CINCINNATI -- One of the axioms of Major League Baseball is that flags are forever. If you were on a team that won a World Series, you will be remembered and likely, beloved.
Then there was the Big Red Machine, which won back-to-back World Series in 1975 and '76, and was a dynasty that lives on as one of the best teams to ever step on a field.
“How can you do something better than this?” said Hall of Fame catcher Johnny Bench.
The Reds Hall of Fame and Bench spearheaded gathering 23 members from the 1975-76 teams together this week for the Big Red Machine 50th Anniversary Reunion Celebration. The four days of events began Thursday in downtown Cincinnati at the Aronoff Center for the Arts, with a live storytelling show with the players hosted by former Reds radio play-by-play icon Marty Brennaman.
"The things that this team accomplished are embedded in your memory for all mankind," Brennaman told the crowd during his opening remarks. "They went about doing everything the absolute right way."
Billed as an intimate evening for stories, memories and tributes, Thursday night served as a fundraiser for the Reds Hall of Fame. Each player wore a specially made Big Red Machine jersey with their name and number and white Reds caps. It was just the beginning of a weekend full of tributes.
"The Reds Hall of Fame busted their butt to make this work. And Johnny headed up this whole thing," said former infielder Doug Flynn. "He’s the one who made the phone calls and told everybody to be here.”
While Bench, Tony Perez, Ken Griffey, George Foster and Cesar Geronimo were members of the Reds "Great Eight" on hand, there were 23 former players invited to be celebrated. Among them were Dan Driessen, Jack Billingham, Clay Carroll, Tom Carroll, Darrel Chaney, Pat Darcy, Tom Hall, Mike Lum, Fred Norman, Joel Youngblood, Rawly Eastwick and Flynn.
It was the role players and pitchers of the championship teams that Bench wanted to shine light on. While the older generations still revere the Reds of the 1970s, younger generations weren't yet around to see them play except on video replays. Even the players' own family members -- kids and grandchildren -- don't fully grasp just what these players achieved.
“They’re living in obscurity," Bench said. "These guys never talked about, ‘I did this,’ or ‘I did that.’ Someone at the grocery store may not even knew or followed baseball or know you played. You’re trying to tell them, ‘I did this,’ or ‘I threw seven shutout innings’ … and it doesn’t matter. Everyone is in their own world.
“You don’t sit there and talk about yourself. Every one of these guys in here was a special person. I wanted them to know that, more than anything. … The families, those kids and grandkids, [they can say], ‘Grandpa, you were really something. Oh my gosh, you did all that?’"
Flynn, who traveled a shorter distance than others from Lexington, Ky., married his wife, Olga, in 1982 while at the tail end of his career with the Expos. His first two big league seasons were with Cincinnati in 1975 and '76.
"When she saw the emotion -- some people hadn’t seen each other in 45-50 years, and she said, ‘You guys really had something special, didn’t you?’ Sometimes it’s hard to put into words," Flynn said. "Sometimes it’s hard to explain to other people. But when you see it, you know there was something special about that ballclub."
The Big Red Machine reached the World Series in 1970 and again in 1972 -- losing both times. In 1973, the team lost in the National League Championship Series.
In 1975, Cincinnati put it all together with 108 wins, swept the Pirates in the NLCS and defeated the Red Sox in seven games during an epic World Series. The ‘76 club won 102 games before going undefeated in the postseason, including four wins over the Yankees for back-to-back championships.
A true dynasty that captivated the nation.
“You can’t replace the memories of each and every one of these guys, their contributions," Bench said during a pre-event gathering of the players. "I’ll tell you right now, there’s not one person in this room I would trade for anybody else. They are the best quality, most prepared, most athletic and they know their jobs. They were ready when called on. That’s what it takes to make a team.”
Billingham, who was acquired by the Reds with Joe Morgan and Geronimo in a 1971 blockbuster trade with the Astros, pitched two scoreless innings of relief in the Game 7 win over the Red Sox in the thrilling '75 World Series. He was the winning pitcher in Game 2 of the '76 Series with 2 2/3 innings of perfect relief.
“The Big Red Machine is 25 people as far as I’m concerned, not just eight," said Billingham, who traveled from Florida with a family of 13 people to see the celebrations. “We had good pitching staffs, but it was overshadowed by better people in the field.”
While some of the players might feel obscure now in their daily lives, that often changes when they arrive back in Cincinnati. Perez, a Hall of Famer, noticed that immediately when he got to town on Wednesday.
“They still remember, you can see. A lot of people may have passed away but they passed it on to the young [generation]," Perez said. "Yesterday and today, I’ve seen young guys say to me, ‘We’re too young, we never got to see you guys play. My parents talk about you guys. They still remember the Big Red Machine.’”
Perez made sure that one of the teammates who could not attend, Dave Concepcion, could say hello to everyone. Perez had the Great Eight shortstop on FaceTime with his phone and walked around a room so he could take part from his home in Florida while recovering from a lung transplant.
Many of the former players talked about missing teammates who passed away over the years. Pete Rose, Merv Rettenmund and Pat Zachry all died in 2024. Morgan, manager Sparky Anderson, starting pitcher Don Gullett, third baseman John Vukovich, reliever Pedro Borbon and backup catcher Bill Plummer were among those who died in years past and were also on people's minds as well.
“We all miss them but they’re still with us. That’s the way we feel," Perez said. "We’ve always been like a family and we’re still the same way. No matter if they pass away, they’re still here with us. They’re part of the Big Red Machine forever.”