Frank Robinson

Infobox MLB retired
name=Frank Robinson


position=Outfielder / Manager
bats=Right
throws=Right
birthdate=birth date and age|1935|8|31
city-state|Beaumont|Texas
debutdate=April 17
debutyear=by|1956
debutteam=Cincinnati Reds
finaldate=September 18
finalyear=by|1976
finalteam=Cleveland Indians
stat1label=Batting average
stat1value=.294
stat2label=Home runs
stat2value=586
stat3label=Runs batted in
stat3value=1,812
teams=
* Cincinnati Reds (by|1956-by|1965)
* Baltimore Orioles (by|1966-by|1971)
* Los Angeles Dodgers (by|1972)
* California Angels (by|1973-by|1974)
* Cleveland Indians (by|1974-by|1976)As Manager
* Cleveland Indians (by|1975-by|1977)
* San Francisco Giants (by|1981-by|1984)
* Baltimore Orioles (by|1988-by|1991)
* Montreal Expos / Washington Nationals (by|2002-by|2006)
highlights=
* 12x All-Star selection (1956, 1957, 1959, 1961, 1962, 1965, 1966, 1967, 1969, 1970, 1971, 1974)
* 2x World Series champion (1966, 1970)
* 1961 NL MVP
* 1966 AL MVP
* 1956 NL Rookie of the Year
* 1966 World Series MVP
* 1966 Babe Ruth Award
* 1971 MLB All-Star Game MVP
* 1989 AL Manager of the Year
* Cincinnati Reds #20 retired
* Baltimore Orioles #20 retired
hofdate=by|1982
hofvote=89.16%

Frank Robinson (born August 31, 1935 in Beaumont, Texas), is a Hall of Fame former Major League Baseball player. He was an outfielder, most notably with the Cincinnati Reds and the Baltimore Orioles. During a 21-season career, he is the only player to win League MVP honors in both the National and American Leagues [Great Baseball Feats, Facts and Figures, 2008 Edition, p.153, David Nemec and Scott Flatow, A Signet Book, Penguin Group, New York, NY, ISBN 978-0-451-22363-0] , won the Triple crown, was a member of two teams that won the World Series (the 1966 and 1970 Baltimore Orioles), and amassed the fourth-most career home runs at the time of his retirement (he is currently seventh).

During the last two years of his playing career, he served as the first permanent black manager in Major League history, managing the Cleveland Indians to a 186-189 record. He went on to manage the San Francisco Giants, the Baltimore Orioles, the Montreal Expos and the Washington Nationals.

Early life

Robinson attended McClymonds High School in Oakland where he was a basketball teammate of future NBA great Bill Russell. He attended Xavier University (Cincinnati).

Playing career

Robinson had a long and successful playing career. Unusual for a star in the era before free agency, he split his best years between two teams: the Cincinnati Reds (by|1956 - by|1965) and the Baltimore Orioles (by|1966 - by|1971). The later years of his career were spent with the Los Angeles Dodgers (by|1972), California Angels (by|1973 - by|1974) and Cleveland Indians (by|1974 - by|1976). He is the only player to be named Most Valuable Player in both leagues, in by|1961 with the Reds and again in by|1966 with the Orioles.

In his rookie year, by|1956, he tied the record of 38 home runs by a rookie as a member of the Cincinnati Reds and was named Rookie of the Year. His best of many seasons with the Reds was by|1961, when the Reds won the pennant and Robinson won his first MVP award. The Reds lost the 1961 World Series to the Yankees.

Robinson practiced a gutsy style at the plate, crowding the plate perhaps more than any other batter of his time, substantially past the nominal lines. For this reason, Robinson racked up high HBP totals, and experienced many knockdowns. Asked by an announcer what his solution to the problem was, he answered simply, "Just stand up and lambast the next pitch," which he often did. Prior to the by|1966 season, Reds owner Bill DeWitt made the controversial decision of sending Robinson to Baltimore in exchange for ace pitcher Milt Pappas, pitcher Jack Baldschun and outfielder Dick Simpson. The trade tarnished Dewitt's legacy, and outrage over the deal made it difficult for Pappas to adjust to pitching in Cincinnati. DeWitt famously defended the deal to skeptical Reds fans by claiming that Robinson was "an old 30." Meanwhile, Robinson's first year in Baltimore was a historic one. He accomplished the rare feat of winning the Triple Crown, leading the American League with a .316 batting average, 49 home runs and 122 runs batted in. On May 8, 1966, Robinson became the only player ever to hit a home run that completely cleared the Memorial Stadium stands and leave the park. Afterwards, until the Orioles' move to Camden Yards in 1991, a flag labeled "HERE" was flown at the spot where the ball left the stadium.

