72 series between Oakland and Cincinnati was also a very good series with the A's winning game 7 in Cincy.
Those 70's Reds were pretty close to their own dynasty.
Yes, those 70's Reds teams were great and very close to becoming a dynasty.
1970 - 102-60 (1st in West) - lost WS to Baltimore 4-1; although two of the losses were by only one run
1971 - 79-83 (4th in West) - not sure what happened here, perhaps injuries? or a transition year?
1972 - 95-59 (1st in West) - lost WS to Oakland 4-3 (only put up a 1-3 record at home, including game 7 loss)
1973 - 99-63 (1st in West) - lost NLCS to NY Mets 3-2 (all three losses to Mets were by five runs or more)
1974 - 98-64 (2nd in West) - second best record in MLB and misses playoffs
1975 - 108-54 (1st in West) - win WS over Boston 4-3
1976 - 102-60 (1st in West) - win WS over NY Yankees 4-0
1977 - 88-74 (2nd in West) - pitching struggled compared to 76 - acquired Seaver in mid-season trade
1978 - 92-69 (2nd in West) - second best record in NL and misses playoffs - Sparky Anderson fired, Pete Rose leaves
1979 - 90-71 (1st in West) - lost NLCS to PIT 3-0
1980 - 89-73 (3rd in West) - battled Astros and Dodgers for first all season long
1981 - 1st half - 35-21 (2nd in West); 2nd half - 31-21 (2nd in West) - total (66-42; best record in MLB, misses playoffs)
The Reds could've easily won 2-3 more World Series during this time period. They should've won in 1972, but posted a 1-3 record at home. In 1973, they lost to a barely .500 Mets team in the NLCS. Had they won this series, it's not unreasonable to think they could've beaten Oakland again. If this happens, they could've had 3-4 titles in 5 years, and the one year with no championship, they missed the playoffs despite the 2nd best record in baseball, reaching dynasty status.
They also could've ended the Big Red Machine era in 1981 with another title, but missed the playoffs despite having the best record in baseball.
The Reds refused to enter the free agency that was in its infancy in the late 70s. They lost Don Gullett following 1976 who had arm troubles (awesome regular season with the Yankees in 1977 but awful in the playoffs) and made a horrible trade with Montreal in which Tony Perez was dealt for Woody Fryman (and Dale Murray a nondescript pitcher) who was abysmal in his short time with the Reds and had a personality conflict with Sparky Anderson. Fryman rejoined Montreal and was a solid reliever after that but his stay in Cincinnati was something dysfunctional. Another reason for the trade was to open a permanent spot for Danny Driessen who was a good first baseman but nowhere on the same level as Perez who was the unofficial locker room leader and arguably the team's biggest clutch hitter. It was something that many Reds players said led to the beginning of the end, well along with free agency and other decisions. Firing Sparky Anderson was a terrible move despite the fact that John McNamara had good numbers. Pete Rose went to Philadelphia following 1978, too.
In 1972, Joe Rudi made one of the three best catches I have seen live in playoffs. If not for that catch, the Reds likely win that game (2). Neither team hit in the 1972 Series. It is what kept that series from being among the best ever. Great defense, running, pitching but hitting was weak on both sides.
The other catches I'd list in the top three that I saw: Glenn Braggs in the 1990 playoffs against Pittsburgh in the ninth inning of Game 6. And Dwight Evans catch in Game 6 of the 1975 World Series.