The best 70´s team: Oakland A´s or The Big Red Machine?

[mtortolero]

What team was the best team in the 70´s decade, Oakland or Cincinnati ?
The Big Red Machine have four members inducted in the HOF (Morgan, Perez, Bench and Sparky Anderson) and Pete Rose. They won two World Series of a total of four and their members were named six times MVP in the NL.
However Oakland won three WS, woth Reggie Jackson, Jim Hunter and Dick Williams now in the HOF with two MVP and two CY.
What is your preference and why?

[Old Sweater]

I'd give a slight edge to the A's over the Reds with the pitching they had but just for 1 year the 1976 Reds were the best to me. That 1976 team beat the Yankees 4-0 in the WS, then that Yankees team went on to win 2 WS of their own in 77 & 78.

[jrh31584]

I'd have to go with the Reds. After their run in the early '70s, the A's fell off the face of the earth, whereas the Reds in the '70s were respectable even when they didn't win it all.

[Iron Jaw]

Orioles of 1970.

[Los Bravos]

That's a tough call. Even their one head to head matchup was a seven game classic of evenly matched teams.

Don't forget that the A's bookended their three straight Series titles with a division title on either end, five straight in all. Also don't forget that the Reds had a bit of a monkey on their back after losing two Series, plus an NLCS to a markedly inferior (except for it's excellent starting staff) team in '73. They only really got it off by winning the justly celebrated Series against Boston in '75.

Too bad both teams were owned by skinflints.

[Honus Wagner Rules]

OK, I decided to look at the entire decade of the 1970s. I looked at five teams, Reds, Pirates, A's, Orioles, Yankees, and Dodgers. You can decide for yourself.

World Series titles
3 Athletics ('72-'74)
2 Reds (75, '76)
2 Pirates ('71, '79)
2 Yankees ('77, '78)
1 Orioles ('70)
0 Dodgers


League Championships
4 Reds ('70, '72, '75, '76)
3 Athletics ('72-'74)
3 Orioles ('70, '71, '79)
3 Yankees ('76-'76)
3 Dodgers ('74, '77, '78)
2 Pirates ('71, '79)


Division Titles
6 Reds ('70, '72, '73, '75, '76, '79)
6 Pirates ('70-'72, '74, '75, 79)
6 Orioles ('70, 71, '73-'75, '79)
5 Athletics ('71-'75)
3 Dodgers ('74, '77, '78)
3 Yankees ('76-'78)

Overall Winning Percentage
.592 Reds (953-657)
.590 Orioles (944-656)
.572 Dodgers (910-681)
.569 Pirates (916-695)
.556 Yankees (892-715)
.520 Athletics (838-773)


# of 100 win seasons
3 Reds ('70, '75, '76)
3 Orioles ('70, '71, '79)
2 Yankees ('77, '78)
1 Athletics ('71)
1 Dodgers ('74)
0 Pirates

Best Single Season Record
108-54 .667 Reds ('75)
108-54 .667 Orioles ('70)
102-60 .630 Dodgers ('74)
101-60 .627 A's ('71)
96-59 .619 Pirates ('72, strike season)
100-62 .617 Yankees ('77)

Lowest Summed Yearly Finish
15 Pirates (1st-6, 2nd-3, 3rd-1)
16 Reds (1st-6, 2nd-3, 4th-1)
17 Orioles (1st-6, 2nd-2, 3rd-1, 4th-1)
18 Dodgers (1st-3, 2nd-6, 3rd-1)
26 Yankees (1st-3, 2nd-2, 3rd-1, 4th-4)
29 Athletics (1st-5, 2nd-2, 6th-1, 7th-2)

Most Consectutive Division titles
5 Athletics ('71-'75)
3 Pirates ('70-'72)
3 Orioles ('73-'75)
3 Yankees ('76-'78)
2 Dodgers ('77-'78)

# of losing seasons
0 Orioles
1 Pirates
1 Reds
1 Dodgers
1 Yankees
3 Athletics

Worst Single Season Record
54-108 .333 Athletics ('79)
79-83 .488 Reds ('71)
79-83 .488 Dodgers ('79)
80-82 .494 Yankees ('73)
80-82 .494 Pirates ('73)
80-74 .520 Orioles ('72)

[BeatEmBucs]

