The Cincinnati Reds won the pennant; though they were whupped in the World Series by the Orioles, it was the beginning of what would be a great decade for the Big Red Machine. This year, their 22-year-old catcher, Johnny Bench, hit 45 home runs and won the MVP Award.

        Bench's season is among the most famous ever by a catcher. And that's not surprising, because Johnny was a famous catcher. He was a rookie in 1968 at age 20, and won the Rookie Of The Year; now he won his first of two MVP Awards. Bench was a remarkably durable catcher, recording at least 500 plate appearances in each of his first ten seasons. He was also a consistent hitter; he didn't hit 45 homers every year, but he usually supplied the Reds with good power, and only had a couple of off years. Bench hit 389 homers in his career, most of those as a catcher. He is certainly one of the top five catchers ever, and many fans consider him to be the best.
        The Cincinnati Reds of the 1970's were nicknamed the Big Red Machine, and are one of the most famous teams in baseball history. This was Sparky Anderson's first year managing the team, and they won the pennant (but lost to Baltimore in the World Series). This year's team was an early version of the Machine, featuring Bench, Perez and Rose, all in their prime. George Foster was added a year later, and in 1972 the Reds added the biggest piece of the puzzle when they acquired Joe Morgan.
        Morgan played his first games for the Houston Astros in 1963, when he was 19 years old. He began to play regularly in 1965; he was a good player, but played in tough conditions (the Astrodome in the late 1960's was a hitter's nightmare). Morgan also broke his kneecap in 1966, and missed almost all of the 1968 season with injury. The Reds got Morgan in a trade that sent Lee May to the Astros; with the Reds, Morgan would win a pair of MVP Awards and become one of the greatest players of the decade.
        Tony Perez had his second straight huge season at third base. He wasn't a very good defensive player, though, so the Reds moved him to first. Perez remained very a consistent player the rest of his career, driving in 90+ runs for eleven consecutive seasons. Perez' résumé includes 379 career homers and over 1600 RBI. But though he was a very consistent player, Tony was never a good MVP candidate after his monster 1969-70 seasons at third base. He was the Jim Kaat of players, a consistent performer but rarely one of the best in the league.
        Jim Hickman was a rookie with the New York Mets in their first year in 1962. He was a guy with some power who didn't make enough contact to use it. This year, at age 33, Hickman put it all together for a huge season. He played fairly well for a couple of more seasons afterwards, then quickly disappeared.
        Bobby Bonds struck out 189 times, a record that still stands as of 2001. He was proof that a player can strike out a lot and still be tremendously effective. Bonds offered a potent combination of average, walks and power, and was the most effective base stealer in the league — he was caught only 10 times. Bobby began his career brilliantly with the Giants as a leadoff hitter; because of his power, he was moved lower down in the order, but didn't play as well. Bonds also starred with the Yankees and Angels, hit 332 lifetime homers, and stole 461 bases. He was one of the best players of the 1970's, and is also the father of another great Giants' player, Barry Bonds.
        Billy Williams had a big year, leading the league in runs produced by a wide margin. However, I think that Willie McCovey was the best hitter in the league; he had a monster OPS, and also produced a lot of runs. Roberto Clemente was great, but missed a lot of time with injuries. There is also an argument to be made that the best player was Hank Aaron, who was 36 years old and was starting to gain attention for his chase of Ruth's home run record. Aaron had 592 homers at the season's end.