The Birth Of The Big Red Machine, Los Angeles Dodgers at Cincinnati Reds, April 9, 1969 (Recreation)

The year of the pitcher is over. Following a league-wide ERA of 2.98, Denny McLain’s 31 wins, and Bob Gibson’s 1.12 ERA, the MLB took drastic action; the mound was lowered from 15 inches to 10 inches, and the strike zone was reduced.

As the season begins, pitchers are coming to terms with a brand new game, none more so than this match-up between the Los Angeles Dodgers’ Don Sutton and the Cincinnati Reds’ Jim Maloney. Sutton is looking to refine his precision pitching, and Maloney the new target for the firepower of his fastball.

Looking back, it’s the Reds’ lineup card that’s impressive. Reading like a Hall of Fame Induction, you have Johnny Bench behind the plate, Tony Perez and Lee May offering muscle in the middle of the order, Wayne Granger ready to come in as the fireman, and the reigning batting champion of Pete Rose (okay, so maybe not everyone is going to be inducted).

The Dodgers leaned into pitching to find success in the sixties, but here comes the Reds with a new approach of churning runs while on offense. It’s not quite complete, but the genesis of the Big Red Machine is here. 

Ewan Spence and the Classic Baseball Radio team bring you this recreated radio broadcast from April 9, 1969. This should not be considered a complete or fully accurate historical record. Nevertheless, this is our story of the game.

We thank Retrosheet, Sports Reference, Sports Logos Net, Tom R Audio, and  Crafting The Call.

** LINKS **

Boxscore:

https://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/CIN/CIN196904090.shtml

Jim Maloney looks back on his career (Interview).

https://irontontribune.com/2025/06/18/reds-pitching-great-maloney-still-going-strong/

How Don Sutton became a Los Angeles Dodgers legend.

https://sabr.org/bioproj/person/don-sutton/

The Big Red Machine’s Spring Breaks At Pacetti Hotel

https://www.ponceinlet.org/history-and-education/pacetti-hotel-history/the-big-red-machine/ 

The high-speed impact of Bobby Tolan's arrival in Cincinnati.

https://www.redlegnation.com/2017/04/02/the-enigma-of-bobby-tolan/ 

Pete Rose returns to the Hall conversation as baseball embraces his original sin.

https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2025/may/15/pete-rose-hall-of-fame-baseball 

A history of the Dodgers' $100,000 "bonus baby" Willie Crawford.

https://ladodgerchronicles.com/remembering-willie-crawford/

Remembering 1968, the year of the pitcher.

https://thisgreatgame.com/1968-baseball-history/ 

A Brief Historical Analysis Of Baseball's Divisional Era (1969-1995)

https://notesironbound.blogspot.com/2016/02/a-brief-historical-analysis-of.html