The Orioles won the World Series, something Robinson's Reds had never accomplished, and Robinson was named the Series MVP.

It was in Baltimore that he first became active in the civil rights movement. He originally declined membership in the NAACP unless the organization promised not to make him do public appearances. However, after witnessing Baltimore's segregated housing and discriminatory real estate practices, he changed his mind. [http://espn.go.com/classic/biography/s/robinson_frank.html] Robinson became an enthusiastic speaker on racial issues afterward.

On June 26, by|1970, Robinson hit back-to-back grand slams (in the fifth and sixth innings) in the Orioles' 12-2 victory over the Washington Senators at RFK Stadium. Coincidentally, the same runners were on base on both home runs—Dave McNally on third, Don Buford on second and Paul Blair on first.

Robinson's Orioles won three consecutive pennants between by|1969 and by|1971, and won the 1970 World Series over his old Reds.

His career totals include a .294 batting average, 586 home runs, 1812 runs batted in, and 2,943 hits in 2808 games played. At his retirement, his 586 career home runs were the fourth-best in history (behind only Henry Aaron, Babe Ruth, and Willie Mays), though he has since been passed by Barry Bonds, Sammy Sosa and Ken Griffey, Jr. He is second on Cincinnati's all-time home run leaders list (324) behind Johnny Bench and is the Red's all-time leader in slugging percentage (.554). [http://cincinnati.reds.mlb.com/cin/history/all_time_leaders.jsp]

Robinson finished his career with brief appearances for the Los Angeles Dodgers, California Angels and Cleveland Indians.

Managing career

Robinson managed in the winter leagues late in his playing career and desired to be first black manager of a Major League Baseball team. In fact, the Angels traded him to the Indians midway through the 1974 season due to his open campaigning for the manager's job.MLBBioRet


Name = Frank Robinson
Number = 20
Team = Baltimore Orioles
Year = 1972|

In by|1975, the Cleveland Indians named him player-manager, giving him distinction of being the first black manager in the Majors. [http://espn.go.com/classic/biography/s/robinson_frank.html]

His managing career would go on to include Cleveland (1975–by|1977), San Francisco Giants (by|1981–by|1984), Baltimore Orioles (by|1988–by|1991) and Montreal Expos / Washington Nationals (by|2002–by|2006).

He was awarded the American League Manager of the Year Award in by|1989 for leading the Baltimore Orioles to an 87-75 record, a huge turnaround from their previous season in which they went 54–107. After spending some years in Major League Baseball as the "Director of Discipline", MLB offered the former manager the chance to manage the Expos.

Robinson's style of managing is somewhat controversial. In 2005, the Montreal Gazette's Stephanie Myles reported that he had spent much time playing golf during his years in Montreal. The septuagenarian sometimes spent 16 hour days between the course and the games at night. This practice came under heightened scrutiny in the American capital. Also, some journalists have questioned his lack of use of statistics to determine pitching match-ups with his hitting line-ups. Robinson defended his style of managing by saying that he goes by his "gut feeling."

* In a June 2005 Sports Illustrated poll of 450 MLB players, Robinson was selected the worst manager in baseball, along with Buck Showalter, then manager of the Texas Rangers. In the August 2006 poll, he again was voted worst manager with 17% of the vote and 37.7% of the NL East vote [ [http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2006/players/08/22/poll.0822/index.html SI.com - SI Players - SI Players Poll - Tuesday August 22, 2006 3:42PM ] ] .

* In by|2005, one of Robinson's Nationals players asked him, in all seriousness, "if he had ever played in the majors". This was reported on "Real Sports with Bryant Gumbel" as an illustration of how little some current players are aware of the history of the game.

