lowest team ERA (3.15) and they were second in the AL in fielding percentage (.981) establishing themselves as the most dominant Orioles team in the modern era.
The 1970 World Series appearance by Baltimore was the second of what would be three-straight World Series appearances. The Reds would go on to amass four WS appearances in a seven-year stretch (1970, '72, '75 & '76, winning the last two).
Of the four World Series Earl Weaver managed the Orioles to, the 1970 World Series was the only one that they won. They lost to the New York Mets in , and to the Pittsburgh Pirates in and .
Summary
Matchups
Game 1
thumb|upright|185px|[[Brooks Robinson]]
The Reds got off to a fast start, taking a 3–0 lead off Jim Palmer on a first-inning RBI single by Johnny Bench and a third-inning two-run homer by Lee May. The Orioles' offense answered with a two-run homer by Boog Powell in the fourth inning, off Reds starter Gary Nolan. Elrod Hendricks tied it with a homer in the fifth, and Brooks Robinson hit the game-winning homer in the seventh. In the sixth, Robinson made a spectacular backhanded grab of a hard grounder down the line by May before spinning to throw him out. It was one of several spectacular plays the Gold Glove third baseman would make in the series.
The game turned in the sixth inning on a controversial call by home-plate umpire Ken Burkhart. The Reds had Bernie Carbo on third and Tommy Helms on first when Ty Cline, batting for Woody Woodward, hit a high chopper in front of the plate. Burkhart positioned himself in front of the plate to call the ball fair or foul as Carbo sped home. Baltimore catcher Hendricks fielded the ball and turned to tag Carbo with Burkhart blocking the way. Hendricks tagged the sliding Carbo with his glove hand while holding the ball in his bare right hand; all the while, Burkhart was knocked to the ground and had his back to the play. When Burkhart turned around, he saw Carbo out of the baseline because Burkhart was actually blocking Carbo's direct path to the plate as Hendricks held the ball. Burkhart signaled Carbo out without asking for help from the other umpires. Replays showed that Hendricks tagged Carbo with an empty mitt, but Carbo also missed the plate on the slide, although, unwittingly, he stood on it when he argued the "out" call. Both Carbo and Sparky Anderson vehemently argued the call, to no avail. The events were re-enacted in the 1992 miniseries The Jacksons: An American Dream, with the group performing the song a cappella.
Game 2
thumb|upright=0.8|[[Boog Powell]]
Again, another fast start by the Reds fell by the wayside. The Reds scored three in the first on a two-run double by Lee May, who went to third when Orioles center fielder Paul Blair bobbled the ball. Hal McRae squeeze-bunted May home for the third run. They pushed the lead to 4–0 on a homer by Bobby Tolan in the third.
The Orioles began their comeback innocently enough on a Boog Powell solo homer in the fourth. In the fifth, the floodgates opened. With one out, Reds' starter Jim McGlothlin gave up successive singles to pinch-hitter Chico Salmon and Don Buford. Paul Blair singled home Salmon, chasing McGlothlin and bringing in Milt Wilcox. Wilcox gave up RBI singles to Powell and Brooks Robinson and the crushing blow, a two-run double to Elrod Hendricks.
Baltimore third baseman Brooks Robinson added to his highlight reel with a spectacular display of fielding. After Pete Rose and Bobby Tolan led the game off with consecutive hits, Robinson made a sensational, leaping grab of Tony Pérez's hopper, stepped on third and fired to first for a double play. In the second inning, Robinson snagged a slow grounder hit by Tommy Helms and threw out the sprinting second baseman. And in the sixth, Robinson made a diving catch of a line drive by Johnny Bench. The Memorial Stadium fans gave Robinson a standing ovation as he came to bat in the bottom of the sixth. He responded by doubling to left.
With a 2–1 lead in the third, Reds' starter Gary Nolan gave up two-out RBI singles to Frank Robinson and Brooks Robinson. Gullett relieved Nolan and surrendered another RBI single to Elrod Hendricks. The Reds crept back in the fifth on a homer by Pete Rose.
Frank Robinson hit a two-run home run, Merv Rettenmund also had a homer and two RBI, and Davey Johnson had two RBI to pace the Orioles' attack. After the rocky first inning, Cuellar settled down and allowed no runs and two hits in the final eight innings for a complete-game victory.
Aftermath
This was the second of three consecutive appearances by the Orioles, who went on to lose the following year's World Series to the Pittsburgh Pirates in seven games. Baltimore won both the Super Bowl and the World Series in the same season as the Baltimore Colts won Super Bowl V over the Dallas Cowboys. However, the city fell short of winning MLB, NFL and NBA championships within a one-year span as the Baltimore Bullets were swept by the Milwaukee Bucks in the 1971 NBA Finals. Such a scenario is now unlikely as the Bullets have since relocated to Washington, D.C. and renamed the Wizards. As of , this is the most recent championship won by a Baltimore-based team at their home venue, as the Orioles’ most recent World Series championship in 1983, which they won over the Philadelphia Phillies in five games, was won on the road, and the Baltimore Ravens’ two Super Bowl victories in 2001 and 2013 were won at neutral sites per NFL rules.
For the Reds, this was the first of four World Series appearances in the 1970s. After losing to the Oakland Athletics four games to three in , they proceeded to win back-to-back championships in (4–3 vs. the Red Sox) and (4–0 vs. the Yankees).
Not until the 2024 World Series did a team down 3-0 in the series won Game 4 to avoid a sweep. Between 1970-2024, all nine teams that went up 3-0 in the World Series would finish off the sweep the next game.
See also
- 1970 Japan Series
References
External links
- That Black and Orange Magic at SI.com
- Reds History at redshistory.com
- The 1970 Baltimore Orioles at baseballlibrary.com
- The 1970 Cincinnati Reds at baseballlibrary.com