Within days of being hired in Anaheim, he was offered the opportunity to succeed Dave Bristol as manager of the Cincinnati Reds. His appointment reunited Anderson with Reds' general manager Bob Howsam, who had hired him as a minor-league skipper in the St. Louis Cardinals and Cincinnati organizations. Anderson was named the Reds manager on October 8, 1969. Since he was a relative unknown in the sports world, headlines on the day after his hiring read "Sparky Who?" At the time of his hiring, Anderson was, at 35, the youngest skipper in baseball. Nonetheless, Anderson led the Reds to 102 wins and the National League pennant in , where they lost the 1970 World Series in five games to the Baltimore Orioles. During this season, the Reds came to be widely known as The Big Red Machine, a nickname they carried throughout Anderson's tenure.