* On Thursday, April 20, 2006, with the Nationals winning 10–4 against the Philadelphia Phillies, Nats manager Frank Robinson got his 1,000th win, becoming the 53rd manager to reach that milestone [cite web|url=http://www.tsn.ca/mlb/news_story/?ID=163359&hubname=|title=Johnson, Nats give Robinson 1000th win] . He had earned his 1,000th loss two seasons earlier. [cite web|url=http://www.baseball-reference.com/managers/robinfr02.shtml|title=Frank Robinson]

*During a game against the Houston Astros on May 25, by|2006, Frank Robinson pulled the Nationals catcher, Matt LeCroy, during the middle of the 7th inning, violating an unwritten rule that managers do not remove position players in the middle of an inning. Instead, managers are supposed to discreetly switch position players in between innings. However, LeCroy, the third-string catcher, let Houston Astros baserunners steal seven bases over seven innings with two throwing errors. Although the Nationals won the game 8–5, Frank Robinson found the decision so difficult to make on a player he respected so much, he broke down crying during the post-game interviews. [cite web |author=Mark Zuckerman |publisher=The Washington Times|url=http://www.washtimes.com/sports/20060526-123213-4598r.htm|title=Robinson tearful after win|date=2006-05-26|accessdate=2006-05-29] .

On September 30, 2006, the Nationals' management declined to renew Robinson's contract for the 2007 season, though they stated he was welcome to come to spring training in an unspecified role. Robinson, who wanted either a front office job or a consultancy, declined. [http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/01/10/AR2007011001470.html] On October 1, 2006 he managed his final game, a 6–2 loss to the Mets, and prior to the game addressed the fans at RFK Stadium [http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/10/01/AR2006100100483.html] .

Currently, Robinson's record as a manager stands as (1065–1176) [http://www.baseball-reference.com/managers/robinfr02.shtml] .

Honors

In addition to his two Most Valuable Player awards (1961 and 1966) and his World Series Most Valuable Player award (1966), Robinson was honored in 1966 with the Hickok Belt as the top professional athlete of the year in any sport.

In 1982, Frank Robinson was inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame as a Baltimore Oriole. Robinson is also a charter member of the Baltimore Orioles Hall of Fame (along with Brooks Robinson), and a member of the Cincinnati Reds Hall of Fame, being inducted into both in 1978. Both the Reds and the Orioles have retired his uniform number 20.

In by|1999, he ranked Number 22 on "The Sporting News" list of the 100 Greatest Baseball Players, and was nominated as a finalist for the Major League Baseball All-Century Team.

In 2003, The Cincinnati Reds dedicated a bronze statue of Robinson at Great American Ball Park.

He was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom on November 9, 2005, by President George W. Bush. [cite web|url=http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2005/11/20051109-10.htm|title=2005 Presidential Medal of Freedom recipients] On April 13, 2007 Robinson was rewarded the first Jackie Robinson Society Community Recognition Award at George Washington University [ [http://fredericksburg.com/News/FLS/2007/042007/04132007/275557?rss=local Fredericksburg.com - Frank Robinson in town for honor ] ] .

In his career, he held several Major League Records. In his rookie season, he tied Wally Berger's record for home runs by a rookie (38). [http://espn.go.com/classic/biography/s/robinson_frank.html] This record was broken by Mark McGwire. He still holds the record for home runs on opening day (8), which includes a home run in his first at bat as a player-manager. [http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/print?id=1531731&type=page2Story]

Post Managerial Retirement

Robinson served as an analyst for ESPN during 2007 Spring Training [ [http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/01/24/AR2007012401440_pf.html ESPN Hires Frank Robinson As an Analyst - washingtonpost.com ] ] . The Nationals offered to honor Robinson during a May 20th game against his former club the Baltimore Orioles but he refused [ [http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/02/15/AR2007021501676.html Robinson Declines Celebration in His Honor - washingtonpost.com ] ] .

According to Washington Post writer Barry Svrluga Frank is currently working in Bud Selig's office [http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/discussion/2007/07/19/DI2007071901475.html] .

Regular season stats