Joe Morgan's Bloop Single Wins the 1975 World Series

On October 22, 1975, Joe Morgan hit a two-out bloop single in the top of the ninth inning to drive in Ken Griffey and give the Cincinnati Reds a 4-3 victory over the Boston Red Sox in Game 7 of the World Series. An estimated 75 million television viewers watched the final out.

The Red Sox had seized momentum the night before with Carlton Fisk's legendary twelfth-inning home run. Boston carried that energy into Game 7 with a 3-0 lead through five innings behind starter Bill Lee, who was keeping the Big Red Machine off balance with slow curves and off-speed pitches.

Tony Perez broke through in the sixth with a two-run home run off Lee, cutting the lead to 3-2. In the seventh, Pete Rose singled to drive in Griffey and tie the game at three. Lee was gone. The bullpen held, but the Reds were even.

The game stayed knotted until the ninth, when Griffey walked and was sacrificed to second. With two outs, Morgan dropped a soft single into short center field. Griffey scored easily, and the Reds had the lead for the first time. Will McEnaney retired Boston in order in the bottom of the ninth, and Cincinnati had its first championship since 1940.

The Big Red Machine had five future Hall of Famers in the lineup that night: Morgan, Perez, Johnny Bench, Rose, and, across the field, Carl Yastrzemski and Carlton Fisk. The 1975 World Series is widely regarded as the greatest ever played. It revived national interest in baseball at a time when professional football was threatening to overtake it.

Morgan won the Series MVP. He would win back-to-back regular season MVPs in 1975 and 1976, and the Reds would repeat as champions the following year.