George Lee"Sparky"Anderson was an American Major League Baseball (MLB) player, coach, and manager. He managed the National League's Cincinnati Reds to the 1975 and 1976 championships, then added a third title in 1984 with the Detroit Tigers of the American League. Anderson was the first manager to win the World Series in both leagues. His 2,194 career wins are the sixth-most for a manager in Major League history. Anderson was named American League Manager of the Year in 1984 and 1987. He was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in 2000.
The 1975 World Series was the championship series of Major League Baseball's (MLB) 1975 season. The 72nd edition of the World Series, it was a best-of-seven playoff played between the American League (AL) champion Boston Red Sox and the National League (NL) champion Cincinnati Reds. The Reds won the series, four games to three. In 2003, ESPN ranked it the second-greatest World Series ever played, trailing only the 1991 series, while in 2020, Sam Miller of ESPN named it the best World Series ever.
Dominic Paul DiMaggio, nicknamed "the Little Professor", was an American Major League Baseball center fielder. He played his entire 11-year baseball career for the Boston Red Sox (1940–1953). DiMaggio was the youngest of three brothers who each became major league center fielders, the others being Joe and Vince.
John Michael Pesky, nicknamed "the Needle" and "Mr. Red Sox", was an American professional baseball player, manager and coach. He was a shortstop and third baseman during a ten-year major league playing career, appearing in 1,270 games played in 1942 and from 1946 to 1954 for three teams. He missed the 1943–45 seasons while serving in World War II. Pesky was associated with the Boston Red Sox for 61 of his 73 years in baseball—from 1940 through June 3, 1952, 1961 through 1964, and from 1969 until his death. Pesky also managed the Red Sox from 1963 to 1964, and in September 1980.
Raymond Otis Boone was an American professional baseball infielder and scout who played in Major League Baseball (MLB). Primarily a third baseman and shortstop, he was a two-time American League All-Star, and led his league in runs batted in with 116 in 1955. He batted and threw right-handed and was listed as 6 feet (1.8 m) tall and 172 pounds (78 kg).
George Charles Scott Jr., nicknamed "Boomer", was an American professional baseball player, coach and manager. He played in Major League Baseball as a first baseman from 1966 to 1979, most prominently for the Boston Red Sox where he was a member of the 1967 American League pennant winning team and, with the Milwaukee Brewers where he was the 1975 American League home run and RBI champion.
Richard Hirschfeld Williams was an American left fielder, third baseman, manager, coach and front-office consultant in Major League Baseball. Known especially as a hard-driving, sharp-tongued manager from 1967 to 1969 and from 1971 to 1988, he led teams to three American League pennants, one National League pennant, and two World Series triumphs. He is one of nine managers to win pennants in both major leagues, and joined Bill McKechnie in becoming only the second manager to lead three franchises to the Series. He and Lou Piniella are the only managers in history to lead four teams to seasons of 90 or more wins. Williams was inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame in 2008 following his election by the Veterans Committee.
Cecil Celester Cooper is an American former professional baseball player, coach, manager and sports agent. He played in Major League Baseball as a first baseman from 1971 to 1987 for the Boston Red Sox and the Milwaukee Brewers. Cooper was a member of the Red Sox team that won the 1975 American League pennant but he rose to prominence as a member of the Brewers, where he became a five-time American League All-Star player and a two-time American League RBI champion.
Richard Charles Wise is an American former professional baseball player and coach. He played in Major League Baseball as a right-handed pitcher between 1964 and 1982 for the Philadelphia Phillies, St. Louis Cardinals, Boston Red Sox, Cleveland Indians and the San Diego Padres. The two-time National League All-Star pitched a no-hitter on June 23, 1971 - and slugged two home runs to support his own effort. Wise was the winning pitcher for the Boston Red Sox in Game 6 of the 1975 World Series, considered by some to be the greatest Series game ever played.
