Written by Will Shiflett
February 21, 2008

When it comes to 'Dynamic Duo's' in Baltimore Oriole history, two come to mind.
First we had Frank and Brooks Robinson. While they played only 6 seasons together (I know seems like more, but it was from 1966-71) they were able to lead the Orioles to two world championships and two other appearances in the World Series.

Frank was traded from Cincinnati to Baltimore (could there be another OF coming this off season... see below) before the 1966 season. The Reds thought he was an 'old’ 30 at the time. HA!

While in Baltimore, Frank hit 179 home runs, drove in 539 runs and scored 555 times. He also averaged .298 per season. He won the 1966 AL MVP Award, the 1966 Triple Crown Award, the 1966 World Series MVP, and the 1971 All-Star game MVP.

His partner was Brooks Robinson. Brooks hit 123 home runs, drove in 522 runs and scored 468 times. He also hit for a .262 average (that's a bit lower than his career average of .268). Brooks won the 1966 All-Star game MVP, was a gold glove player each of the six seasons with Frank and also won the 1970 World Series MVP.

Brooks also received the 1966 Lou Gehrig Memorial Award; an award given to the player who gives back to the community. Together in six seasons they averaged 50 home runs a season, with 193 runs batted in and 170 runs scored while winning four AL Championships and two World Series. Not to shabby, huh?

The second 'Dynamic Duo' in Baltimore Oriole history would be Eddie Murray and Cal Ripken.

Eddie and Cal played together for 7 seasons (1982-'88) in Baltimore. I know Eddie returned later, but I'm concentrating on when they were in their primes. Murray was starting to establish himself as the best clutch hitter in baseball when Cal entered the scene for good at the start of the 1982 season. While together Murray posted these numbers:
200 home runs,
714 runs batted in and
635 runs scored.
Eddie also hit a cool .298 in those seven seasons. He finished regularly in the top 5 in the AL MVP races. Murray also was the man who crushed two Charlie Hudson pitches into the night in game 5 of the 1983 World Series.

Cal came right into the AL and won both the AL Rookie of the Year Award in 1982 and the AL MVP Award in 1983. Cal also caught the last out of the 1983 World Series, the only one he ever played in.
In seven seasons with Eddie Murray batting behind him, Cal posted numbers like this:
183 home runs,
651 runs batted in and
712 runs scored.
Cal also hit .309 with Eddie protecting him.

Together in seven seasons Eddie and Cal averaged 54 home runs, 195 runs batted in and 192 runs scored. They won the one World Series and that was the only time they made the playoffs together (Eddie returned later in his career to collect his 500th home run).

I know the pitching on those teams was awesome and the defense was even better. But when you look into Oriole history and study the years we won, it came down to the HOF'ers. Cal, Eddie, Brooks and Frank all HOF'ers. The only pitcher in the HOF that played with all four men is Jim Palmer. Not McNally, Cuellar, Flanagan, McGregor, Boddicker, Phoebus, Dobson, etc, etc, etc......

This brings us to the next Baltimore Oriole ' Dynamic Duo.' We have a future All-Star outfielder in Nick Markakis and now we have added the Robin to his Batman in acquiring Adam Jones from Seattle last week for Erik Bedard.

This could be our next Brooks and Frank... Cal and Eddie. Hell, they may even be the first Nick and Adam. Markakis is only 24 and Jones is 21. We could see them together longer than Cal-Eddie and Brooks-Frank were together... COMBINED!

With a little help from a few of their top draft choices and the prospects we got in return for Tejada and Bedard lets hope for a quick to mature group that becomes certain and solid Major League players, this could be an interesting team to watch come 2010.

Let the AL East be forewarned... The Oriole Way is coming to a stadium near you!

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