Frank Robinson

1935-

American baseball player

Frank Robinson was a ballplayer whose career was so outstanding that he starred in both major leagues, both as a player and as a manager. In 21 seasons as an active player, primarily with the Cincinnati Reds and the Baltimore Orioles, Robinson hit for both power and average, with a career average of .294, 586 home runs, and 1812 runs batted in. Until injuries slowed him down in the mid-1960s, he was a threat on the base paths as well, averaging just over 17 stolen bases a year between 1957 and 1965. Along the way he helped his teams to five pennants and two World Series titles. Just as much as his prowess on the field, Frank Robinson will be remembered for his role in integrating baseball management. In 1975 he became the first African-American to manage a major league team, the Cleveland Indians of the American League; five years later he was the first black to manage a National League team, the San Francisco Giants. In 2000, he was named a vice president of Major League Baseball.

Early Life

Born in 1935 in Beaumont, Texas, Frank Robinson was the youngest of Ruth (Shaw) Robinson's ten children. After her third husband Frank deserted her, Ruth took her children, including four-year-old Frank Jr, and moved to Oakland, California. By the time he was a teenager, baseball was the focus of young Frank's life. His mother was poor and he was fourteen before he owned his own baseball glove. But that did not prevent Robinson from playing baseball all day long every day in the summer, coming home for dinner only after there was no more light for the game. Just after his fourteenth birthday, his batting talent caught the eye of one of his school teachers, George Powles, who invited Robinson to join his Doll Drug Company team, and a year later his championship American Legion team. After Robinson joined, the team—which would eventually send 14 of its 25 players into professional ball—won another title. Robinson continued under Powles' mentorship at Oakland's McClymonds High School, where he was in the class just a year behind future basketball great Bill Russell 's.

Robinson had told a high school counselor at McClymonds that he intended to play major league ball. The dream started coming true after his graduation in 1953 when he was signed by the Cincinnati Reds organization. Though he grew up poor, Robinson had lived in an integrated neighborhood in Oakland that was remarkably free of racial strife. This changed dramatically when he played for the Reds' minor league teams in Ogden, Utah, and Columbia, South Carolina. "Ogden was in a Mormon state, and though I didn't know it, at that time the Mormon religion insisted that Negroes were inferior beings," he recalled in his book Extra Innings. "I got my first taste of racial bigotry in Ogden." He could not use the hotels or restaurants frequented by white players; he was not allowed in movie theaters; he had to wait for special black cabs to ride to the ballpark. On top of it all, he had to endure the racial taunts and obscenities shouted by fans and opponents. The situation was no better in Columbia.

Joining the Big Leagues

Robinson finally got the call to the majors in 1956, joining the Reds at a annual salary of $6,000. In his first major league at-bat, he drilled a fastball off the outfield wall for a double. By the time that first season had ended, Robinson had turned in one of the most remarkable rookie years in major league history, hitting .290, driving in 83 runs and slugging 38 home runs, a performance that earned him recognition as the National League's Rookie of the Year. Over the next ten years, Robinson crafted the foundation of a Hall of Fame career, hitting consistently for both average and power, topping .300 five times, batting in more than 100 RBIs four times and hitting 25 or more homers eight times. In 1961, when he led the Reds to a National League pennant, Robinson was voted National League Most Valuable Player.

Chronology

Awards and Accomplishments

Early in his career, Frank Robinson got a reputation as a problem player who was prey to sudden, inexplicable mood swings. His fierce playing style, particularly on the base paths, got him labeled a dirty player who would go out of his way to spike opposing infielders. Robinson defended himself in Extra Innings: "I never relaxed on a ball field. I have always believed in going all out all the time. The baseline belongs to the runner, and whenever I was running the bases, I always slid hard. If the second baseman or shortstop was in the way, coming across the base trying to turn a double play, I hit him hard."

He was just as often on the receiving end of the spikes. In one incident Robinson got slashed on the leg and required 30 stitches. In 1967, playing with Baltimore, he was hit so hard in the head by an infielder's knee, that he was knocked unconscious for five minutes. As a result, he missed a month of the season and suffered from impaired vision of varying degrees for much of the rest of his career. His equally aggressive batting stance—he leaned his head out over the plate to get a good look at pitches as they came in and to protect the outside corner—made him the regular league leader in being hit by pitches.

At the end of the 1965 season, assuming that at 30 years of age Robinson was well past his prime, Cincinnati traded him to the Baltimore Orioles. The season that followed was one of the greatest of Robinson's career. He won the Triple Crown—the batting, home run and RBI titles—led the Orioles to a triumph in the World Series, and was named the American League's Most Valuable Player, becoming the first and only player to be voted MVP in both major leagues. Robinson batted .316 in 1965, hit 49 home runs, and drove in 122.

With Robinson in the line-up, the Orioles would win three more pennants and another World Series. In 1966 Robinson was named World Series MVP after he led Baltimore to a four-game sweep of the Los Angeles Dodgers. During the Series he batted .286, hit two home runs, and drove in three runs.

Robinson stayed with the Orioles through the 1971 season, then was traded to the Los Angeles Dodgers for the 1972 season. This began an odyssey that saw him play for the Dodgers, Angels, and the Cleveland Indians over the next five seasons. Robinson retired as a player in 1976.

The First Black Manager

While playing with the Orioles, Robinson had set his sights on becoming a major league manager. He knew the odds were against him. Despite integration of players, there was still a de facto color barrier at the management level in the majors. No black or Hispanic had ever managed a big league team, much less made it into the executive ranks. Knowing of Robinson's ambition, Baltimore manager Earl Weaver helped him obtain an entry level managing job with the Santurce Cangrejeros in the Puerto Rican winter leagues, a job he held from 1968 to 1975. The team won the pennant in 1968 and Robinson was named Manager of the Year.

