The 1966 Baltimore Orioles- Baseball's Forgotten Champions

A Triple Crown and a Triple Shutout World Series

Forty years ago one of the most overlooked teams in baseball annals, the 1966 Baltimore Orioles, had a remarkable season, then followed it up with perhaps the greatest and most dominant World Series victory ever. The 1966 Baltimore Orioles had a Triple Crown winning superstar, three men with 100 or more RBI, four guys with over 20 home runs, four future Hall of Famers on the roster, and a second baseman that would preside over one of the most stunning comebacks in World Series history 20 years later. Yet, for some reason, the 1966 Baltimore Orioles are seldom remembered or mentioned by baseball historians.

That year, the Yankees were completing a shocking freefall into the bottom of the basement in the American League, leaving the 1966 Baltimore Orioles and the rest of the teams in the junior circuit to sort things out among themselves. The 1966 Baltimore Oorioles had been a solid club the year before, finishing 94-68 under an extremely underrated manager in ex-Yankee outfielder Hank Bauer. But an off-season acquisition would make this good team into a great one.

The Cincinnati Reds' General Manager, Bill DeWitt, got the idea that his best player, Frank Robinson, was an "old" thirty, and traded him to the 1966 Baltimore Orioles for pitcher Milt Pappas, even up. It turned out to be one of the worst deals in Major League Baseball history, as Pappas, who was only 13-9 the previous season, would be gone from the Queen City in less than three years, barely a .500 hurler. Frank Robinson meanwhile would lead the 1966 Baltimore Orioles to their first title ever. The team, which had formerly been the dreadful St. Louis Browns until the mid-Fifties, had only been to one World Series until Robinson came on board. Including the 1966 Baltimore Orioles, Frank would help them into 4 in 6 years!