page_title: 1976 World Series
section_title: Game 4
hierarchical_section_title: 1976 World Series / Matchups / Game 4
caption_attribution_description: English: "Cincinnati Reds catcher Johnny Bench (center) chatting with some friends: Fort Lauderdale, Florida" Persistent URL: http://ibistro.dos.state.fl.us/uhtbin/cgisirsi/x/x/0/5?library=PHOTO&amp;item_type=PHOTOGRAPH&amp;searchdata1=PR21415 This file has been extracted from another file: Johnny Bench circa 1980.jpg
context_page_description: The 1976 World Series was the championship series of Major League Baseball's 1976 season. The 73rd edition of the World Series, it was a best-of-seven playoff played between the National League champion Cincinnati Reds and the American League champion New York Yankees. The Reds swept the Series in four games to repeat as champions, avenging their 1939 and 1961 World Series losses to the Yankees. The 1976 Reds became, and remain, the only team to sweep an entire multi-tier postseason, one of the crowning achievements of the franchise's Big Red Machine era. The Reds are also the last NL team to win back-to-back World Series. It also marked the second time that the Yankees were swept in a World Series—the Los Angeles Dodgers were the first to sweep them in 1963.
  The Reds won the NL West division by 10 games over the Dodgers, then defeated the Philadelphia Phillies, three games to none, in the NL Championship Series after losing seven of 12 games to the Phillies during the regular season. The Yankees won the AL East division by ​10 ¹⁄₂ games over the Baltimore Orioles, then defeated the Kansas City Royals, three games to two, in the AL Championship Series.
context_section_description: The Yankees got on the board in the first (which would be their only lead in this Series) on a two-out Thurman Munson single and a Chris Chambliss double off of Gary Nolan. Munson would collect four hits in the game.  In the fourth, Joe Morgan walked off of Ed Figueroa, stole second, and came home on a George Foster single. Johnny Bench followed with his first home run to give the Reds a 3–1 lead. The Yankees cut the lead to 3–2 in the fifth inning.when Mickey Rivers hit a leadoff single, stole second and scored on Munson's single, but the Reds padded that lead in the ninth. Figueroa walked two before being relieved by Dick Tidrow, who allowed a one-out three-run home run to Bench to extend the Reds' lead to 6–2.  César Gerónimo and Dave Concepción followed with consecutive doubles to make 7–2 Reds. Will McEnaney pitched ​2 ¹⁄₃ shutout innings to end the series. It was the Reds' second-straight World Series victory and the second-straight time McEnaney would be on the mound for the Series' final out. It also, to date,  is the only perfect playoff season since the LCS was created in 1969.
caption: Johnny Bench
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