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Dave Lapham "In the trenches" - Ickey Woods


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Icky is classic. 

 

Speaking of classic, just finished reading "The Machine" , the story of the 1975 Reds, damn that brought back some sweet memories. One of the best teams ever, if not they best. 

 

The book ends with the attached and whenever I think of the 75 and 76 teams I always state the starting 8. 

 

 

Big Red Machine.jpg

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37 minutes ago, I_C_Deadpeople said:

Icky is classic. 

 

Speaking of classic, just finished reading "The Machine" , the story of the 1975 Reds, damn that brought back some sweet memories. One of the best teams ever, if not they best. 

 

The book ends with the attached and whenever I think of the 75 and 76 teams I always state the starting 8. 

 

 

Big Red Machine.jpg

The great 8!   

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22 minutes ago, Sea Ray said:

He doesn't get the pub that the Hall of Famers got but George Foster was the bat that put them over the top. He was the piece that turned a good lineup into a great one. 

Yup and Sparky asked Rose to play 3rd so he could get Driessen into the lineup but he was a brutal fielder. Then he put Foster in, man him and that black bat looked mean

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17 hours ago, I_C_Deadpeople said:

Icky is classic. 

 

Speaking of classic, just finished reading "The Machine" , the story of the 1975 Reds, damn that brought back some sweet memories. One of the best teams ever, if not they best. 

 

The book ends with the attached and whenever I think of the 75 and 76 teams I always state the starting 8. 

 

 

Big Red Machine.jpg

I'm going to have to look this up. 

 

If you're interested in Reds history, you should read "Before the Machine: The Story of the 1961 Reds". It's a good read, too.

 

(Also a shameless plug as my brother wrote it.) :)

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Another good book basically about the start of the franchise as told by a reporter that traveled with the team in the very beginning…. If I Never Get Back by Darryl Brock. It’s a work of “fiction” but it’s extremely well thought out and researched. It is very much worth the read if you’re a Reds fan/aficionado, I can’t recommend it enough. Thank me later 😊

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1 hour ago, Shebengal said:

I'm going to have to look this up. 

 

If you're interested in Reds history, you should read "Before the Machine: The Story of the 1961 Reds". It's a good read, too.

 

(Also a shameless plug as my brother wrote it.) :)

The Machine: A Hot Team, a Legendary Season, and a Heart-stopping World Series: The Story of the 1975 Cincinnati Reds Paperback – Aug. 31 2010

by Joe Posnanski  (Author)
 
This is the book details. The description of the actions of the team during game 6 and 7 in the World Series are so interesting (no spoilers in case someone wants to read the book). 
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18 hours ago, Sea Ray said:

He doesn't get the pub that the Hall of Famers got but George Foster was the bat that put them over the top. He was the piece that turned a good lineup into a great one. 

 

He was good in '75-'76, but really didn't become the devastating hitter he was until '77.

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18 hours ago, I_C_Deadpeople said:

Yup and Sparky asked Rose to play 3rd so he could get Driessen into the lineup but he was a brutal fielder. Then he put Foster in, man him and that black bat looked mean

 

Driessen was the Reds primary third baseman in '74.  Pete was moved to third for Foster.  Perez was traded to Montreal by Dick Wagner so Driessen could play first.  :rant:

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5 hours ago, UncleEarl said:

 

Driessen was the Reds primary third baseman in '74.  Pete was moved to third for Foster.  Perez was traded to Montreal by Dick Wagner so Driessen could play first.  :rant:

In the book Sparky said he moved Rose to 3rd to make a spot for Driessen ; at the time he thought Foster was soft. Did not take long for Driessen to fail in the field and Foster took over and even surprised Sparky. 
And trading Perez was certainly a killer. And free agency hit them as well- but hey we had a classic team! 

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18 hours ago, spicoli said:

Another good book basically about the start of the franchise as told by a reporter that traveled with the team in the very beginning…. If I Never Get Back by Darryl Brock. It’s a work of “fiction” but it’s extremely well thought out and researched. It is very much worth the read if you’re a Reds fan/aficionado, I can’t recommend it enough. Thank me later 😊

One of my favorite books ever! I've probably read it a half dozen times at least. Excellent historical sci-fi story.

I heard he did a sequel a few years back but I haven't read it yet.

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11 hours ago, I_C_Deadpeople said:

In the book Sparky said he moved Rose to 3rd to make a spot for Driessen ; at the time he thought Foster was soft. Did not take long for Driessen to fail in the field and Foster took over and even surprised Sparky. 
And trading Perez was certainly a killer. And free agency hit them as well- but hey we had a classic team! 

Sparky must have been old and misremembered.  Driessen started over 120 games at third in 1974.  Frankly, Sparky said a lot of crazy stuff.  One day he would say Concepcion was the best SS he ever had and the next day it would be Alan Trammell.

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2 hours ago, UncleEarl said:

Sparky must have been old and misremembered.  Driessen started over 120 games at third in 1974.  Frankly, Sparky said a lot of crazy stuff.  One day he would say Concepcion was the best SS he ever had and the next day it would be Alan Trammell.

He was a bit kooky and very very superstitious. It all worked out well in the end!

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23 hours ago, I_C_Deadpeople said:

The Machine: A Hot Team, a Legendary Season, and a Heart-stopping World Series: The Story of the 1975 Cincinnati Reds Paperback – Aug. 31 2010

by Joe Posnanski  (Author)
 
This is the book details. The description of the actions of the team during game 6 and 7 in the World Series are so interesting (no spoilers in case someone wants to read the book). 

Already have it on reserve at the library. 

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Since the thread has veered totally away from Elbert, I just finished a book (it’s been out a while) about the worst NBA team in history: the 1972-1973 Philadelphia 76ers. 
 

“Perfectly Awful” is a howl, and totally indicative of the sordidness in 1970’s professional sports. Heartily recommend! 
 

https://www.wbur.org/onlyagame/2014/11/22/nba-charley-rosen-philadelphia-76ers

 

 

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24 minutes ago, Sea Ray said:

In 1975 the plan was to play John Vukovich at 3B. He couldn't hit a lick so they decided in May that a move had to be made

Indeed. The book details that Sparky knew Vukovich could not hit and he wanted Driesen's bat in the lineup - ended up with Foster and Dreisens bat in the lineup in some fashion. 

 

The book breaks down the season almost in weekly chunks so you do get a good sense of what was going on - especially early on when the team was basically playing .500 ball. 

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On 5/25/2021 at 4:17 PM, UncleEarl said:

 

He was good in '75-'76, but really didn't become the devastating hitter he was until '77.

He was devastating in 1977 but he led the league in RBIs in 1976. That's huge

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Ironic that they traded Perez to make room for the younger Driessen 'cause their careers ended about the same time. Perez retired after the 1986 season. Driessen played just a few games for St Louis in 1987

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