HERE’S TO YOU, MR. ROBINSON

The Major League Baseball All-Star Game in Cincinnati on Tuesday night featured a tribute to the sport’s greats, living and deceased.

Each team had a Franchise Four, voted on by fans, and that sort of thing will always induce arguments because: A, fans sometimes vote for their favorites and not the greatest players; B, when there can only be four, someone (or several someones) get left out.

Cincinnati, of course, will never get over the years of The Big Red Machine, the Reds teams of 1970-76 that twice won the World Series and four National League pennants. The Reds’ Franchise Four reflected that era: Pete Rose, Johnny Bench, and Joe Morgan. The fourth: Long-time shortstop Barry Larkin (1986-2004).

Missing: Frank Robinson.

Except Robinson was there. He was one of the Baltimore Orioles’ Franchise Four.

Robinson, a fine outfielder, played the first 10 years of his career with the Reds and hit 324 home runs and drove in 1,004 runs for them. The Reds went to one World Series in his tenure (1961) and lost to the New York Yankees. Robinson played six years with the Orioles and continued to post similar numbers. Robinson joined the O’s in 1966 and was with them as they won the World Series twice (once over the Reds).

Robinson, named to the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1982, always seems to get overlooked in discussions of the game’s greats. He hit 586 home runs in 21 seasons and hit .294 for his career, a figure that would have been higher had he not stuck around for three non-descript seasons with the Cleveland Indians.

So here’s to you, Mr. Robinson. Some of us do not forget.

P.S. The American League topped the National League 6-3, winning this game for the third consecutive year. Mike Trout, who homered leading off for the AL, was the MVP for the second straight year.
 
 
Post By: Larry Weisman, a longtime sportswriter for USA TODAY, blogs for Twistity.com. Follow him on Twitter @MrLarryWeisman .