Customer Reviews

The Cincinnati Reds 1975 World Series (Collector's Edition)

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This has been put up there as the greatest or one of the greatest World Series ever played. It has all the credentials. Sparky Anderson had put together a great team that would remain great for many years. They had Tony Perez, Joe Morgan, Pete Rose, Johnny Bench and more. The Red Sox had Jim Rice, Fred Lynn and Carl Yastremski for an outfield and Carlton Fisk for a catcher. Yet it is the little known player not destined for Cooperstown who sometimes have a big moment in the World Series. Billy Martin and Bobby Richarson for the 1952 and 1960 Yankees respectively. Al Gionfreddo for his catch on Joe D. in 1947. Sandy Amoros for his catch on Yogi Barra in 1955 and many others. In this series there was a very clutch home run by Bernie Carbo of the Reds.

Of course the most famous home run of th series was Carlton Fisk's because
(1) It won game 6 for the Red Sox and (2) it took the series to a decisive 7th game and (3) it was so close to the left field foul pole that Fisk went down the first base line and tried to "wave" the ball fair (a very familiar sight every time the home run is shown).

SOME RIGHT-OFF-THE-BAT DVD STATS:

Number of DVDs -- 7 (Single-Sided).
Video -- Full Frame 1.33:1. (A few of the bonus interviews are presented in Widescreen, approx. 1.78:1.)
Audio -- English Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo (Re-Mixed From Original Mono Source).
Color or B&W -- Color.
Subtitles -- None.
Packaging -- 7 Slim Cases With Outer Slipcase.
Any Separate Paper Enclosures Included? -- No.
DVD Marketers/Distributors -- MLB Properties Inc.; A&E Home Video; New Video Group Inc.
DVD Release Date -- June 13, 2006.

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It's hard for me to imagine owning a better collectible keepsake of the stellar 1975 World Series than what A&E Home Video and Major League Baseball Properties have put together for baseball fans here -- a 7-Disc DVD compilation featuring all seven games from the original NBC-TV network telecasts (with Tony Kubek, Curt Gowdy, Joe Garagiola, and Reds' play-by-play man Marty Brennaman, among others, at the microphones calling the action).

All of these games are presented complete and uncut, with two exceptions -- a half-inning of Game 2 (top of the 2nd) and 1-and-a-half innings (plus one additional batter) of Game 3 are missing on these DVDs. Evidently that video footage could not be obtained by A&E/MLB for this collector's set.

The missing moments of Games 2 and 3, however, do not involve either team's scoring. So no big home runs, RBIs, or crucial plays are part of the AWOL footage.

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THE 1975 WORLD SERIES:

The Cincinnati Reds and the Boston Red Sox battled each other over the course of seven memorable baseball games during the fall of 1975. The Reds, managed by 41-year-old South Dakota native George "Sparky" Anderson, barely squeezed by the A.L.-champion Sox, 4 games to 3, to capture Cincy's first world-championship title since 1940.

This '75 Fall Classic is regarded by many fans as the very best and most exciting World Series ever played. Five of the seven games were decided by just a lone run (including each of the last two thrilling contests played at cozy Fenway Park in Boston).

The "Big Red Machine" of Cincinnati steamrolled its way to the National League pennant in '75, winning 108 regular-season games and then sweeping the Pittsburgh Pirates in the NLCS in three straight. The Reds won the N.L. Western Division by an amazingly-decisive 20 games over their nearest rivals (the second-place Dodgers).

Cincinnati's imposing "starting eight" in 1975 was one of the best and most potent lineups ever put on a baseball diamond. Here's a glance at the impressive lineup that National League pitchers (and Boston's hurlers in the WS) had the difficult task of facing in '75 -- with some 1975 regular-season numbers also listed (B.A./HR/RBI):

C -- Johnny Bench (.283/28/110)
1B -- Tony Perez (.282/20/109)
2B -- Joe Morgan (.327/17/94 .... Was named NL MVP in '75)
SS -- Dave Concepcion (.274/5/49)
3B -- Pete Rose (.317/7/74)
LF -- George Foster (.300/23/78)
CF -- Cesar Geronimo (.257/6/53)
RF -- Ken Griffey Sr. (.305/4/46)

The 1975 Red Sox, piloted by 47-year-old Darrell Johnson, proved to be worthy opponents for Sparky's Red Machine in the post-season (to say the least). The Bosox won 95 games during their A.L. regular campaign in '75, and they breezed past the Oakland A's in three straight playoff games (ending Oakland's chance at winning its fourth World Series title in a row following the A's "three-peat" in 1972-73-74).

