Remembering Frank Robinson

The first player to win the Most Valuable Player award in both major leagues and the man who broke the color barrier for managers, Frank Robinson passed away Thursday at age 83.

Here was the player, who according to fellow Baltimore legend Brooks Robinson, who put the Orioles over the top and helped lead them win four pennants in his six seasons there. And this was someone that Reds owner Bill DeWitt called "an old 30." After being traded for Milt Pappas, he took the slight to be a challenge and went onto win the Triple Crown -- the first to do that in a decade!

During a time where Mickey Mantle and Willie Mays played in higher profile markets and often grabbed splashier headlines, Robinson was almost at times overlooked.

But you can't ignore the talent, the passion and the production: 586 home runs, 1812 RBIs and a .294 lifetime average -- with an on-base percentage almost 100 points higher (.389). Those numbers helped make him a first-ballot Hall of Famer in 1982.

He holds one honor unmatched in baseball: statues of him stand outside the Reds, Indians and Orioles ballparks. (My image atop this page is from the plaza beyond left field at Camden Yards.)

Frank Robinson was a difference maker on many levels.

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