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LOT #80007 |

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1966 Frank Robinson Game Worn Baltimore Orioles Jersey....

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Historic garment from Triple Crown, American League MVP, World Championship season!

1966 Frank Robinson Game Worn Baltimore Orioles Jersey. It's considered one of the most lopsided trades in Major League history, Reds owner Bill DeWitt sending a thirty-year old Frank Robinson to Baltimore prior to the 1966 season in exchange for pitchers Milt Pappas and Jack Baldschun, and outfielder Dick Simpson. It was a transaction that made DeWitt a pariah in his Cincinnati hometown, and Robinson an instant hero to his new fans in Memorial Stadium, where he'd become the first and only man in stadium history to launch a home run beyond its confines on May 8, 1966.

It would prove to be one of a career-best forty-nine (49) for Robinson, who would likewise lead all American Leaguers with 122 runs batted in and a .316 batting average to claim the fabled Triple Crown. Voting for the Most Valuable Player Award was a mere formality, with Robinson claiming all twenty first-place ballots. Orioles teammates Brooks Robinson and Boog Powell claimed second and third place.

As one would logically conclude, that dominance of the MVP victors' podium translated into enormous success for the team itself in 1966, the Orioles cruising to the American League pennant by a nine-game margin, and then sending Cy Young winner Sandy Koufax into retirement with a four-game World Series sweep of the Los Angeles Dodgers.

The MEARS letter of examination supplies an image of Robinson wearing the presented jersey during that Fall Classic massacre, grinning with Brooks Robinson and winning pitcher Moe Drabowsky in the Dodger Stadium locker room after their five-to-two Game One victory. The Robinsons would take Don Drysdale deep in consecutive first inning at bats in that October 5th contest to claim a quick lead the Orioles would never relinquish.

The placement of the scripted "Baltimore 20" on the jersey front relative to the buttons and dark piping tells the tale of that delectable vintage, those identifiers constructed of the same orange and black felt that forms a larger number "20" on reverse. The removal of Robinson's name on reverse accounts for all points lost in the MEARS assessment, two for the removal itself, and two more for some abrasions suffered in the process, and a few scattered light stains including adhesive residue from an earlier framing. The former issue can be forgiven--name removal was standard practice for Orioles jerseys repurposed for secondary minor league use. The latter, as our catalog imagery should convey, causes little distraction.

The elite Robinson vintage is reported twice, first at interior collar where an embroidered swatch denotes year, jersey number and size: "66 20 44." A flap tag at lower left front tail is anchored at the right seam of a washing instructions label, reading "Set 1 1966." A "Spalding" manufacturer's label appears above.

Heavy game use suggests what the photo match imagery confirms, that this jersey was with Robinson until the very end of one of the greatest seasons, both individually and collectively, in Baltimore Orioles history. LOA from MEARS, A6. LOA from Heritage Auctions.

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