The Big Red Machine

The Big Red Machine nickname was introduced in a July 4, 1969 article by Bob Hertzel in The Cincinnati Enquirer, which posted a regular season record of 102-60 and won the National League pennant. Rookie and future-Hall of Fame manager Sparky Anderson lead the team, that featured Pete Rose, Johnny Bench, Joe Morgan and Tony Pérez, and was supported by Dave Concepción, George Foster, César Gerónimo and Ken Griffey, Sr.. The eight players most frequently referenced as members of the Big Red Machine include baseball’s all-time hit leader in Rose; three Hall of Fame players in Bench, Peréz and Morgan; six National League MVP selections; four National League home run leading seasons; three NL Batting Champions; 25 Gold Glove winning seasons, and 63 collective All-Star Game appearances. The starting lineup of Bench, Rose, Morgan, Pérez, Concepción, Foster, Griffey, and Gerónimo (known as the “Great Eight”) played 88 games together during the 1975 and 1976 seasons, losing only 19.

New York Yankees – 1973 Topps #556

The New York Yankeeshave won a leading 27 World Series in 40 appearances (which, since the first World Series in 1903, currently amounts to an average appearance every 2.7 seasons and a championship every 4.0 seasons); the St. Louis Cardinals are second with 10 World Series victories. The Yankees’ number of World Series losses, 13, leads in Major League Baseball. The Brooklyn/Los Angeles Dodgers and New York/San Francisco Giants are second in total World Series appearances with eighteen apiece. Of their eighteen World Series appearances, the Dodgers have faced the Yankees eleven times, going 3–8 against the Yankees, while the Giants have faced the Yankees seven times, going 2–5 against the Yankees. Among North American major sports, the Yankees’ success is only approached by the 24 Stanley Cup championships of the Montreal Canadiens of the National Hockey League, though they haven’t won a championship since 1993. They have played in the World Series against every National League pennant winner except the Houston Astros and the Colorado Rockies, a feat that no other team is even close to matching.

New York Mets – 1973 Topps #389

The Mets held the New York baseball attendance record for 29 years. They broke the Yankees’ 1948 record by drawing nearly 2.7 million in 1970. The Mets broke their own record five times before the Yankees took it back in 1999.
No Met pitcher has ever thrown a no-hitter, and the franchise’s hurlers have gone more than 7,800 games without pitching one—longer than any other Major League franchise. They are one of only two Major League teams to never have a pitcher throw a no-hitter, the other being the San Diego Padres. Long time Mets ace Tom Seaver, who threw five one-hitters as a Met, eventually threw a no-hitter, but by then he was playing for the Cincinnati Reds. Similarly, the ace of the 1986 team, Dwight Gooden, threw his no-hitter for the Yankees (in 1996), and David Cone, who starred for the Mets from 1987-1992, threw a perfect game later in his career, also as a Yankee. The ultimate example of this trend is Hall of Famer Nolan Ryan, who started his career with the Mets, but threw a record seven no-hitters after leaving the club.

Cleveland Indians – 1973 Topps #629

The Cleveland Indians name originates from a request by the club owner to decide on a new name, following the 1914 season. In reference to the Boston Braves (now the Atlanta Braves), the media chose “the Indians”. Common nicknames for the Indians include the “Tribe” and the “Wahoos,” the latter being a reference to their logo, Chief Wahoo; The mascot is called Slider.
The Cleveland team originated in 1900 as the Lake Shores, when the American League (AL) was officially a minor league. One of the AL’s eight charter franchises, the major league incarnation of the club was founded in Cleveland in 1901. Originally called the Cleveland Bluebirds, the team played in League Park until moving permanently to Cleveland Municipal Stadium in 1946. At the end of the 2010 season, they had a regular season franchise record of 8,691–8,367 (.509). The Indians have won seven AL Central titles, the most in the division.

Montreal Expos – 1973 Topps #576

The Montreal Expos (French: Les Expos de Montréal) were a Major League Baseball team located in Montreal, Quebec from 1969 through 2004, holding the first MLB franchise awarded outside the United States. After the 2004 season, MLB moved the Expos to Washington, D.C. and renamed them the Nationals.
Named after the Expo 67 World’s Fair, the Expos started play at Jarry Park Stadium under manager Gene Mauch. The team’s initial majority owner was Charles Bronfman, a major shareholder in Seagram. Following the 1976 Summer Olympics, starting in 1977 the team’s home venue was Montreal’s Olympic Stadium. After a decade of losing seasons, the team won a franchise-high 95 games in 1979, finishing second in the National League East. The Expos began the 1980s with a core group of young players, including catcher Gary Carter, outfielders Tim Raines and Andre Dawson, third baseman Tim Wallach, and pitchers Steve Rogers and Bill Gullickson. The team won its only division championship in the strike-shortened split season of 1981, ending its season with a 3 games to 2 loss to the Los Angeles Dodgers in the National League Championship Series.

Chicago Cubs – 1973 Topps #464

The Chicago Cubs are an American professional baseball team based in Chicago, Illinois. They are members of the Central Division of Major League Baseball’s National League. They are one of two Major League clubs based in Chicago (the other being the Chicago White Sox). The Cubs are also one of the two remaining charter members of the National League (the other being the Atlanta Braves). The team is currently owned by a family trust of TD Ameritrade founder Joe Ricketts, and was previously owned by the Wrigley Company and the Chicago Tribune.
The Cubs have not won the World Series in 102 years, a longer championship drought than that of any other major North American professional sports team, and are often referred to as “The Lovable Losers” because of this distinction. They are also known as “The North Siders” because Wrigley Field, their home park since 1916, is located in Chicago’s north side Lake View community at 1060 West Addison Street. The Cubs have rivalries with the St. Louis Cardinals, the Milwaukee Brewers, the Houston Astros, and the cross-town White Sox.
The club played its first games in 1870 and was founded professionally in 1871. This makes it, along with the Braves who were also founded in 1871, one of the two oldest active teams in major North American sports. Because the Cubs lost two seasons to the Great Chicago Fire, the Braves have played more seasons, although the Cubs hold the record for oldest team still in its original city.

St.Louis Cardinals – 1973 Topps #219

The Cardinals  were founded in 1882 as a member of the American Association called the St. Louis Brown Stockings. The club quickly achieved success, winning four AA pennants in a row in 1885–1888. St. Louis played in an early version of the World Series, the first two times against the National League’s Chicago White Stockings, now named the Chicago Cubs. The 1885 series ended in dispute, but St. Louis won the 1886 series outright, beginning a St. Louis-Chicago rivalry that continues today. The American Association went bankrupt in 1892, and the Browns moved to the National League, leaving much of their success behind for the next three decades. The club changed its name to the “Perfectos” in 1899, before adopting the “Cardinals” name in 1900.