Bob Robertson

Infobox MLB retired
bgcolor1=#EAC117
bgcolor2=#000000
textcolor1=black
textcolor2=white
name=Bob Robertson
position=First Baseman
bats=Right
throws=Right
birthdate=birth date and age|1946|10|2
Frostburg, Maryland
debutdate=September 18
debutyear=1967
debutteam=Pittsburgh Pirates
finaldate=June 23
finalyear=1979
finalteam=Toronto Blue Jays
stat1label=BA
stat1value=.242
stat2label=HR
stat2value=115
stat3label=RBI
stat3value=368
teams=
*Pittsburgh Pirates (1967, 1969-1976)
*Seattle Mariners (1978)
*Toronto Blue Jays (1979)
highlights=
*Hit 4 home runs in the 1971 NLCS, three in one game
*World Series champions: 1971

Robert Eugene Robertson (born October 2, 1946 in Frostburg, Maryland) is a former first baseman in Major League Baseball.

Robertson, who batted and threw right-handed, played for the Pittsburgh Pirates (1967-1976), Seattle Mariners (1978) and Toronto Blue Jays (1979).

Touted as “another Ralph Kiner” after leading the minor leagues in home runs three times, Robertson broke into the Pirates’ regular lineup in by|1970 playing alongside future Hall-of-Famers Roberto Clemente and Willie Stargell. He batted .287 with 27 home runs and 82 runs batted in (all career highs) on a team that won the National League East Division, the Pirates' first trip to the post-season since winning the 1960 World Series. However, they were defeated in the National League Championship Series by the Cincinnati Reds.

In by|1971 Robertson hit .271 with 26 home runs and 72 RBIs. That year, the Pirates defeated the San Francisco Giants in the NLCS, and the Baltimore Orioles 4 games to 3 to win the World Series. Only a few years before the arrival of “Mr. October,” Robertson had one of the finest post-seasons (playoffs and World Series combined) in Major League history. In the NLCS he hit four home runs (a record later tied by Steve Garvey in 1978 and Jeffrey Leonard in 1987), three of them in the Pirates’ Game Two victory, which was played the day after Robertson's 25th birthday. He also added a double, setting the record for most total bases in a post-season game, as well as tying the record of 4 long hits a post-season game. Robertson would hit two more home runs in the World Series; one of those came in Game Three of Baltimore starter Mike Cuellar with Clemente on second and Stargell on first, after Robertson, who had no sacrifice bunts on the season and only one the year before, had missed the bunt sign. Television replays would show that Clemente had appeared to call time-out just before that pitch; however, Cuellar was already in his windup at the time. Steve Blass, the winning pitcher in that Game Three, was sitting next to manager Danny Murtaugh in the Pirate dugout. The pitcher offered to pay the fine if Murtaugh imposed one on Robertson for missing the bunt sign. Murtaugh didn't. [http://home.mindspring.com/~gearhard/pigreat2.html#robertson]

In the years following the World Series title, however Robertson slumped, hitting only .193 with 12 home runs and 41 RBI in by|1972, .239 with 14 home runs and 40 RBIs in by|1973 and .229 with 16 home runs and 48 RBIs in by|1974. After having surgery done on both knees in 1974 he was reduced to only a part-time player.

In his career, Robertson batted .242 with 115 home runs and 368 RBI in 829 games played. Known for his massive power, he was the first player ever hit a home run into the left-field upper deck of Three Rivers Stadium. [http://www.mindspring.com/~gearhard/stadiums.html#upperdeck] His shot came off San Diego Padre pitcher Steve Arlin on July 16, by|1971. All told, 13 home runs had been hit into the upper deck, with teammate Willie Stargell connecting for four of them. Pirate announcer Bob Prince once said of him, "Robertson could hit a ball out of any park—including Yellowstone."

ee also

* Major League Baseball hitters with three home runs in one game

External links

* [http://www.baseball-reference.com/r/roberbo01.shtml Career stats and analysis]
* [http://www.baseballlibrary.com/baseballlibrary/ballplayers/R/Robertson_Bob.stm Baseball Library]