50 years ago today...

[Frobby]

Frank Robinson was traded to the Orioles for Milt Pappas, Dickie Simpson and Jack Baldschun. One of the most important days in the history of the Orioles franchise.

[OFFNY]

o

He was an old 30 at the time.

Now, he's a young 80.

[mdbdotcom]

I was 12 years old. When I heard it on the radio, I said to my brother, "We just won the World Series next year."

[Frobby]

I am not exaggerating when I say I might never have become an Orioles fan if this trade hadn't been made. I was 9 years old in 1966, and just starting to follow baseball. I lived in the DC suburbs where nearly everyone was a Senators fan. But the O's captured my imagination that summer, with Frank leading the way, and I never looked back. If not for that, I'd probably be a Nats fan now. It's hard for me to even conceive of not being a die-hard Orioles fan, but that easily could have happened.

[Orioles West]

I was only one-year old at the time, but still fully dressed out in O's gear on a daily basis. It was my grandfather, the original Jedi-Master of Oriole fans who schooled me on how important Frank was to the team. I was at Memorial for a few of his games, but my memories of games there didn't kick in until after he left in 1971. But highlight films and books are a nice way to find out the awesomeness.

-Don

[Frobby]

It occurred to me just now that Chris Davis will probably make more money in April 2016 than Frank made in his entire playing career.

[Orioles West]

It occurred to me just now that Chris Davis will probably make more money in April 2016 than Frank made in his entire playing career.

A frightening concept, even with inflation, but I hope Frank was paid better as a member of the O's front office...

[DrungoHazewood]

It occurred to me just now that Chris Davis will probably make more money in April 2016 than Frank made in his entire playing career.

I think Frank made more in the first half of 1971 than Willie Keeler did in his career.

[OFFNY]

It occurred to me just now that Chris Davis will probably make more money in April 2016 than Frank made in his entire playing career.

Taking inflation into account, Robinson's career earnings of about $2 million (give or take a couple of hundred thousand) equates to about $10 Million (give or take one million) in today's market.

Still, your point is well-taken, as Davis' 2016 salary will (proportionately) surpass Robinson's career earnings in about half a season.

[DrungoHazewood]

Taking inflation into account, Robinson's career earnings of about $2 million (give or take a couple of hundred thousand) equates to about $10 Million (give or take one million) in today's market.

Still, your point is well-taken, as Davis' 2016 salary will (proportionately) surpass Robinson's career earnings in about half a season.

I think Frank did all right considering for almost all of his career the owners were under no obligation to pay him any set amount and many players made a small fraction of his salary. There were players making $10k a year (or less) when he was pulling down over $100k. And you can live pretty well on $100k today.

[jiminnj]

50 years ago, I was mighty upset that we had traded away a pitcher who had started for the AL in the All-Star game that year (Pappas) for a washed up old outfielder.

Since then I have been a little reluctant to condemn a trade until a little bit of baseball has been played.

Perhaps I should have remember how Pappas had pitched in that allstar game. Home run, single, home run to the first 3 batters.

[OFFNY]

I think Frank did all right considering for almost all of his career the owners were under no obligation to pay him any set amount and many players made a small fraction of his salary. There were players making $10k a year (or less) when he was pulling down over $100k. And you can live pretty well on $100k today.

Considering the era that he played in (Marvin Miller and company didn't even enter the picture until 1966, halfway through Robinson's career), I think that Robinson did alright for himself, also.

[Frobby]

I think Frank did all right considering for almost all of his career the owners were under no obligation to pay him any set amount and many players made a small fraction of his salary. There were players making $10k a year (or less) when he was pulling down over $100k. And you can live pretty well on $100k today.

Don't get me wrong, I'm not crying any tears for Frank. It's just fascinating to see how much more athletes are valued at today -- partially due to unionization, partly due to television, the internet, and other ways that MLB teams make money today.

Here are some listed salaries from the 1966 O's:

F. Robinson $64,000

B. Robinson $55,000

Fisher $35,000

Aparicio $32,500

Adair $27,500

Powell $23,000

Hall, $21,750

Held $20,000

Drabowsky $14,000

Roznovski $9,000

Short $9,000

Blair $8,000

Brabender $4,800

I don't have information on the other players, but the entire team payroll was probably less than the minimum rookie salary for one player today.

[MrOrange82]

I am not exaggerating when I say I might never have become an Orioles fan if this trade hadn't been made. I was 9 years old in 1966, and just starting to follow baseball. I lived in the DC suburbs where nearly everyone was a Senators fan. But the O's captured my imagination that summer, with Frank leading the way, and I never looked back. If not for that, I'd probably be a Nats fan now. It's hard for me to even conceive of not being a die-hard Orioles fan, but that easily could have happened.

What's interesting to me is how long(er)-term fans like yourself have managed to "hold onto" that fandom despite the obvious, overwhelming changes that've taken place over the decades. For example, in 1966 Frank Robinson was wealthy, but not so much that he could be (justifiably) seen as being divorced from the larger, Baltimore community (if not everyday reality). He earned about $64,000 that year, which was less than 10 times the average household income in the U.S. at that time.

If Chris Davis takes home $22 million per year on his next contract, he'll be making approximately 415 times the average household income in this country as of 2015. It should go without saying that such numbers are almost unreal. Maybe you feel differently, but I've been having some trouble sorting out what people/players like that represent. To me, they're certainly not peers. They're not representative of (the vast majority of) Baltimore's communities. They're just stupidly-rich, almost-alien persons who happen to wear black/orange.

I'm nostalgic for when you became a fan even though I couldn't have done the same. I didn't even exist until a couple of decades after Robinson came and went. But man...I'm getting to the point at which I just can't wrap my head around/internally justify these contracts anymore. It's a wonder to me that knowledgeable, older fans seem to have less trouble doing so. Maybe that's what lived-in nostalgia leads to.

[Frobby]

What's interesting to me is how long(er)-term fans like yourself have managed to "hold onto" that fandom despite the obvious, overwhelming changes that've taken place over the decades. For example, in 1966 Frank Robinson was wealthy, but not so much that he could be (justifiably) seen as being divorced from the larger, Baltimore community (if not everyday reality). He earned about $64,000 that year, which was less than 10 times the average household income in the U.S. at that time.

If Chris Davis takes home $22 million per year on his next contract, he'll be making approximately 415 times the average household income in this country as of 2015. It should go without saying that such numbers are almost unreal. Maybe you feel differently, but I've been having some trouble sorting out what people/players like that represent. To me, they're certainly not peers. They're not representative of (the vast majority of) Baltimore's communities. They're just stupidly-rich, almost-alien persons who happen to wear black/orange.

I'm nostalgic for when you became a fan even though I couldn't have done the same. I didn't even exist until a couple of decades after Robinson came and went. But man...I'm getting to the point at which I just can't wrap my head around/internally justify these contracts anymore. It's a wonder to me that knowledgeable, older fans seem to have less trouble doing so. Maybe that's what lived-in nostalgia leads to.

It's definitely not as easy to be a fan today, but honestly, to me these guys were never my peers, they were my heroes. Back in the old days, most of your experience with players was through things reported in the newspaper or relayed by the radio announcers. The game is actually much more intimate now, in certain ways. Every game is on TV, so you can see for yourself how they perform, then see it again in super slo-mo. There are pre-game shows and post-game shows where you see the players being interviewed and get a sense of their personalities. There is a ton of data on the strengths and weaknesses of players. The lives of these players away from the field is more detached from the average fan today due to their wealth, but I think the average fan actually knows them better today.