Boston, like the N.L. Reds on the other side of the diamond, had their league's MVP -- 23-year-old Fred Lynn, who also doubled as the American League Rookie-of-the-Year in 1975 as well. Lynn's sparkling first-year stats in '75 included a .331 average, with 21 home runs, and 105 RBIs (plus an impressive .566 slugging percentage).

Lynn gave an indication of his productive seasons to come by way of his brief 'cup of coffee' with the Red Sox at the end of the 1974 season, when he batted .419 in 15 games (with a .698 slugging mark). But Freddie still qualified as a "rookie" in '75.

The Sox roster also featured the likes of Carl Yastrzemski, Dwight Evans, Bill Lee, Rick Burleson, Carlton Fisk, Luis Tiant, Rico Petrocelli, Rick Wise, and Jim Rice. Rice (.309/22 HR/102 RBI in '75), fortunately for the Reds, was injured and could not play in a single game of the World Series.

By the way, Boston skipper Darrell Johnson, ironically, was a back-up catcher for the Reds for parts of two seasons (1961 and 1962), which included a career-high .315 batting average for the pennant-winning '61 Reds' squad (albeit in just 20 games; 54 AB; 1 HR).

The '75 World Series, numbers-wise, was about as evenly-matched as you could get -- with the Reds batting a collective .242 (59 base hits), while the Red Sox swung the lumber at a combined .251 clip, with 60 hits.

Other tightly-knit WS stats:

Runs Scored:
Reds 29; Sox 30.

Team ERA:
Reds 3.88; Sox 3.86.

Cincinnati third baseman Pete Rose was named the MVP for this '75 World Series. Pete batted .370 during the seven games (10-for-27), with 3 runs scored, 2 RBIs, and 5 walks.

I can vividly recall watching these games on television in '75, plus one game that I saw in person, which was Game #4 at Riverfront Stadium in Cincinnati, Sadly, for me (being a Reds' rooter), that one turned out to be a Reds' loss, as Luis Tiant picked up his second complete-game win in the Series, defeating Cincy 5-4. A standing-room-only crowd of 55,667 crammed into Riverfront that Wednesday night (10/15/75).

Via this nice DVD set, I can now watch that fourth Series game in my living room, instead of from the seat that I occupied in Peanut Heaven (aka: the "Nosebleed Section") in left-center field at Riverfront back in '75 (Upper Deck; Aisle #339; Row 10; Seat 102). Even though that was hardly the best seat in the house, it's still a great childhood baseball memory....to have attended a game during one of the most famous World Series in baseball history.

I still have the ticket stub from that game too (the ticket cost just $10.00, which must be a drop in the bucket compared to WS ticket prices in the 21st century...even for seats up in Peanut Heaven). :)

For those who can remember watching all seven of these classic Reds/Red Sox battles back in 1975, this DVD Collector's Edition will easily rekindle every single memory without much prodding at all.

Memories such as:

>> Luis Tiant's gyrations on the mound. (Was Tiant "balking"? Sparky Anderson and the Reds thought so.)

>> The "Fisk/Armbrister" rhubarb in Game 3 at Riverfront Stadium. (Was it really interference? You decide. You'll see the replay a dozen times thanks to the Game-Three DVD provided in this collection.)

>> The persistent New England rain that resulted in a three-day delay prior to Game Six.

>> The two pinch-hit homers by former Red Bernie Carbo (one in Game 3 and an incredible three-run, game-tying monster shot in Game 6, that sent the Fenway Park crowd into a frenzy).

>> Joe Morgan's game-winning RBI blooper in Game 7.

>> The Dwight Evans "catch" of Joe Morgan's smash.

