Obituaries

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Baseball great Frank Robinson

Frank Robinson (August 31, 1935 – February 7, 2019) was an American outfielder and manager in Major League Baseball (MLB) who played for five teams from 1956 to 1976, and became the only player to be named the Most Valuable Player of both the National League and American League.[1] He was named the NL MVP with the Cincinnati Reds in 1961 after leading the team to the pennant with a .323 batting average, and won the AL MVP in 1966 in his first season with the Baltimore Orioles after winning the Triple Crown. Robinson helped lead the Orioles to World Series titles in 1966 and 1970. A 14-time All-Star, Robinson's 586 career home runs ranked fourth in major league history at the time of his retirement, and he ranked sixth in total bases (5,373) and tenth in runs scored (1,829).[2] Robinson was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in his first year of eligibility in 1982.

In 1975, Robinson became the first black manager in major league history.[3] He managed the Cleveland Indians during the last two years of his playing career, compiling a 186–189 record. He went on to manage the San Francisco Giants, the Baltimore Orioles, and the Montreal Expos/Washington Nationals. For most of the last two decades of his life, Robinson served in various executive positions for Major League Baseball, concluding as honorary President of the American League.[4]

Much more at Wikipedia



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Frank Robinson had the ability and intensity on the diamond that few possess. Robinson would crowd the plate like he owned it. “Pitchers did me a favor when they knocked me down,” he said. “It made me more determined. I wouldn’t let that pitcher get me out. They say you can’t hit if you’re on your back, but I didn’t hit on my back. I got up.”

He was recognized as one of the most feared baserunners of his era and showed reckless abandon on the base paths. “The baselines belongs to the runner, and whenever I was running the bases, I always slid hard. I wanted infielders to have that instant’s hesitation about coming across the bag at second or about standing in there awaiting a throw to make a tag. There are only 27 outs in a ballgame, and it was my job to save one for my team every time I possibly could.”

Robinson broke into the National League as a 20-year-old in 1956 and tied a rookie record with 38 home runs en route to NL Rookie of the Year honors. Over the next decade and a half, Robinson was one of the most feared hitters in the game. He won the Triple Crown in 1966 and was the first player in major league history to win the MVP Award in both leagues. A 12-time All-Star, he also took home World Series MVP honors in 1966 and the All-Star Game MVP Award in 1971.

When asked by a fan how he would pitch to Frank Robinson, All-Star pitcher Jim Bouton replied, “Reluctantly.” In 1975, as his playing days wound down with the Cleveland Indians, he was named the club’s player-manager. He was the first African-American to manage a major league club. He also managed the Giants, Orioles, Expos and Nationals and was named American League Manager of the Year in 1989.

Former Expos and Nationals GM Jim Bowden commented, “I have a lot of respect for Frank Robinson. He has respect for the game of baseball and the way it should be played. I was pleased because he is a man of his word. He said he was going to do something, and he follows up and he does it.”

https://baseballhall.org/hall-of-famers/robinson-frank

As a fan of the Detroit Tigers in the late 1960s and early 1970s I considered him Menace #1.