RIP Frank Robinson

[frangooch]

One of the all time greats, Hall of Famer, triple crown winner, World Champ, involved in one of the worst trades ever (for Milt Pappas??Are you kidding me?), just a great player and one of the most intense competitors ever. Despite all that, he had trouble making the starting lineup for the NL All Stars, because Mays, Aaron, and Clemente played at the same time. It usually boiled down to Frank or Clemente for the third spot. That was baseball's heyday, imo. RIP to one of the best, an Oakland native!

[spanky126]

Amen to that Gooch. So sorry to hear this. Everything you wrote is spot on, he played in an era of baseball that will never ever be close what baseball is today.  A Milt Papas reference? LOVE it. 

[shoes]

Fantastic player and echo what gooch said. Mays and Aaron were such tough comparisons for superstars who could do it all but Frank could. Though he didn't focus on stealing bases he was a very good base runner in terms of taking the extra base, scoring from second on a single, going from first to third. His year for the O's in 1966 was spectacular. As a Tigers fan, I could only marvel at how many times he came up big when it mattered. he was a pretty good manager too, even though superstars often have trouble managing successfully.

[ziggy]

Sad news here for sure.

The O's need more Robinson's and fewer Davis's ... which covers the high and low of Oriole trades, getting Glen Davis for Harnisch, Finley and Schilling. Crush is squeezing a dry orange ... can't handle the shift.

[quickcall]

My first major league ballgame at Fenway, when I was 10. Unfortunately, Frank didn’t play that day. I did get to witness a triple play by the Sox in the first inning.

Gary Waslewski walked the first two batters of the game and he was replaced right away by Jose Santiago. Ball was hit a line shot over Joe Foy’s head. He jumped up, snagged it, threw to Mike Andrews at second, who threw to George Scott at first for the triple play. Remember it like it was yesterday, July 15, 1967.



Starting Lineups

Orioles
1 Luis Aparicio SS
2 Russ Snyder LF
3 Paul Blair CF
4 Brooks Robinson 3B
5 Boog Powell 1B
6 Curt Blefary RF
7 Davey Johnson 2B
8 Andy Etchebarren C
9 Pete Richert P

Red Sox
1 Mike Andrews 2B
2 Joe Foy 3B
3 Carl Yastrzemski LF
4 Tony Conigliaro RF
5 George Scott 1B
6 Jerry Adair SS
7 Reggie Smith CF
8 Mike Ryan C
9 Gary Waslewski P


Frank Robinson was very famous in those days, that’s for sure.

[tenfurlongs]

That's good stuff Jeff! Thanks for posting the lineups, too, that brings back a lot of memories. Speaking of which, let me hijack this thread.

Why is Reggie Smith not in the Hall of Fame? He played 17 seasons, and in 15 of them his team had a winning record. He was a five-tool player, but that might have been part of it. He wasn't great at any one facet, but he was very good at all of them. Feared for his throwing arm, take an extra base at your peril. He was outspoken, so he got a "reputation" that probably didn't help his chances, especially with the media. Quotes:

“I always judged my season by how close I got to 200. I wanted to drive in 100 runs and I wanted to score 100. If I got close to those numbers, that’s how I judged if I had a good year or not. Things like slugging percentage didn’t mean anything to me. It was what I contributed to us winning ballgames, whether it was my presence in the lineup or having the opposing manager having to manage around me. He would pitch around me, which gave me an opportunity to get on base. My on-base percentage only mattered if I was able to score. That’s my feeling about on-base and slugging percentage, because if you’re not scoring, what good is it?"

“I took pride in my defense. I took pride in guys not being able to turn the corner. Pitchers used to tell me how much they appreciated that. I didn’t have as many assists as a lot of other outfielders, but the reason for that was… [Tom] Lasorda once said, ‘Who is going to run on you?’ He said that when he was a third base coach, his hands would go up. They stopped running on me, and that was more important to me than anything else. If I could keep a runner at second, that meant there would always be a force play.”