Carl Reginald Smith is an American former professional baseball player. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) as an outfielder and afterwards served as a coach and front office executive. He also played in the Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB) for two seasons at the end of his playing career. During a seventeen-year MLB career (1966–1982), Smith appeared in 1,987 games, hit 314 home runs with 1,092 RBI and batted .287. He was a switch-hitter who threw right-handed. In his prime, he had one of the strongest throwing arms of any outfielder in the MLB. Smith played at least seventy games in thirteen different seasons, and in every one of those thirteen seasons, his team had a winning record.
Michael Franklin "Pinky" Higgins was an American third baseman, manager, front office executive and scout in Major League Baseball who played for three teams and served as manager or general manager of the Boston Red Sox during the period of 1955 through 1965. During his playing days, he batted and threw right-handed, and was listed as 6 feet 1 inch (1.85 m) tall and 185 pounds (84 kg).
Haywood Cooper Sullivan was an American college and professional baseball player who was a catcher, manager, general manager and club owner in Major League Baseball. From May 23, 1978, through November 23, 1993, he was a general partner in the Boston Red Sox, where he parlayed a $200,000 investment into a cash out of at least $12 million.
James Arthur Willoughby is a former pitcher in Major League Baseball who played from 1971 through 1978 for the San Francisco Giants, Boston Red Sox and Chicago White Sox. Listed at 6' 2" (1.89 m), 185 lb. (84 k), he batted and threw right handed.
Alexander Johnson was an American professional baseball outfielder, who played in Major League Baseball (MLB), from 1964 to 1976, for the Philadelphia Phillies, St. Louis Cardinals, Cincinnati Reds, California Angels, Cleveland Indians, Texas Rangers, New York Yankees, and Detroit Tigers. He was the National League Comeback Player of the Year in 1968 and an American League All-Star and batting champion in 1970. His brother, Ron, was an NFL running back, most notably for the New York Giants.
Robert Dennis Doyle was an American professional baseball second baseman who played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Philadelphia Phillies, California Angels, and Boston Red Sox. Listed at 5 feet 9 inches (1.75 m) and 175 pounds (79 kg), he batted left-handed and threw right-handed. He was considered a good-fielding second baseman but a weak hitter.
The St. Louis Cardinals 2004 season was the team's 123rd season in St. Louis, Missouri and the 113th season in the National League. The Cardinals went 105–57 during the season, the most wins of any Cardinals team since 1944, and the first Cardinal team to win 100 or more games since 1985, and won the National League Central division by 13 games over the NL Wild-Card Champion Houston Astros. In the playoffs the Cardinals defeated the Los Angeles Dodgers 3 games to 1 in the NLDS and the Astros 4 games to 3 in the NLCS to reach their first World Series since 1987. In the World Series the Cardinals faced the Boston Red Sox and were swept 4 games to 0. It was the final World Series played at Busch Memorial Stadium. Because the American League had home-field advantage as a result of winning the All-Star Game, Busch Memorial Stadium was where the Curse of the Bambino died.
The 1976 Boston Red Sox season was the 76th season in the franchise's Major League Baseball history. The Red Sox finished third in the American League East with a record of 83 wins and 79 losses, 15+1⁄2 games behind the New York Yankees, who went on to win the AL championship.
James Dalton Jones is a former Major League Baseball player who played nine seasons in the big leagues for the Boston Red Sox (1964–1969), Detroit Tigers (1970–1972), and Texas Rangers (1972).
The 1972 Cincinnati Reds season consisted of the Reds winning the National League West title with a record of 95 wins and 59 losses, 10½ games over the Houston Astros and the Los Angeles Dodgers. They defeated the previous year's World Series Champion Pittsburgh Pirates in the 1972 National League Championship Series, but lost to the Oakland Athletics in seven games in the 1972 World Series. The Reds were managed by Sparky Anderson.
Carlton Fisk's 1975 World Series home run was a baseball play that occurred in Game 6 of the 1975 World Series on October 21, 1975, at Fenway Park in Boston, Massachusetts. The Boston Red Sox defeated the Cincinnati Reds, 7–6, forcing a deciding seventh game, when Carlton Fisk hit a home run in the 12th inning home run to cap off what many consider to be the best World Series game ever played.
