Baseball legend and trailblazer Frank Robinson dead at 83

NY Post ^ | 7 February 2019 | Post Sports Desk

[oh8eleven]

Frank Robinson, a star, trailblazer and one of the most decorated baseball figures in history, has died, MASN reported Thursday. He was 83.

Robinson, a Hall of Famer and the only player to be named MVP in both the National and American League, had battled cancer for years.

The longtime Reds and Orioles outfielder, who also played for the Dodgers, Angels and Indians, collected records and glory in his 21-year career, in which he won the Triple Crown and two World Series.

[Doogle]

RIP..

[Rummyfan]

RIP #20 F Robby...

Came to the Orioles in 1966 and promptly won the Triple Crown and led the Os to their first World Series win, and three other appearances and another win in 1970. Saw him play many times at the old Memorial Stadium. A great ballplayer.

[Rummyfan]

I recall for many years in the ‘60s and ‘70s, many called the trade of Frank Robinson by the Reds to the Orioles, for Milt Pappas, to be one of the most one sided trades in baseball history.

The Orioles made up for this theft when they traded Curt Schilling, Pete Harnisch, and Steve Finley to the Astros for Glenn Davis, who subsequently forgot how to hit.

[Sapwolf]

I’ll never forget that 1982 season of the SF Giants where they had a good August to get to .500 and then a stellar Sept. and were only a game behind the Braves and Dodgers. Greg Minton was their closer and he pitched 123 innings. Get that...he pitched 123 innings as a reliever and mostly the closer in 78 appearances. He was putting in a lot of time as a closer by today’s standards but they really needed him in there.

Robinson was a pretty good manager for that almost cinderella season I remember.

I think I saw Minton pitching to Garvey of the Dodgers by far more than any other pitch to hitter combo on TV that years.

My memory is that the fans liked Robinson a lot.

[Buckeye McFrog]

You’re right. Rose was doing it several years after
Robinson had done it for the Indians. Thanks for
refreshing my memory.

[scrabblehack]

As I recall he was the first to hit 200 home runs in each league.

Fred McGriff
Mark McGwire

There may be others.

[buckalfa]

One of the last boys of summer from my youth of 1961. He has joined the heavenly Crosley Field lineup with Gus, Klu, Vada and Wally.

[Mustard]

I was 12 years old and sitting in the bleachers in Memorial Stadium when Frank blasted one over our heads and out into the parking lot. 1966, the year of the Bird! RIP Frank.

[newfreep]

Born & raised in Dayton, OH - just up the road from Cincy.

I’ve been a lifelong Cardinals fan with very early memories of going to Crosley Field for Cardinals & Reds games and recall Frank Robinson was an amazing hitter.

[Ancesthntr]

RIP, Mr. Robinson, sad to see you go. Damn, all of the stars of my youth are dying off.

[Vigilanteman]

. . . many called the trade of Frank Robinson by the Reds to the Orioles, for Milt Pappas, to be one of the most one sided trades in baseball history.

Pappas went on to a respectable career as a major league pitcher, though far short of Hall of Fame performance. The most one sided trade in history was the 1964 trade of Lou Brock for Ernie Broglio, who finished out his career in baseball and with the Cubs at 7-19 and a 5.40 ERA.

Pappas went on to a respectable career of eight more years with three different National League teams, finishing at 99-90 with a 3.57 ERA for an 209-154, 3.40 overall to compare with Broglio's 77- 74, 3.74.

Brock and Broglio are the only two of the four still alive.

[Fair Paul]

If it’s possible for a Hall of Famer with 586 home runs to be underrated, he was.

[buckalfa]

Had the privilege to have watched Musial, Schoendienst, then Gibson at Crosley. Throw in Marichal, Drysdale, and Koufax, I had a blessed childhood.

[newfreep]

Stan Musial was my baseball hero...and why I learned to bat left handed even though I was right handed.

I recall seeing Musial at the tailend of his career as well as Schoendienst and his bright red hair. I vaguely recall my dad taking me under the stands before a game and meeting Larry Jackson, a pitcher for the Cards.

Yep, it was certainly a more innocent time when America did not have the socialists/communist openly at war with patriots, our Constitution.

[vigilence]

As a Dodgers fan in that era one of the most feared hitters in the league was Frank Robinson. The man hung over the plate like a 50 year old slow pitch hitter in your local rec league. He would not be moved and regularly led the league in being hit by pitch. His matchups with sidearmer Don Drysdale were not to be missed. He was a man among boys.

[alfa6]

On my tenth birthday I got to see Stan play in his last game. Got two hits at the old Sportsmans Park.

You might enjoy this article on the date of Musial’s 90th birthday. They will ask you about adblocker unfortunately.

https://www.stltoday.com/sports/baseball/professional/things-to-love-about-the-man/article_12a02ef7-b9d3-5cec-91f8-843d44412f13.html

Regards

alfa 6 ;>}

[newfreep]

Thanks for the link - a great article with some stats I was not aware.

He still remains THE most underrated Super superstar athlete.

These 2 stats really stood out...

Only four players have finished among the all-time top 20 in their careers in the Triple Crown stats of homers, RBIs and batting average:
Babe Ruth, Lou Gehrig, Ted Williams, Stan Musial

He won three National League MVP awards.
He finished second in the voting four times.
He finished in the top five of the voting nine times.

[CaliforniaCraftBeer]

[alfa6]

Glad you liked it! Had Musial played on the east coast he would have been up there with Ruth and Gehrig IMHO.

One other stat that I found interesting, remember those 2hits Stan got in his last game? Musical where up with the exact same number of hits at home AND away!

Regards

alfa6