>> Tony Perez "connecting" on a super-duper Bill Lee blooper pitch in Game 7. (Lee, IMO, should have been run out of Boston town on a rail for daring to throw that ridiculous circus-like pitch in Game #7 of a World Series to ANY member of the "Big Red Machine". It was a bomb ready to explode in Lee's face. And it did.)

>> George Foster's throw from left field to Johnny Bench in Game 6 to nail Denny Doyle at the plate. (I can vividly recall the ecstasy of seeing the umpire's "out" call to complete this double play and keep Game 6 tied.)

>> Cesar Geronimo squeezing Carl Yastrzemski's lofty fly ball to center field for the final out in Game 7.

>> And, of course, The "Please Stay Fair" Home Run .... i.e., Carlton Fisk's Game-Six walk-off clout off the foul pole to knot the Series at 3-3.

And it's all here in this comprehensive DVD set from A&E/MLB. Every game. Every clutch hit. Every home run. (Sans the TV commercials; those have not been included here.)

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THE DVDs AND THE PACKAGING:

The packaging, the look, and the overall presentation for this 7-Disc DVD Collector's Edition is first-class all the way down the line. It couldn't possibly be any better, IMO.

Each of the seven World Series games gets its own separate single-sided disc, with attractive bright-red disc art.

The video quality for all of these games looks pretty decent in most places to me, being limited, of course, by the age of the decades-old original taped source material. Close-up shots are definitely clearer and more pleasing than are the longer, more-distant camera shots, which suffer from considerable "ghosting"; and all of these games will no doubt look better on a smaller TV screen. The bigger your monitor, the more digital annoyances you're likely to see. But, overall, I'm pleased with the PQ here.

Unlike baseball telecasts nowadays, you're not going to find all of the flashy graphics or the constant barrage of detailed stats on your screen in these '75 games. Baseball broadcasts in 1975 were much "quieter" and less frenetic, with less moving around of the camera and far fewer instant replays (and no "Fox Box" telling you the score up in the corner all the time).

The screen ratio for these games is the original Full-Frame television ratio of 1.33:1, as it should be. Audio is supplied by more-than-adequate-sounding Dolby Digital 2.0 soundtracks. (Evidently, per the packaging, the audio is in "2.0 Stereo"; but it sounds about the same as 2.0 Mono for the actual game coverage.)

An audio glitch exists, however, during Game 1. For 1.5 innings late in that first game the audio is totally out-of-sync with the video, with the picture running ahead of the sound by approx. 10 seconds. It's a bit of a goofy glitch, in that the A/V aren't even close to being in-sync. Strange how that would sneak through to the finished DVD. But it did.

However, the footage with the audio problem (like the missing footage from Games 2 and 3) does not involve any run-scoring plays on the part of either team.

Another negative factor to these DVDs is the ever-present "MLB" watermark (logo) that has been placed in the upper right-hand corner of the screen throughout this entire DVD set. I can't say I really like that logo being stuck up there 100% of the time. However, at least it's not too intrusive, and it blends fairly well into the background (because the watermark used here is a transparent one).

But even with a few things to gripe about, this World Series DVD set is, without a doubt IMHO, still a mandatory purchase for long-time Reds' fans.

The Packaging.....

Each disc/(game) gets its own slim (clear) plastic case. The covers for the seven cases are jam-packed with all kinds of fun facts, trivia, and '75 Series statistics. These "SleeveStats" also provide the complete box score for each Series game, printed right on the back of each game's case.

Plus, on the inside of each case, the play-by-play for each and every inning of that game is printed out. So, at a glance, you can see what every batter did in each of these WS games.

A tremendous amount of work and detail and research has obviously gone into creating the "SleeveStats" for these DVD covers. There's so much text, data, and fun stuff on these cases, just reading all of the info on them takes an hour or more.

And the box scores on these DVD covers put my homemade, handwritten-in-pencil box scores of the same games to shame. It's kind of fun, however, to go through my own handmade scorecards for these games (that I created when the World Series was playing out on live TV in '75) and compare them to the DVD's stats and to the real-time action when watching the games on these discs.

