MAYBE THE WORST TRADE EVER

So, I'm sitting watching the Phillies and the Reds all tied up at three and my mind starts to wonder even before I've had my bowl of Heavenly Hash. I start thinking about some of the great players who have worn the uniform of the Cincinnati Reds. In my lifetime they have had some marvelous players including Bench, Morgan, Perez, Griffey, and George Foster from the Sparky Anderson-led Big Red Machine, to name but a few. In the '50s they had guys like Ted Kluzewski, Wally Post, Gus Bell, Vada Pinson, and a guy named Frank Robinson who might have been the second best overall player this LSF has ever seen play. The guy could play the game of baseball.

It's been a while since I've cranked up the Wayback Machine so I thought, despite $4.00 a gallon gasoline, I would take a spin back to the time this awesome player came up to the majors.

Robinson hailed from Oakland, where he attended McClymonds, a high school that has produced more than its share of great athletes - in all sports. While there he was a teammate of the great Bill Russell on the school's state championship hoops squad. Baseball was Robinson's calling and he broke in with the Redlegs at the beginning of the 1956 season. He stayed in the majors for a total of twenty years, finishing his career with the then-lowly Indians. As a sample of what was to come, Robinson hit .290, 38 HR's with 83 RBI's as a twenty year-old rookie. Over the next several seasons, he hit 324 HR's in a Reds uniform, was named rookie of the year, and NL MVP in 1961. A perennial all-star, he was right up there with Mays and Aaron as the class of the NL.

After the 1965 season, Reds GM Bill Dewitt, believing Robinson to be an old thirty and on the downswing of his career, traded Robinson to the Orioles for pitchers Milt Pappas, Jack (former Phillie) Baldschun, and outfielder Dick Simpson. Robinson was clearly not finished and he proceed to win the AL MVP in 1966 as well as the Triple Crown - in his first year at Memorial Stadium.

I've documented some horrible trades made by our Phillies over the years but the trade of Robinson to the O's is the worst ever made in my lifetime. Robinson helped the O's to two World Series wins and while there he managed to hit 179 HR's. Not bad for an old guy. He played out the string with the Dodgers, Angels, and finally the Tribe, finishing his career with 586 HR's, 1812 RBI's , and a .294 career average.

After finishing his playing career, Robinson became the first black manager and was selected to the Hall Of Fame.

Since we are in Cincy I'll have a bowl of chili then take the Wayback Machine back to the present where the Phillies and Reds are still in a tie ball game headed into the 9th.

The Phillies slumbering bats have been stirring the past two nights which is nice to see. Ibanez, Ruiz, and even Superstar are starting to hit 'em where they ain't but, unlike Balls, who last night declared the big slump over as he slurped the Red Kool-Aid, I'll be patient before I see blue skies ahead for the candystripers. Winning tonight would be a good omen, but already the Reds have a man on second with nobody out here in the ninth. Madson needs to remain perfect - we'll see how it turns out.