Frank Robinson defined a certain kind of baseball that is long gone to legend now. Not for Frank was the joyful expression of playfulness that made his contemporary Willie Mays so popular. Robinson’s game was defined by toughness, by will, by the grim but absolute determination to beat down his foe.
He drove himself and his teammates to greatness, particularly in his peak era seasons with the Baltimore Orioles, whom he helped take to four World Series. In Robinson’s final three years with Baltimore, they averaged 106 wins, and went to the World Series three straight times, winning once.