All seven slim cases fit comfortably into a very nice outer slipcase box (which is also brimming with additional statistics and trivia). And this outer carton is not any flimsy, tissue-paper-thin throwaway box either. It's constructed way better than that. It's very durable, heavy, and sturdy. "New Video" (which distributed this set for A&E Home Video in the USA), in fact, has been very good about supplying well-constructed boxes for its multi-disc (or multi-VHS tape) sets. And this one is just perfect, and is certainly one DVD box that should be able to stand the test of time.

I appreciate the effort that went into producing this collectible boxed set. It has the look and feel of a genuine "keepsake". Plus, the accuracy and attention to small details that can be found on these DVD cases is also impressive, right down to listing the "Game Time Temperature" for each of the seven Series contests.

The perfection of this DVD set, for me, even extends to the type of slim cases used to hold the discs. I'm kind of a persnickety fusspot when it comes to packaging and case types, and the slim cases utilized here are (IMO) the best brand out there. They hold the discs firmly, but not like a vise. The DVDs are very easily removed from their holders/hubs. I'm not sure of the exact brand name of this case type, but the ones in the set I received are by far my favorite brand. (I'm assuming all other copies of this product have the same type of inner cases included; but that might not always be true, given the vast number of DVD case manufacturers in existence.)

I haven't been able to spot any errors of any major substance when reading these info-packed DVD covers. I have noted a couple of very minor errors, however, including an incorrect date shown for the no-hitter that Rick Wise threw against the Reds. The DVD case indicates that Wise tossed that no-no in 1972. It actually occurred in 1971 (06/23/71).

And what makes that particular no-hit game so extra-special is the fact that Wise also hit TWO home runs in the contest -- which made that game one of THE most spectacular "one-man shows" in baseball history (a fact that I think is often overlooked by historians). Rick Wise was a one-player wrecking crew that night at Riverfront Stadium.

Luckily for the Reds, Mr. Wise (a member of the Red Sox in 1975) wasn't able to repeat his no-hit performance during his one '75 WS start. The Reds tagged him for 5 runs in 4.1 innings in Game 3. Wise, however, did pick up the win in the infamous Game #6 at Fenway Park.

Another small mistake on the packaging (and on the DVD Menus) involves the spelling of Cincinnati radio announcer Marty Brennaman's last name. Marty's name is misspelled more than one time on the boxes and the Menus. I'm guessing, though, that Marty is probably accustomed to that type of error re. his name. I can relate to that type of thing myself. :)

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BONUS MATERIALS:

A few nice bonus items are part of this exquisite boxed set too. All of these extras are located on the "Game 7" disc. There are 30 individual "Bonus Clips", mainly consisting of short 1-to-2-minute interview segments with the players that were recorded in the last few years.

But in addition to the newer, contemporary interviews, there are a few vintage 1975 pre-game and post-game interview snippets on tap here as well -- including an interview with Carlton Fisk just after he smacked his never-to-be-forgotten home run in Game 6.

There's no "Play All" option for these thirty Bonus Clips, which would have been useful here I think. But, instead, returning to the "Bonus" Sub-Menu is required to view the clips individually.

There are two other short bonus items on Disc 7 that I very much enjoyed seeing -- "Downtown Rally" (1:07 in length) and "Introducing 'The Big Red Machine'" (1:48).

The "Rally" bonus was filmed in downtown Cincinnati in late October 1975. The victory celebration clip features Commissioner Bowie Kuhn's presentation of the World Series trophy and a few comments made by Reds' players.

The "Introducing" bonus consists of Reds' player introductions before one of the three games played at Riverfront Stadium. Long-time Cincinnati P.A. announcer Paul Sommerkamp is the voice heard here.

In addition to the above-mentioned bonus items, the Reds' post-game clubhouse celebration (with NBC-TV interviews) is also included on Disc 7. That clubhouse footage isn't found in the "Bonus" area of the disc, but instead can be located at the end of the regular Game-Seven telecast on Disc Seven. And I'm very glad that was included in this package, because it puts the proper "We're #1" cap on the Reds' great 115-win 1975 season.