Career Statistics

In 1975, in a historic move, he was named the Cleveland Indians' player-manager. The appointment came with a hitch, however: Much to Robinson's displeasure, the Indians refused to give him even a token raise over his player's salary. "If they were to release me right now, I would get $180,000 over the next year," he relates telling his agent. "If I take the job to manage the ball-club, and also play, I get the same amount. But they've put me in a position where they know I almost can't refuse their offer. If I refuse, there's no telling when I will ever get another chance to manage in the major leagues—or if I will. If I turn the job down, that would just give other owners an excuse not to hire me or other blacks." Robinson ultimately took the Cleveland job, becoming the first African-American manager in baseball. He kept the job a little over a year.

In 1980 Robinson became the first black manager in the National League when he took over the San Francisco Giants. The team played so well in 1982, going 87-75, that Robinson was named the National League's Manager of the Year. However, conflict on the Giants bench, combined with Robinson's impatience with some young players, and an uncooperative front office led to his being fired in 1984. He returned to his old home, the Baltimore Orioles, as a coach in 1985, and in 1988 was appointed manager there. In 1989 he led the team, which had come in last the previous year, to an 87-75 record and surprising second-place finish, just two games behind pennant-winning Toronto. At the season's end, he was the unanimous choice for the American League's Manager of the Year. He was the first manager to win the award in both leagues. When the team faltered in 1990, Robinson was replaced, but not fired. He was promoted to assistant general manager of the Orioles.

In 2000 Robinson became one of the highest-placed blacks in organized baseball when Commissioner Bud Selig created a position for him, the vice president for on-field operations. A large part of Robinson's responsibility was disciplining players involved in on-field altercations. His hard-line approach thrust him back into the public eye. After one brawl between the Dodgers and Cubs, Robinson levied fines totaling $72,000 and suspended 16 players and three coaches for a total of 84 games, a major league record. Once one of the fiercest, most unrelenting players in the major leagues, Robinson was determined to put an end to the disturbing trend of violence on major league baseball diamonds.

Frank Robinson's life in baseball has been one of unremitting commitment to excellence, as witnessed by his Rookie of the Year, two MVP, and two manager of the Year awards, his presence on 12 All-Star teams in both major leagues, and his first ballot induction into baseball's Hall of Fame. His outspoken courage in criticizing baseball's discrimination against people of color and his own success in overcoming racial barriers have earned him an equally important place in the sport's history.

CONTACT INFORMATION

Address: c/o Montreal Expos, P.O. Box 500, Station "M", Montreal, QC H1V 3P2, Canada.

SELECTED WRITINGS BY ROBINSON:

(With Al Silverman) My Life Is Baseball. New York: Doubleday, 1968.

(With Dave Anderson) Frank. New York: Holt, Rinehart, Winston, 1976.

Where Is He Now?

Frank Robinson lives with his wife of 41 years, Barbara. They have two children, a son Frank Jr. and a daughter Nichelle. In February 2002 Robinson was hired to manage the Montreal Expos of the National League. In November 2002, he agreed to continue to manage the club in 2003.

(With Berry Stainback) Extra Innings. New York: McGraw Hill, 1988.

FURTHER INFORMATION

Periodicals

Anderson, Dave. "Frank Robinson's Return." New York Times, January 15, 1981: D21.

Chass, Murray. "After Spending His Life Inside the Game, Robinson Finds Himself Out of It." New York Times, April 20, 1997:. H7.

Chass, Murray. "Latest Literary Battle: Robinson vs. Ueberroth and Edwards." New York Times, April 24, 1988: H3

Cooper, Tony. "Enigmatic Frank Robinson Has Mellowed." San Francisco Chronicle, May 16, 1991: D1.

Dolgan, Bob. "Explosive Tenure Began With Bang."Cleveland Plain Dealer, May 19, 1997: 5C.

Durso, Joseph. "Aaron, Robinson Inducted And Honored As Pioneers." New York Times, August 2, 1982: C7.

Elderkin, Phil. "Frank Robinson stresses basics for the Giants." Christian Science Monitor,. March 18, 1981: 14.

Elderkin, Phil. "Robinson Takes Accumulated Baseball Knowledge to Giants Manager Job." Christian Science Monitor, January 19, 1981: 12.

"Frank Robinson: Baseball's Dean Of Discipline." Ebony., August, 2000: 48.

Graeff, Burt. "Robinson Still Fearless At The Plate." Cleveland Plain Dealer, August 7, 2000: 1D.

Justice, Richard. "Baseball Names F. Robinson VP." Washington Post, February 26, 2000: D01.

Justice, Richard. "Frank Robinson Sets to Work." Washington Post, April 17, 1988, D1.

Justice, Richard. "Robinson 'Recharged,' Eager to Manage Again." Washington Post, July 1, 1987: B1.

Kjos, Les. "Another Black Manager? Not Soon, Says Robby." U.P.I. March 23, 1985.

Leavy, Jane. "Frank Robinson, at Ease."Washington Post, June 21, 1988: D1.

"Robinson Wins By A Landslide." St. Louis Post-Dispatch. November 2, 1989: 6D.

Stubbs, Dave. "Still Blazing a Trail." Montreal Gazette, July 13, 2002: D1.

Other

Expos Year in Review, December 26, 2002. Available at: http://montreal.expos.mlb.com/NASApp/mlb/mon/news/mon_news.jsp?ym20021226&contentid=187360&vkeynews_mon=mon&fextjsp

Sketch by Gerald E. Brennan