The Machine: A Hot Team, a Legendary Season, and a Heart-stopping World Series: The Story of the 1975 Cincinnati Reds

Joe Posnanski's new book, "The Machine" might be the best baseball book of the year. Like the author, I grew up idolizing the Big Red Machine as a youngster. As a nine year old, I remember listening to Marty and Joe call the Reds games on WLW nearly every night from my small southern Indiana town. The team was unbelievable and Posnanski's book captures the excitement of the Reds 1975 championship quest. It is clear that the author used in-depth interviews with many member of the Machine. He gives the reader fascinating insights into the lives of Sparky Anderson, Joe Morgan, Johnny Bench, Tony Perez, and Pete Rose at the height of their professional success. I found Sparky Anderson's class system interesting - his stars (Bench, Rose, Morgan, and Perez) had their own set of clubhouse and training rules. The rest of the players, who Sparky called his turds, answered to another set of rules (Anderson's) while all the time trying to claw their way into Anderson's favored elite class. The system worked because the four Reds superstars would not allow anyone, including themselves, an overly inflated ego. Pranks, jokes, and razzing kept the Reds a loose bunch of superstars. No one's ego got too carried away.Posnanski correctly describes the team's slow start in '75 and the desperate lineup adjustment by Anderson - moving Rose from left field to third base, thus free up LF for a young, blossoming George Foster - that sparked the Reds amazing summer run. There has been no team as talented or good as the Reds since 1975 and Posnanski does a masterful job telling the entire season's story. Including a great job describing the infamous '75 World Series. Others may criticize his writing style as too simplistic, but from my perspective, the book reads as smoothly as any baseball book I have ever read. I could not put it down.Finally, perhaps the most interesting part of the book is Posnanski's insights and discussions with Pete Rose. We all know about Pete's troubled past: the gambling on baseball, the lies, the tax evasion, the time in federal prison. I struggle with my feeling about Rose. One day I hate him for what he has turned into. Other days, (and as I read this book) I remember what an incredible ball player he was. Rose is truly a bigger than life character, possibly the most competitive person to ever play the game. Pete Rose is truly an American tragedy, but Posnanski allowed me to once again see Rose through the eyes of an unspoiled, awe-struck, nine year old. Pete Rose will always be one of the heroes of my youth. Thanks Joe for a great book.

The Big Red Machine has gotten a lot of press in its day. Even 35 years later, two books come out at the same time; Game Six and this one, The Machine. Even though I am a lifelong Reds fan, I must say my expectations were not high going in reading this book. I think that is why it was such a delight to read. Joe Posnanski brings a fresh approach to a subject I thought had been done to death. He does an excellent job at taking all the anecdotes and stories I have heard about the Big Red Machine, and told them in such a way as to be entertaining and funny as hell.I found myself laughing outloud a lot while reading this, not something I do that often. When Rose makes fun of Joe Morgan's height by telling him not to stand close to the bat rack because someone was liable to mistake him for a bat and use him, I was guffawing. The one thing Sparkey Andersen was always given a lot of credit for was juggling the many personalities of the Big Red Machine from Bench and Rose, to Morgan and Perez, and Griffey and Conception. The same can be said for Posnanski. He juggles all their stories, all their perspectives, all their talents.A well written baseball book is hard to find. I find myself having to read at least ten of them to find one gem and this would be my latest. I think the author's best talent is showing instead of telling. Like when Joe Morgan is talking about how close the Big Red Machine still is and yet he is the only one of them to attend the funeral of Bob Howsam, the man who put them together. Or when Pete staunchly denies being sorry for betting on baseball, and then turns around and signs what is termed an apology ball at the autograph place he works where he signs it "I'm sorry I bet on baseball". Most authors would add their own commentary or make the point with a ton of bricks, but many times Posnanski lets these scenes speak for themselves. He does something most authors don't have the courage to do; give the reader a little credit.

I grew up a Reds fan. This book brings back so many vivid memories of The Machine. You will learn so much about the players. This book will make you laugh out loud and also stand up and cheer. It is hard to put down. You just want to keep on reading.

This was a terrific story about the 1975 Cincinnati Reds. This was a team that started slowly but eventually hit its stride, blowing away their NL West divisional rivals with 108 wins in the regular season. The Reds swept the Pittsurgh Pirates in the NLCS, and, in the unforgettable 1975 World Series, were taken to the brink by the Boston Red Sox. The author does an excellent job discussing the personalities that made the team click: Sparky Anderson, Pete Rose, Joe Morgan, Ken Griffey, Johnny Bench, George Foster, and the rest. I highly recommend it for any baseball buff.

I don't know if I would agree that the 1975 Cincinnati Reds were the best team ever, but their lineup was marvellous. After a few pages, I was expecting that the chronological style would get pretty dreary going all the way through a season that happened 35 years ago. But it didn't! The opposite happened, and by the time I got into september I was torn between reading slower to make the book last longer, and powering through because I couldn't put it down. I just wish there was a 1976 version. I don't know how posnanski came up with the dialogues that are in here, but he is able to shed light on these old school ball players. its a good book.