Wow Honus, that really shows how hard the A's fell when free agency hit. The 70's were a great time for sports in Pittsburgh with the Bucs and Steelers always in contention (and getting a few championships too) As for the "best" of the decade, in the NL I begrudgingly give that to the Big Red Machine who stepped over the Pirates to get to the World Series twice (I still wonder how a Pirates-A's series would've played out if the Bucs didn't choke in the 9th in game 5 of the '72 NLCS) as for the AL, it was a tale of 2 decades, the first half belonging to the A's, the Second half of the decade belonging to the "Bronx Zoo" with the Orioles being a consistent 2nd best in the AL throughout the decade. (when they didn't win the pennant like they did 3 times in the decade)

[Honus Wagner Rules]

Wow Honus, that really shows how hard the A's fell when free agency hit.

Yeah, through 1976 the A's had five 1st place finishes and two 2nd place finishes then tanked it from '77-'79. Twice the expansion Mariners finished ahead of the A's in those final three seasons.

The 70's were a great time for sports in Pittsburgh with the Bucs and Steelers always in contention (and getting a few championships too)

I grew up watching baseball starting around 1976. I have very fond memories of watching the Pirates it seemed every Saturday on the Game of the Week plus the "We Are Family" '79 Pirates were one of my favorite teams as a kid. And I love those late '70s retro Pirates hats! It pains me as a baseball fan to see what has become of the Pirates today.

As for the "best" of the decade, in the NL I begrudgingly give that to the Big Red Machine who stepped over the Pirates to get to the World Series twice (I still wonder how a Pirates-A's series would've played out if the Bucs didn't choke in the 9th in game 5 of the '72 NLCS)

I have to agree. The Reds did beat the Pirates a few times in the NLCS to get tot he Wrold Series.

as for the AL, it was a tale of 2 decades, the first half belonging to the A's, the Second half of the decade belonging to the "Bronx Zoo" with the Orioles being a consistent 2nd best in the AL throughout the decade. (when they didn't win the pennant like they did 3 times in the decade)

The Yankees dominance only really was from 1976-78. That's not enough for me. Even though the A's won three World Series their final three seasons were really bad. I remember in '79 they had 300 people at one game. That's THREE HUNDRED. The Orioles were the most consistent year-in and year-out. And they didn't have a single losing season through the entire decade. That's impressive.

[nl1899fan]

Based on decade long excellence I'd have to go with the Reds although those great A's teams were probably more interesting with Finley running (and then ruining)things. What amazes me is that the often overlooked Pirates of that era never faced the A's in the World Series -although they came quite close in 1972.

[Honus Wagner Rules]

Based on decade long excellence I'd have to go with the Reds although those great A's teams were probably more interesting with Finley running (and then ruining)things. What amazes me is that the often overlooked Pirates of that era never faced the A's in the World Series -although they came quite close in 1972.

The Pirates do get overlooked. The finished 1st six times, 2nd three times, and 3rd once. In their 3rd place finish they finished just 1.5 games behind the division winner.

[KHenry14]

It's gotta be the A's. Not only did they win more WS titles, they beat the Reds in '72. To me, it's just that simple.

And had they different ownership and that team stayed together, they could very well have added another WS or two to that record. Reggie says to this day that the A's were the best teams he was on. Ultimate competitors...

[Honus Wagner Rules]

It's gotta be the A's. Not only did they win more WS titles, they beat the Reds in '72. To me, it's just that simple.

And had they different ownership and that team stayed together, they could very well have added another WS or two to that record. Reggie says to this day that the A's were the best teams he was on. Ultimate competitors...

Yes, but if we are talking about success over the entire decade than those last three years ('77-'79, 2 last place finishes and a 6th place) really hurt the A's.

[Los Bravos]

The Pirates do get overlooked.

As do the Orioles of the period. It's a short attention span, bottom line world and consistent quality often doesn't get properly appreciated.

[Brian McKenna]

As do the Orioles of the period.

Especially coming off the base record in baseball during the 1960s.

[leecemark]

--The Orioles were very good almost every year from 1966-1983 and great in some of them. Other than the Yankees I don't think any franchise has a run quite as good as long. The 69-71 teams I think match up well with any team in history over a three year period. Its a shame they lost 2 of 3 World Series. Even though the better team often loses a short series their coming up short in October generally keeps them out of great team ever consideration.