The clubhouse footage features some classic Reds' interviews too....especially Marty Brennaman's fine interviews with Series MVP Pete Rose and the super-excited and voice-cracking Johnny Bench. Rose's comment about how he felt like he was about to "have a coronary" due to the intense excitement of Game 7 always cracks me up. :)

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OTHER DVD INFO:

Total Running Time (All Discs) -- Approx. 17.25 hours (not counting the extra bonus features).

Menus -- The Interactive Menus are very well-designed. A brief intro/montage of "Reds' Baseball Action" has been integrated into the Main Menu (upon initial disc load-up only). No music. Menu choices: "Play Ball!" (to start watching that disc's game) and "Inning Selection". An additional option for "Bonus Clips" is present for Disc 7 only.

The "Inning Selection" area is very cool, exhibiting a nifty "baseball-flavored" design. When going to the "Inning" Sub-Menu, the full inning-by-inning line score for that game is visible (including the final "Runs-Hits-Errors" totals). A "baseball" icon enables the user to navigate within the line score, with any half-inning being selectable.

The Main Menu screens for all discs are colorful and look great on a big 50-inch screen....especially the bright and cheerful Cincinnati Reds' "wishbone C" (circa 1970s) logo, which features good ol' #27 running inside the logo. (#27 being the then-Reds' mascot, known as "Mister Red". Interestingly, during the years when this cool-looking team logo was being used, the Reds never assigned a real player the number "27". It was reserved exclusively for "Mister Red".)

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A FINAL GLOWING RECOMMENDATION:

A "Big Red Machine"-era Cincinnati Reds' fan (or anyone who appreciates darn-good baseball) can't help but be excited about this excellent DVD set of virtually-uncut games, highlighting one of the greatest World Series of all time.

"The Cincinnati Reds 1975 World Series Collector's Edition" is destined to be one of my most-treasured DVDs ever purchased.

The 1975 World Series featured an incredibly talented Cincinnati Reds' squad that won the first of consecutive World Championships and would be included among the best that the sport has ever seen.

They met a Boston Red Sox' team that swept the three-time defending World Champion Oakland A's in shocking style. The Reds, too, swept their League Championship defeating the Pittsburgh Pirates setting up what would be a roller-coaster of emotions and civic pride as the Reds had not won a series since 1940 and the Red Sox since 1918.

Game 1 featured the dazzling performance of Boston's Luis Tiant who baffled the Reds in a 6-0 complete game shutout. The game was scoreless until Boston swatted in six runs in the bottom of the 7th.

In Game 2, Boston was one out away from a commanding 2-0 series lead but consecutive two out hits by Dave Concepcion and Ken Griffey provided a pair of ninth inning runs that gave Cincinnati a 3-2 win.

Game 3, one for the ages, was highlighted by a controversial play at home plate featuring contact by Cincinnati pinch-hitter/runner Ed Armbrister and Boston catcher Carlton Fisk which resulted in Fisk throwing wildly to second base and eventually leading to a game-winning run. The Reds blew a 5-1 lead in the game and Boston scored twice in the 9th to set up the controversy.

In Game 4, Boston scored in just one inning but that was enough as they tallied five times in the fourth to hold off the Reds 5-4 thanks to another complete game by pitcher Tiant.

In Game 5, the last of three straight in Cincinnati, the Reds' Don Gullett was masterful before tiring in the 9th inning in a 6-2 romp over Boston. In the must-win situation for the Reds, Tony Perez broke out of his series-long slump with two home runs and four RBIs.

And then came Game 6, finally, after three days of rainouts in Boston. One of the wildest most completely invigorating contests on any level, game 6 featured a myriad of heroics culminating with a home run by Carlton Fisk off the foul pole in the 12th inning to give Boston a 7-6 win to knot the series at 3. The Reds overcame a 3-run first inning to go ahead 6-3 in the 8th inning and were just six outs removed from a title. But the game got goofy thanks in part to Reds' castoff Bernie Carbo's dramatic home run that evened the scored at 6 in the 8th. Boston loaded the bases with no outs in the 9th but failed to scored when George Foster nailed Denny Doyle at home plate in stunning fashion but that play was offset by an amazing catch by Boston rightfielder Dwight Evans in the 11th. Fisk's legendary homer off the Reds' 8th pitcher Pat Darcy is one for the archives.

