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Frank Robinson
#20
| Right
Fielder | Cincinnati
Reds | Roster
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Frank Robinson |
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| Frank Robinson |
Rookie of the Year in 1956, the only man ever to be named MVP in both leagues (Cincinnati in 1961 and Baltimore in 1966), and one of only 13 National Leaguers to win the Triple Crown, Robinson was one of the greatest hitters who ever played the game. He finished in the top five in both slugging percentage and on-base average 11 times each - a feat matched only by Rogers Hornsby, Babe Ruth, Stan Musial, Ty Cobb, Mel Ott, Lou Gehrig, Mickey Mantle and Jimmie Foxx.
He is fourth on the all-time home run list with 586, trailing only Hank Aaron, Babe Ruth and Willie Mays. His 1966 season stands as one of the best ever - he led the league in home runs (49), total bases (357), runs (122), RBI (122), sac flies (7), batting average (.316), on-base average (.410) and slugging percentage (.637).
He could hit for average - he registered a lifetime .294 batting average - and was an aggressive and intelligent baserunner. He was an intelligent player and a good leader, and went on to become the first African-American field manager, guiding the Indians, Giants and Orioles. When the Orioles faced the Blue Jays, managed by Cito Gaston, on June 27, 1989, it was the first ML game in history to feature a pair of black managers.
Perhaps more than any of the other black stars who rose in the 1950s and 1960s, Robinson was driven by a fierce racial pride that often took a confrontational form. The angry young civil-rights advocate began carrying a gun in self-defense in response to numerous death threats. He was eventually arrested for brandishing it at a short-order cook who had refused to serve him. In 1959, he slid hard into Braves third baseman Eddie Mathews, precipitating one of the most memorable brawls in baseball history and the first between black and white stars. Booed intensely, Robinson responded with a grand slam against the Braves and took off on a batting tear climaxed by three homers against the Phillies on August 22.
Robinson came out of nowhere in 1956 to win the Reds' left-field job. Crowding the plate, challenging pitchers, and sliding hard, he tied Wally Berger's rookie record of 38 homers, made the NL All-Star team, led the league with 122 runs scored, and was hit by pitches a rookie-record 20 times. The Reds as a team hit a NL-record 221 homers that season, improving 16 games in the standings to finish just two games out of first place. For the next ten seasons, Robinson was their undisputed leader. Batting .322 as a sophomore, Robinson was one of eight Reds elected to the NL All-Star starting lineup in 1957, and was the only outfielder who wasn't removed by Commissioner Ford Frick after the details of a ballot-stuffing campaign by Cincinnati management was exposed.
Recurring arm trouble caused Robinson to slump to .269 in 1958, as he experimented at first and third bases while winning a Gold Glove in left field. Shifted to first base full-time in 1959, Robinson sat on the bench during the first of that year's two All-Star Games. Seething, he came back with three straight hits, including a homer, in the second game. He finished that season with 36 HR, 125 RBI, a .311 batting average, and 106 runs. Despite more arm pain, Robinson won his first of three straight NL slugging titles with .595 in 1960.
Playing through injuries in 1963, Robinson saw his offensive output plummet. He broke his slump by choking up two inches on the bat, chopping at the ball. His speed garnered him a career-high 26 steals. Returning to form in 1964, Robinson hit .306 with 29 HR and 96 RBI, and followed with a .296 average, 33 HR, and 113 RBI in 1965. But Reds GM Bill DeWitt traded Robinson to the Orioles with outfield prospect Dick Simpson for pitchers Milt Pappas and Jack Baldschun. The deal was immediately the most unpopular in Reds history, and attendance, offense, and morale all dropped sharply until Johnny Bench assumed the leadership and cleanup roles three years later. DeWitt, who defended the deal by calling Robinson "an old thirty," eventually lost his job. In 1966 Robinson led the Orioles to the first pennant and a World Series upset sweep of the Dodgers.
The first Triple Crown winner since Mickey Mantle in 1956, Robinson led the AL with 49 HR, 122 RBI, a .316 batting average, a .637 slugging percentage, and 122 runs. He capped his season with two home runs off Don Drysdale in the World Series. When he was voted MVP, he became the first man to win the award in both the NL and AL. He appeared to be headed toward a second straight Triple Crown in 1967 until he was hurt late in the season. Carl Yastrzemski won the Triple Crown instead, while Robinson finished second in batting (.311) and slugging (.576), third in RBI (94), and fourth in HR (30) while playing only 129 games. Injuries continued to hamper him in 1968, but he rebounded in 1969, leading the Orioles to the AL pennant while hitting .308 with 32 HR, 100 RBI, and 111 runs.
He finished 1970 with 25 HR, 78 RBI, and a .306 batting average, his last .300 average. After 28 HR, 99 RBI, and a .281 BA in 1971, Robinson was sent to the Dodgers in a six-man deal. He hit only .251 for Los Angeles, with 19 homers in 103 games, before moving on to the Angels in a seven-man trade the next winter. Robinson rebounded to .266 with 30 HR and 97 RBI. By this time Robinson was managing in winter ball, making no secret of his ambition to become the first black manager in the major leagues. When the Indians, well out of contention, acquired him on waivers late in 1974, rumors of a managerial change soon surfaced.
In 1988, Robinson was installed as manager after Cal Ripken, Sr., lost his first six games. The streak extended to a record 21 losses from the start of the season before the Orioles finally won. Robinson turned the club around in 1989, guiding the Orioles to first place at the All-Star break and second place at the end of the season; Baltimore wasn't eliminated until the final series of the season, against Toronto.
"Going
over the hitters it was decided that we should pitch Frank Robinson underground."
— Jim Bouton
"Close
don't count in baseball. Close only counts in horseshoes and grenades."
— Frank Robinson
"Probably the most dramatic change in pitching I've observed in my years in baseball has been
the disappearance of the knockdown or brushback pitch. This is why record numbers of home
runs are flying out of ballparks, why earned run averages are soaring, and why there are so few
twenty
game winners in the majors."
— Frank Robinson
"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 twenty-seven outs in a
ballgame,
and it was my job to save one for my team every time I possibly could."
— Frank Robinson
Picture from National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum, Inc.
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