{In Bill "Spaceman" Lee's book, he told a story about Reggie's arm. The Red Sox outfielders were arguing about who had the best arm, so they set up a competition. They could run up to the 1B line and see how high they could throw it up the Green Monster in LF. The Sox had some pretty good arms on the team like Yazstremski and Dwight Evans and they took their shots. Lee said Reggie took one step out of the 1st base dugout and threw it over the LF wall.}

{Earlier this year, when respected analyst Jay Jaffe named his Ken Keltner All Stars — aka the best eligible players not in the National Baseball Hall of Fame at each position — his right fielder was Reggie Smith. Some might argue that Dwight Evans or Bobby Bonds would be a better call, but Smith certainly has his bona fides. As a seven-time all-star, he accumulated 71.8 WAR between 1966 and 1982 and hit .287/.366/.489, with 314 home runs. A prolific switch hitter and an excellent defensive outfielder, Smith also had a reputation as a team leader. Now 67 years old, he runs Reggie Smith Baseball Centers in Encino, Calif.}

TW

[spanky126]

Leave it to a baseball thread to get some posts from UIC'ers that we have not seen for awhile. Good stuff for sure. I have such a soft spot for Yaz...I remember watching him with my Dad and decided I wanted to be a switch hitter and hold my bat like him. So-so results and gave up on it when I got to high school baseball but loved that Sox team.

[quickcall]

I was at Fenway once and a couple hours before game time a few of the players were having a throwing competition from the triangle in centerfield I remember that Reggie Smith was the only player to throw it to home in the air.

Also, while I was attending Nichols College, which is about a 40 minute drive to Fenway, Yaz was going after his 3000th hit. We went to several games in a row until he finally got it. I remember we sat in the bleachers for $3 a ticket! It was awesome.

[shoes]

Excellent case made for Reggie Smith. High quality consistently over a long period of time in all phases.

[frangooch]

I tend to go the other way--I think there are too many players in the Hall and they should kick some out, rather than let more in. If you take those Robinson era outfielders--Frank, Mays, Aaron, Clemente, Mantle as a standard, Smith does not belong in that company. Very good player, but a cut below, imo. Save it for transcendent players like those I mentioned, plus Ruth, Gehrig, Dimaggio, Cobb, Koufax, Gibson, and the like. No Biggios, Bagwells, Suttons, Raines, Baines, Rices, Ashburns, Niekros, Foxes,etc. No juicers, ever. There you go....

[spanky126]

You make a solid point Gooch. I would have to include a few you didn't mention though. I can't leave Yaz out. Curt Flood should be there for what he did for the game. NO juicers for sure. Whitey Ford on the bubble.

[1hooper]

Good stuff Quick!. You could have 'caught' Elston Howard,Bob Tillman or Russ Gibson that game instead of Mike Ryan.
Off topic-Reggie Smith is not HOF worthy but Jim Rice is. Ready to debate if anyone gives a sh!t.
Jose Tartabull

[spiderjohn]

was a big Robinson fan, growing up @ Crosley field.
Never got credit due--interesting thing from a young Reds fan outlook--he refused to sign autographs for anyone and was not particularly nice about it, and this was way back in the day before selling that kind of thing
Milt Pappas--never quite got over that one
It was some management/racist thing that ran him out of Cincy
The Big O and Robbie owned the town yet were never overly outgoing

[eye123]

Can remember the 69' World Series like it was yesterday. Baseball in the 60's...nothing better.(Roberto Clemente best arm in baseball,one hop to plate from deep outfield to nab runners.....Willie Mays basket catches.....62' Mets (really have to love something to take that abuse and continue watching....Brooks scooping up what seemed impossible balls with over the body throws to nail at first.....nothing better )

[ziggy]

The memories .... cheap tickets, bringing in food and a cooler with beer, possibly something to smell up the stadium a bit (OMG the Afghani!!) and getting to watch those Orioles. Lotsa fun, think we went to almost half the home games that year and 2 at Fenway on Weaver's birthday. Bad ending needing to sweep Milwaukee, taking the first three and Palmer has a bad outing, season over.

Then they went on strike ... hockey players called off a whole season and I still love hockey. I understood the why of hockey (more games in a season, the issues of overtime). Remember Dale Hunter scoring the winner in the 6th period against Philly. A hockey double header.