a 13-member local ownership syndicate led by Francis L. Dale purchased the Cincinnati Reds; one month later, in January 1967, Howsam accepted its offer to become the club's new general manager. In Cincinnati: Engineering the 'Big Red Machine' In Cincinnati, Howsam flourished. During his 11 years (1967–77) as general manager, he was one of the key figures (along with his predecessor, Bill DeWitt, and his manager, Sparky Anderson) behind "The Big Red Machine", which captured six division titles from 1970 to 1979, four NLCS titles, and two World Series championships in 1975 and 1976. Although many key parts of the Reds' dynasty—such as Pete Rose, Johnny Bench, Tony Pérez, Lee May and Tommy Helms—were already in place or in the organization in 1966, Howsam boldly promoted young pitchers such as Gary Nolan, Don Gullett and Wayne Simpson to the Major Leagues. In 1970, he replaced a popular incumbent manager, Dave Bristol, with a then-unproven but a future Hall-of-Fame skipper in Anderson, whom Howsam had earlier hired as a manager in the Cardinals' and Reds' farm systems. He ensured that the fruitful Cincinnati system continued to churn out young position players, such as Dave Concepción, Ken Griffey, Ray Knight and Bernie Carbo. He also acquired record-setting reliever Wayne Granger and two talented young outfielders, Bobby Tolan and Alex Johnson, from the Cardinals. It was the second time that Howsam had traded for Johnson (the first was in 1965 while Johnson was a member of the Philadelphia Phillies), and he would ultimately trade Johnson away for pitchers Pedro Borbon and Jim McGlothlin (who would go on to win 14 games for the 1970 Reds). Then, in two masterful 1971 trades, Howsam acquired second baseman Joe Morgan (in a deal that included May and Helms) from the Houston Astros and outfielder George Foster from the Giants (for utility infielder Frank Duffy). In Cincinnati, Morgan would win consecutive NL Most Valuable Player awards in 1975–76 and earn credentials as a member of the Hall of Fame. Foster won the 1977 NL MVP award as he hit 52 home runs for the Reds —the only player to crack the half-century HR mark in the 1970s or 1980s. The 1976 Cincinnati club, which won 102 regular season games, then swept both the Phillies in the 1976 National League Championship Series and the Yankees in the 1976 World Series, is considered one of the strongest in baseball