5. Jack Billingham: He started Game 2 and relieved in Games 6 and 7, pitched nine innings and allowed only one earned run, in the first inning of Game 2. That’s the only earned run Billingham allowed over 25.1 innings in three World Series, and his 0.36 Series ERA was the lowest ever until Madison Bumgarner lowered his to 0.25 in 2014.
4. Cesar Geronimo: Geronimo caught the final out of Game 7, a fly ball by Carl Yastrzemski to finish a 4-3 Reds win. He also homered twice in the Series, the only Red other than Tony Perez, who hit three, with more than one. Geronimo’s home run in the eighth inning of Game 6 knocked out Luis Tiant and gave the Reds a 6-3 lead. “I thought that was really the sealer right there,” said Reds catcher Johnny Bench, according to sportsmedianews.com. “I mean I thought that was absolutely a World Champion home run …” Bernie Carbo was less impressed and his three-run pinch-homer tied the game. A night later, Geronimo sacrificed after Ken Griffey walked to lead off the ninth inning of a 3-3 Game 7. Sparky Anderson might have handled his bullpen like a modern-day manager but giving up an out in a tie game in the ninth might have been pooh-poohed (maybe not, because it was lefty on lefty) by the analytics crowd …
3. Joe Morgan: … but it turned out OK when Morgan blooped a single to center to score Griffey with the Series-winning run. It was Morgan’s second game-winning hit in the Series — his RBI single won Game 3 in the 10th inning after the sacrifice bunt/interference controversy (more to come). But Morgan popped out with the tying and winning runs on base on Luis Tiant’s 163rd pitch of a 5-4 Game 4, and he batted .231 until his final hit (.259 in all). He had just one extra-base hit in the Series, though his final at-bat made up for it.
2. Pat Darcy: Darcy was the pitcher the Reds acquired when they sent Menke back to Houston, and he was on the mound in the 12th inning of Game 6, the last of eight Reds pitchers. Darcy had set down six Red Sox in a row when he went out to start the 12th. “Pat went out to warm up,” said catcher Johnny Bench in an interview with the MLB Network, “and there was nothing. I mean I’m talking 80 miles an hour and I looked over to the dugout and I told Sparky, ‘No chance. We’re not getting out of this baby.'” It didn’t take long. Carlton Fisk hit Darcy’s second pitch off the left-field foul pole and a Good Will Hunting scene was created. Darcy was 11-5 with a 3.58 ERA for the Reds in ’75; he pitched 39 innings for them in ’76, his last in the majors.
1. Ed Armbrister: For someone who played so little in the 1975 World Series, a lot happened to him. Armbrister pinch-hit four times in the ’75 Series, and all were eventful. Most famously, he tried to sacrifice in the 10th inning of Game 3, bunted, paused and was frozen in indecision. He obstructed Fisk, who neglected to tag him and threw wildly into center field. It was a bad bunt — Armbrister wasn’t credited with a sacrifice and Fisk was charged with an error. Of all the Red Sox what ifs — what if Jim Rice hadn’t been hurt; what if Darrell Johnson hadn’t batted for Jim Willoughby; what if Bill Lee hadn’t developed a blister — we can add what if MLB had instant replay in 1975. The rest of Armbrister’s Series was less controversial, though still important. He sacrificed Geronimo after Geronimo singled to start the ninth inning of Game 4; he walked to start a three-run rally down 3-0 in the fifth inning of Game 6; down, 3-2, he walked with two outs and Ken Griffey on second in the seventh inning of Game 7. Pete Rose followed with a single and the game was tied. Add one more: What if the Red Sox hadn’t walked Armbrister to get to Rose?
Menke’s World Series history was duller. He was 2-for-24 in the 1972 Series the Reds lost to Oakland in seven games. That all might have been different but for Joe Rudi’s leaping, backhanded catch off a long Menke drive in Game 2. Rudi’s catch might have saved Game 2 and the Series. (link here). Menke homered later in the Series and the next year in a five-game NLCS loss to the Mets, but his best offensive days were past by his Reds tenure. Menke had replaced Roy McMillan at shortstop for the Braves in 1964, and hit 20 homers, batted .283 and walked 68 times. The Braves led MLB in runs scored in 1964, but finished fifth. Menke hit 15 homers in 1966, was traded to Houston after the 1967 season and had his second-best season for the Astros in 1970, when he batted .304, hit 13 homers, knocked in 92 runs (his second straight 90 RBI season) and had an .833 OPS. But the good years were intermingled with some clunkers (227/333/325 in ’67), and when Menke slumped to .246 with a homer and slugged .320 in 1971, he was included in the eight-player deal that brought, most transformatively, Morgan to the Reds. Trading Lee May for Morgan opened first base for the Reds to move Tony Perez to from third, and created an opening at the latter. Menke was only 31 when the deal was made, so there was reason to think he could hit again as he had in 1970. He didn’t. He batted just .233 and slugged .345 in 1972 as the Reds won the pennant, and when Menke started slowly again in 1973, the Reds brought up Dan Driessen, a first baseman they had forcefully made a third baseman, to platoon with him. The Reds were 11 games back at the end of June in 1973, but were 60-26 over the final three months. Menke batted just .191 and slugged .270, though he walked 69 times. Traded back to the Astros, Menke batted just 34 times in 1974 before retiring. Career numbers; .250 average, .343 on-base percentage, .370 slugging percentage, 1,270 hits, 101 home runs, 605 runs scored, 225 doubles, 606 RBIs, 698 walks, 853 strikeouts, 34-88 stealing, 103 OPS+, 28.1 WAR (6.7 in 1964), two-time All-Star (1969-70), 15th in the MVP vote in 1969 (269/369/387).
once upon a .406 