"Sportswriters called manager Sparky Anderson's Cincinnati Reds, "The Big Red Machine." And in 1975, they more than lived up to their billing, rolling past their nearest Western Division competitors by 20 games, then beating Pittsburgh in three playoff games to win the pennant. It was an extraordinary team, and its spirit was best captured by the third baseman Pete Rose, who said, "I'd walk through hell in a gasoline suit just to play baseball." Like Ty Cobb of an earlier time, Rose played with a ferocity unmatched by anyone in the game. He stretched doubles into triples, singles into doubles, groundouts into singles. "Baseball is a hard game," he said. "Love it hard, and it will love you back hard. Try to play it easy, and the first thing you know, there you are on the outside looking in, wondering what went wrong.""