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!
With Robinson, the 1961 National League Most Valuable Player, in the outfield, the 1966 Baltimore Orioles had the final piece of the puzzle in place. 29 year old Brooks Robinson, the “Human Vacuum Cleaner”, was at third and 24 year old behemoth Boog Powell was manning first. The veteran Luis Aparicio played shortstop, and 23 year old Davey Johnson, who would manage the 1986 Mets to their storied comeback over the Boston Red Sox in the Bill Buckner World Series, was at second. One of the best fielding centerfielders ever to play the sport roamed the outfield for the 1966 Baltimore Orioles in Paul Blair, and the other outfielders were Curt Blefary, who smashed 23 homers, and Russ Snyder, who hit .306. The bulk of the catching for the 1966 Baltimore Orioles was done by Andy Etchebarren, who hit 11 homers and knocked in 50 runs despite a low average.
The pitching staff of the 1966 Baltimore Orioles was anchored by a trio of kids and a couple of veteran relievers. Jim Palmer was only 20, Dave McNally 23, and Wally Bunker 21, but they combined to post a record of 38-22 as starters. In the 1966 Baltimore Orioles bullpen was knuckleballer Jack Fisher and off-speed artist Stu Miller; this duo had 14 victories and 31 saves between them. Throw in Moe Drabowsky, who went 6-0 with 7 saves, and that easily offset the midseason loss of 10-6 Steve Barber to arm problems.
In his first at-bat of the season for the 1966 Baltimore Orioles, Frank Robinson was hit by a pitch. Brooks Robinson promptly homered as the next batter. Frank would add one of his own in a 13 inning defeat of Boston. The next day the pair hit back to back homers and the 1966 Baltimore Orioles were on their way. On May 8th, Frank Robinson hit the first ball completely out of Memorial Stadium in a home win over the Indians and Luis Tiant. Six weeks later, he would make the first of two game saving catches that year for the 1966 Baltimore Orioles. New York’s Roy White hit a long drive to right field on June 21st that would have given the Yanks an 8-7 win had not Robinson dove into the stands and emerged with the ball. He would rob the Yankees’ Ken Boyer in similar fashion two months later to save a thrilling 6-5 victory for the 1966 Baltimore Orioles. Robinson would be the one being saved on August 22nd at a private pool party being thrown for the team when Etchebarren rescued him from drowning after Frank fell into the pool!
That was the only close call the 1966 Baltimore Orioles would endure. Powell, who would mature into an RBI machine, had 34 homers and 109 runs batted in. The Robinsons each achieved the century mark for RBI for the 1966 Baltimore Orioles; Frank had 122 to go with his 49 home runs and Brooks had an even 100, along with 23 round trippers. Robinson’s .316 average, gave him the Triple Crown, baseball’s first since ten years prior when Mickey Mantle turned the trick. It was the lowest average of any Triple Crown winner, but that mattered little to Frank Robinson and the 1966 Baltimore Orioles.
With Frank Robinson playing as a man possessed to prove the Reds were wrong to dump him, the 1966 Baltimore Orioles had a 13 game lead in the American League by the end of July and took the pennant by 9 games over the defending American League champion Twins, winning 97 games. The Los Angeles Dodgers awaited the 1966 Baltimore Orioles in the World Series, which opened in Los Angeles on October 5th. In the first inning, Frank and Brooks Robinson each drilled home runs off of Don Drysdale, who had only been 13-16 on the year. When the Dodgers came back with a run in the second and one in the third, it looked as if the 1966 Baltimore Orioles would be in for a fight. Alas, for the Dodgers it was not to be, as they did not score again. They did not score again in the entire Series!
After reaching the left handed Dave McNally for their 2 tallies, the Dodgers were throttled by Moe Drabowsky and his 11 strikeouts over the next six and two thirds innings. He gave up only 1 hit in his relief role, and when the game ended the 1966 Baltimore Orioles had won 5-2. No one could have possibly imagined what was to transpire in the next three games, as the 1966 Baltimore Orioles pitching would yield a total of 14 hits for the remainder of the Series. Jim Palmer tossed a 4 hit gem on October 6th, with Sandy Koufax taking the loss. Koufax had been 27-9, with a 1.73 ERA against the National League, but even the pitcher who was arguably the greatest ever to play the game could not overcome 3 straight errors in centerfield by Willie Davis. In his last appearance in a major league game, Sandy Koufax, who would retire at the age of 30 due to an arthritic elbow, lost to Palmer and the 1966 Baltimore Orioles by a score of 6-0.
Paul Blair’s fifth inning home run would be the only run Wally Bunker would need two days later when the 1966 Baltimore Orioles, returning home, managed only 3 hits but still beat Claude Osteen and the Dodgers 1-0. Fittingly, Frank Robinson provided the home run that would beat a valiant Drysdale the next day, as McNally finished off the shocking sweep of the defending World Series champs by another 1-0 count. The 33 consecutive scoreless innings pitched by the 1966 Baltimore Orioles was a Series record. Incredibly, the O’s needed to use only 4 pitchers to do it; Palmer, McNally, Bunker, and Drabowsky.
Frank Robinson would be named World Series MVP; in November he became the first player to ever win the MVP in both leagues when he was named the American League’s Most Valuable Player. He, along with his 1966 Baltimore Orioles’ teammates Brooks Robinson, Aparicio, and Palme,r would all enter the Hall of Fame when their playing days ended. Baltimore would win the American League pennant in 1969, 1970, and 1971 before the Oakland A’s and then the rejuvenated Yankees would rule the Seventies. The Miracle Mets would turn the tables on the 1969 team much like the 1966 Baltimore Orioles surprised the Dodgers. Unfortunately, the Orioles of that era are remembered more for that Series loss than what the great 1966 Baltimore Orioles accomplished.
