Another great deal for the O’s

Mike Cuellar with the Orioles

Nearly three years to the day after stealing future Hall of Fame outfielder Frank Robinson from the Cincinnati Reds following the 1965 season, the Baltimore Orioles fleece another National League team 56 years ago today.

This time, they acquire starting pitcher Mike Cuellar from the Houston Astros for once-promising outfielder Curt Blefary.

Curt Blefary

While Blefary bounces around with five other organizations before retiring after the 1973 season, the Cuban-born Cuellar spends eight seasons with the Orioles, going 143-88 with four 20-win seasons, a Cy Young Award in 1969 and four appearances in the postseason.

“He was like an artist,” former Orioles pitcher and Hall of Famer Jim Palmer says of Cuellar after his longtime teammate’s death in 2010.

“He could paint a different picture every time he went out there,” Palmer says. “He could finesse you. He could curveball you to death or screwball you to death. From 1969 to ’74, he was probably the best left-hander in the American League.”