THIS DAY IN BÉISBOL December 4: Mike Cuellar traded to Orioles, wins Cy Young

Mike Cuellar was a 31-year-old middle of the rotation starter for the Houston Astros when a trade to the Baltimore Orioles on this day in béisbol, December 4, 1968 transformed him into a Cy Young winner.

The Cuban native was a barely .500 pitcher with a 42-41 record and decent 2.90 ERA over his first five seasons. But joining the powerhouse Birds — which also boasted a formidable rotation led by future Hall of Fame Jim Palmer and Dave McNally — made him a star.

Cuellar averaged nearly 21 wins a season with a 2.99 ERA in his first six years in Baltimore, winning more than 20 games four times between 1969 and 1974 and taking home the Cy Young in ’69 with a 23-11, 2.38 ERA performance for the perennial pennant winners.

The late-blooming southpaw retired in 1977 at age 40 with 185 career wins.

Also on this day: In 1976, third baseman Aurelio Rodriguez of the Detroit Tigers breaks an aging Brooks Robinson’s 16-season stranglehold on the AL Gold Glove Award. Rodriguez, a native of Mexico who spent 17 years in the majors on the strength of his defense, finally wrested the award from the Orioles’ Robinson, 39, who won from 1960 to 1975.

Baltimore Orioles, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons; LatinoBaseball.com illustration