"Of all the thousands of baseball trades made down through the decades, only one was brought up by Annie Savoy in her opening soliloquy for the movie Bull Durham. "But bad trades are part of baseball - now who can forget Frank Robinson for Milt Pappas, for God's sake?" Savoy said in discussing the off-the-field attributes of various Minor League players."
"It is one of the most significant and possibly lopsided trades in baseball history. Robinson, now in the Hall of Fame, was one of the best players in the National League, right up there with Willie Mays, and Roberto Clemente. When he went to Baltimore, he turned the Orioles from a contender into a dynasty by leading them to four pennants and two World Series titles in a six-year span."
The Cincinnati Reds traded Frank Robinson to the Baltimore Orioles for Milt Pappas, reliever Jack Baldschun and outfielder Dick Simpson. Robinson became a Hall of Famer and, alongside Willie Mays and Roberto Clemente, ranked among the National League's best players. His arrival transformed the Orioles into a dynasty, producing four pennants and two World Series titles in six years. Robinson's 1966 season achieved the Triple Crown (.316, 49 homers, 122 RBI) and earned American League and World Series MVP honors. The Reds had also drafted catcher Johnny Bench and Bernie Carbo that year, illustrating competing roster considerations behind the transaction.
Read at MLB Trade Rumors
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