The Sox have played their National League “natural rivals,” the Braves and Phillies, 54 and 53 times respectively, since interleague play began in 1997. Yet the Reds, the famed “Big Red Machine” of yesteryear that beat the Sox in seven games in a 1975 World Series still regarded by many as the greatest ever, have faced the Sox only twice, the last time a three-game set in Cincinnati in 2008.
The Red Sox swept three from the Reds on their last visit here, outscoring them, 23-4, and outhitting them, 36-15. The Reds never led in the three games. David Ortiz is the only player left from either team who played in that series. Young Reds slugger Wily Mo Pena struck out seven times in 10 at-bats, while Sox pitcher and crooner Bronson Arroyo won the series finale, which did not keep GM Theo Epstein from swapping Arroyo for Pena after the season.
(Where are they now: Pena, incredibly still just 32 years old, has 10 home runs in 128 plate appearances for the Orix Buffaloes, only one home run behind former Brave and Yankee Andruw Jones for the Japan Pacific League lead. It’s still all or nothing for Pena; he has 31 strikeouts. Arroyo, meanwhile, signed a two-year, $23.5 million deal with Arizona that at the moment ranks as one of the worst signings of the offseason: Arroyo, 37, has a 6.03 ERA in six starts for the last-place Diamondbacks.)