I blame Dick Wagner. from Wikipedia...
After several years as Director of Promotions with the
St. Louis Cardinals under
Bob Howsam, Wagner followed Howsam to the
Cincinnati Reds in 1967. He spent the next fifteen years in the front office during that team's successful run as "
The Big Red Machine", beginning by supervising business affairs for the Reds, helping to pioneer, develop and refine marketing and promotional efforts that resulted in a series of attendance records. Later, he added duties on the player personnel side and in
1978 was made President and
General Manager of the team. During the years Wagner was part of the organization, the Reds won consecutive
World Series titles in
1975 and
1976, in addition to four league flags and six division titles. During his Cincinnati years, he resided in Glendale, Ohio, a greater Cincinnati suburb. He continued as President and General Manager until he was fired by the Reds on July 11,
1983. By that time "Robert T. Wag" had dismantled the Big Red Machine by, among other things, allowing
Pete Rose to leave as a free agent to the
Phillies.
