The 1976 Cincinnati Reds, a.k.a. The “Big Red Machine,” steamrolled their way through the regular season with a 102-60 record, best in the bigs that year. They went on to sweep the Philadelphia Phillies in three straight games to win the N.L. pennant before completely dominating the A.L. Champion New York Yankees in four straight games to win their second consecutive Fall Classic. In a word, the Reds were hot. This lot features a dated (10-16-76) game-used ONL (Charles S. Feeney) Spalding baseball from Game 1 of the World Series at Riverfront Stadium in Cincinnati that has been signed by five starting members of the team as well as manager Sparky Anderson. In that game, the Reds beat the Yankees 5-1 behind the combined pitching effort of Don Gullett and Pedro Borbon to set their eventual sweep in motion. The baseball, which shows outstanding game use, was signed on the sweet spot by Anderson who added “1976” under his scrawl. Of the five starting team members from ‘76 who signed it, three also inscribed the baseball including Tony Perez (“HOF 2000”); Johnny Bench (“10-16-76 World Series Game Used Baseball”); and Pete Rose (“10/16/76 RIVERFRONT 14 5-1”). The two remaining players who signed it are George Foster and Ken Griffey (both on one panel). All signatures and inscriptions appear in blue ink and are strong. Comes with MEARS COA for game use. Includes MLB hologram and Tristar hologram for two of the autographs.