Frank Robinson

Ninth in an 11-part series examining the vagaries of awards voting.

The answer is absolutely not.

The Bleacher Report editorial staff asked me my opinion of the designated hitter. Do guys like Vladimir Guerrero of the Texas Rangers and David Ortiz of the Boston Red Sox help the game, or is their specialization bad for baseball? I consider myself a baseball purist (I dislike artificial turf, 12-man pitching staffs, innings limits, pitch counts, and the Wild Card) but I do like the DH.

With one of the most exciting times of the baseball season, the trading deadline, behind us, the contenders should begin to take shape within the next month as we move closer to October baseball.

With so much talk of trades the past several weeks, I decided to look back and name what I feel is the best trade, be it deadline, off-season, or otherwise, in the history of each MLB team.

Some decisions were certainly easier than others, with moves like the Lou Brock and Jeff Bagwell trades a no-brainer. However, for other team's it was much harder to settle on a best trade.

This coming season marks the 40th anniversary of one of the finest teams in baseball history, the 1970 Baltimore Orioles.

A dominating team, whose central cast of players were responsible for six first-place finishes in a nine-year period, the 1970 version of the Birds saw everything going right.

The Baltimore Orioles may not have been to the postseason since 1997, but the Maryland franchise has a rich history which includes three World Series victories and a string of first place finishes in the AL East under Earl Weaver in the 1970s.

One question, hundreds of answers. Which Oriole had the greatest offensive season at his position?

Major League baseball has been asking fans this same question in an effort to choose each team's best ever collection of stars. They are calling it MLB 9s.

As I watch the New York Yankees erupt for another night of offensive fireworks against the Baltimore Orioles under-whelming pitching staff, I’m tempted to pound out a column imploring team president Andy MacPhail to forget about his plan and go find some pitching NOW.

Then, after I take a few deep breaths and let the blood flow back to my brain, I realize that this is one of the rare cases in professional sports where you can’t dwell on the current win-loss record.