The New Big Red Machine?

Some say there is a new Big Red Machine, a new all-star team on one franchise. Should  the first place 2012 Reds be compared  to the original Big Red Machine of the 1970’s, the back to back World Series champions?

To start, the 1975 Reds superstar, Pete Rose had a career batting average at just above the .300 mark sitting at .303, which is considered really well.

The modern day Reds superstar, Joey Votto,  after just six seasons, is at a career average of .316, that’s a huge difference in baseball.

On the other hand, Rose is the all time hits leader at 4,256 hits. That gives Votto a long way to go to reach Rose. Votto also has a better On Base Percentage (OBP) and Slugging Percentage (SLG).

The ’75 Reds outfielders, Foster, Griffey, and Geronimo have a combined career average of .276 compared to the ’12 outfielders .255. The ’75 team wins by a long shot on that one.

Also the ’75 Reds have 3 hall of fame infielders how many franchises have had that playing the infield throughout the history of their team? Overall the original Big Red Machine has a little advantage over the 80-52 recorded Reds. “The best team ever” is what Joe Morgan calls the Big Red Machine of the ‘70’s.

Another big part of the game is the Big Red Machine’s coach Sparky Anderson. In the first six years that Anderson coached the reds he won five division titles, four league pennants and back to back World Series titles. “I was 35 years old when I went into Cincinnati in 1970. When I came out nine years later, the guys had made me a star,” said Anderson

The new era Reds are on their way to making their own coach a star, having the best record in baseball right now, and heading in the right direction to be strong contenders  in the playoffs.

Read more about the Big Red Machine, click here.

1975 Starting Lineup                             2012 Starting Lineup

AVG	0.277			0.271
OBP	0.349			0.339
SLG	0.426			0.455