In game 7, Boston scored 3 runs in the 3rd and cruised to a 3-0 lead in the 6th inning before pitcher Bill Lee tried to fool slugger Tony Perez with a tantalizing slow pitch that Perez deposited on the Mass Pike. Tying the game in the 7th, the Reds somehow and magically stole all Boston's momentum and won with a clutch two out single by 1975 NL MVP Joe Morgan and fittingly this miraculously close series ended in the 9th inning of Game 7. The Reds won the 1975 World Series thanks to a true team performance.

Oh, by the way, the discs are excellent. There are slight glitches but nothing to warrant a dismissal of purchasing this remarkable series.

The World Series (Collector's Edition)s are the only way to relive the Fall Classics because they include every game broadcast on seperate DVDs, that's the entire broadcast of each contest now, and they include some pre or post game highlights, comments, interviews, etc.; in this case mostly first pitches and, usually, the end game wrap-up with disc 7 showing the triumphant Reds locker room. The half-inning breaks inlclude minimal announcer chatter and this series was interesting because of the announcer musical chairs they played between network broadcasters Joe Garagiola and Curt Gowdy (with Tony Kubek on the field) and team announcers Dick Stockton (Red Sox), Ned Martin (a seasoned sports commentator for New England area professional, and even college, sports) and Marty Brenneman (Cincinnati).

Because of the memories of the children begging mom to let us stay up and see the ends of the schoolnight games, the long school day afterwards, the head-lolling (and balk-move to first) of Luis Tiant - not to mention 3 rather impressive 100+ pitch appearances by the "pith and guile" veteran - because there were some guys playing baseball who might be out on a construction crew, or telling at a bank, or sacking groceries, or driving truck, to make ends meet the next week, because of a love of "The Big Red Machine" (because the Cubbies were never available to root for in the post-season), because my sister had a crush on "Davey" Concepcion, well, you get it... because this was one of the great Series of all time when ML baseball was "still a game" I made this my first World Series Collector's Edition purchase and have completely enjoyed watching it a couple of times (so far). I love seeing it in color as we had to settle for B&W in the day.

I couldn't believe the low price on this gem and have been collecting the A&E's WS(CE)s that interest me and have loved every one so far. All the discs have been the best of quality (at first I thought there was a problem with one of the DVDs but there was some sound and picture problems with a couple of the broadcasts - comments and action out of sync, some picture drop out; it probably bugged me at the time but it had to be included, and I thought it was funny to remember a fairly common problem with TV broadcasting of that era this time 'round). Anyway, if you HAVE to have the complete games (I'm not satisfied with highlights) look into all the World Series (Collector's Edition) titles available from A&E!

If you are a REDS fan, this is stepping back into time to one of the greatest times in baseball history. What can be said about this except can we also have the 1976 and 1990 World Series and playoff games as well. I can watch these everyday without tiring of them, just incredible. Takes me back to being a kid again and all my hero's are there for me to love all over again. A must buy for any Reds or just baseball fan.

I don't think I've every purchased a birthday gift that my husband has loved as much as these DVDs. And (we) don't think there was a greater group of ball players than the "75" reds. So worth the money! And, P.S.,Peter Rose still deserves to be in the Baseball Hall of Fame!!

What holds this set back from a full five stars are the audio glitches. Along with the Game 1 ten-second delay, there is another game where the audio is a little off from the video. Speaking of video, the video quality of the games are generally good, however there are some exceptions. I'm glad that MLB is releasing these classic World Series games on DVD. This one is very good, without the audio mistakes this is an easy five stars.

I am a die-hard Red Sox fan, and as a kid growing up in the Boston area, the 1975 World Series was one of those sporting events where reality rivaled the legend. Even though the Reds beat the Red Sox in seven games, they were all hard fought games, by players who themselves are legends of the game today.

Watching these games reminds me of the days when we used to go to Fenway Park and 35,000 people were chanting "Loo-ie, Loo-ie" hoping that Luis Tiant would strike out another batter.

