Frank Robinson was one my first heroes in baseball. I believe he's the only player to win MVP in both the AL and NL. He was also the last player to win the Triple Crown.
Definitely a sad day When he was dealt to the O's i immediately became an Oriole fan and enjoyed those years. Him and Brook were my 2 favorite players. RIP
He did win both MVPs. FouttFon all time home run list. Major League baseball'' first African American manager, he was subject to racial abuse. Made hilarious commercial with his "twin" Brooks Robinson. Rest in sunshine.
Correct on the 2 league MVP thing, but Carl Yaztremski won a triple crown in 1967, a year after Frank did. Miguel Cabrera also did it in 2012, which was the first in 55 years. http://www.baseball-almanac.com/awards/aw_triph.shtml
Was interesting to look into, because (I'm ashamed to admit) I'd never heard of Joe Medwick, the last guy to hit for a triple crown in the NL. Led me down a bit of a rabbit hole learning about the dude.
He was the physically toughest SOB who ever played baseball. I don't care who people talk about or what they did. Robinson "leaned in" on purpose to pitchers like Early Wynn and Don Drysdale. Who would stick 90+ mph fastballs behind your ear for breathing. And pitchers hit Robinson regularly. Once so bad he had double vision and almost lost the ability to play. But he didn't care because he could step back and put the pitch into the center field bleachers. Off the field he could be a little crude and spoke his mind. And that rubbed a generation of sports writers wrong sometimes. Ones that grew up where baseball was some sort of religious convention. But for Frank Robinson, baseball was a way up and a way out. Just like basketball was for his teenage classmate, Bill Russell. Maybe only his former team mate Pete Rose played the game with as much intensity. But nobody played with as much fire.
