Frank Lane, aka Trader Lane, or Traitor Lane, was g.m. of The Tribe in the late 50s/early 60s. He made more trades than a day trader, and no player, no matter how popular with the fans, was safe from his trading obsession. So when he began to make noises about trading the all-time Cleveland Indians fan favorite, Rocky Colavito, the locals started a campaign to keep The Rock here. It was dubbed "Don't Knock the Rock!" Sadly, it did not stop Trader Lane from sending The Rock to Detroit for singles hitter Harvey Kuenn. The trade destroyed more than a decade of excellent baseball in Cleveland, leading to the prolonged slump that would continue on into the 1990s.
So when someone starts to bad-mouth my favorite player in any arena now, I say, "Don't Knock the Rock!" And they usually get traded anyhow.