The Reds were the "Big Red Machine" back then, with the likes of Pete Rose, Johnny Bench, and a plethora of great players that led them to dominance in the Nation League.

The Red Sox were a tough, gritty team that year, with Carlton Fisk, Yaz, and Freddy Lynn, but were without Jim Rice, who was out with a broken wrist. One has to wonder if the Red Sox could have won the series with Rice...

The 1975 World Series is a must see for any baseball fan. Game 6 of the Series is probably the single best game ever played. The entire series was great to watch the first time, and every consecutive time too!

Even though the Red Sox lost in 1975, it is my favorite World Series to watch as a re-run, even more so that 2004. That's how good it was!

I've been a Reds fan since I was about 7. That year was 1972 when Pete Rose and Johnny Bench appeared in their 2nd of 4 Cincinnati World Series over a 7 year span. Little did I know at the time that the Reds had been failing to live up to very high expectations for a few years and the loss to the A's only added to the mystery as to why this great team couldn't win the World Series (They were favored but lost in 1970 to the Orioles as well).

I grew up in Iowa and was supposed to be a Cubs, White Sox or Twins fan based on proximity, but the Reds teams that dominated the NL from 1970-1977 stole my heart. I also grew very fond of the Red Sox during the 1975 season when Fred Lynn had a "monster" season for a rookie. I also admired former Red, Bernie Carbo who had a nice season in 1975. And how could anyone not like Luis Tiant?

My Dad was not a sports fan but encouraged me to follow the game and fall in love with it. We listened to one of the 1975 series games on the radio when we were traveling and I was disappointed when Tiant dominated the Reds. I missed the TV broadcast of that game entirely. To make it worse, although, my Dad let me stay up late to watch most of game 6, it was a school night, so I missed the extra inning heroics by Carlton Fisk as I tossed and turned in bed wondering about the outcome. The same thing happened in game 7. I stayed up as late as I could but missed the heroics. My Dad left a note by my bed describing play-by-play how Pete Rose and Joe Morgan won Cincy's first World Series in 35 years.

I missed all or part -- often the best part -- of these games when they aired the first time. Now it will be wonderful to see them as I stay up way past my bedtime. Sorry Dad, no school tomorrow.

I only hope the 1976 Reds-Yankees and 1990 Reds-A's victories are also scheduled for release. Please...us Reds fans don't get much to cheer about these days. By the way, I live in Boston now, but I'm still a fan the Cincinnati Reds first.

First off, I admit this is nitpicking. This is a great collection of all 7 games of the greatest World Series ever played. It was my first real baseball memory as a kid so it will always be special to me. That being said, here are a few questions:

Why did they skip the player introductions before Games 1 & 3?!? It is a baseball tradition to introduce the opposing players, coaches, etc. every year yet A&E couldn't find room on the dvd for it?

WHY did they skip the post-game interviews? After game 1 Kubek interviews Luis Tiant and after game 6, OF COURSE, he interviews Carlton Fisk. Why couldn't A&E leave the tape rolling?!? A few more minutes wouldn't fit?!?

Finally (and perhaps the most fundamental issue I have), why was this presented as a Cincinnati Reds product? This was a hard fought World Series that featured 5 1-run games, 2 extra inning games and was tied going into the 9th of Game 7. I feel it should have been a more balanced presentation - at least from a packaging standpoint.

You'll notice that there is an opening montage on each dvd. They are all clips of Reds. To me, to show a summary montage of the 1975 World Series without showing Fisk waving the ball fair is blasphemous.

I would love it if every world series became available on dvd, but A&E needs to go just a bit further to make it all-inclusive and a more even presentation.

Again, I still recommend it to any baseball fan. I guess I'm a bit pickier than most.

OKAY - I just noticed that in the bonus material, they do show the introduction of the REDS (and only the Reds) before Game 3. Obviously the Red Sox were just extras in this Cincinnati Reds production. They do include the Fisk postgame interview from Game 6, but WHY ISN'T THIS ON THE GAME 6 DISC?!!!!

heavy sigh.