Frank Robinson (1982)


Date of Birth: 8/31/1935
Date of Death: 2/7/2019
Birthplace: Beaumont, Texas
College: Xavier University

Frank Robinson had a long and successful career in baseball, playing for five teams over twenty-one years. In addition to his career as a major league baseball player, Robinson was the first African-American major league manager. He managed major league baseball teams for sixteen years. With his years as a player, player-manager, and manager, Robinson was an important figure in major league baseball for over a forty year time span.

Cincinnati Reds

Robinson signed with the Cincinnati Reds in 1953, and he played in their minor league system from 1953 through 1955. He started his major league career in 1956. He won the National League Rookie of the Year award that season, batting .290 with 166 hits, 27 doubles, 38 home runs, and 83 RBIs in 152 games.

Robinson's second year in the majors was even better than his first one. In 1957, he batted .322 with 197 hits, 29 doubles, 29 home runs, and 75 RBIs in 150 games. The following year, he excelled defensively, winning his only Gold Glove award. He played 85 games in left field and 55 games in center field in 1958, and he made 306 putouts and 3 errors.

Robinson continued to have strong offensive years in 1959 and 1960, batting .311 in 1959 and .297 the following year. He had 168 hits, 31 doubles, 36 home runs, and 125 RBIs in 146 games in 1959. He also stole 18 bases that year. The next year, he had 138 hits, 33 doubles, 31 home runs, and 83 RBIs in 139 games. In 1960, he also showed his discipline at the plate by walking 82 times and striking out only 67 times.

In 1961, Robinson won the National League MVP award. That season he batted .323 with 176 hits, 32 doubles, 37 home runs, 124 RBIs, and 22 stolen bases in 153 games. The following season was an even better one for Robinson. In 1962, he had career highs in hits (208), doubles (51), RBIs (136), and batting average (.342).

Robinson's batting average dropped to just .259 in 1963. However, that year he stole a career high 26 bases, and he had 125 hits, 19 doubles, 21 home runs, and 91 RBIs in 140 games. He continued to have a sharp eye for pitches, walking 81 times and striking out 69 times.

Robinson had a stronger offensive season in 1964, batting .306 in 156 games. He finished the season with 174 hits, 38 doubles, 29 home runs, 23 stolen bases, and 96 RBIs.

After the 1965 season, in which Robinson batted .296, hit 33 home runs and had 113 RBIs, the Reds, much to the dismay of the fans, traded Robinson to the Baltimore Orioles.

Baltimore Orioles

In his first season with the Orioles, Robinson won the American League MVP award, becoming the first major league player to win an MVP award in both leagues. He also won the American League Triple Crown that season, batting .316 with 182 hits, 34 doubles, 49 home runs, and 122 RBIs. In the 1966 post-season, Robinson helped the Baltimore Orioles win their first World Series and he won the World Series MVP award for his efforts.

Robinson followed his strong 1967 season with a weaker one in 1968. That year, he batted .268 in 130 games. He had 113 hits, 27 doubles, 15 home runs, and 52 RBIs. He came back strong in 1969, finishing with a .308 batting average in 148 games. He had 166 hits, 19 doubles, 32 home runs, and 100 RBIs. He also had a career high 88 walks and 62 strikeouts.

In 1970, Robinson batted .306 in 132 games. He finished the season with 144 hits, 24 doubles, 25 home runs, and 78 RBIs. It was his last season with a batting average over .300.

Robinson's last major award as a player came in 1971, when he won the All Star Game MVP award. He finished the regular season with 128 hits, 16 doubles, 28 home runs, 99 RBIs, and a .281 batting average in 133 games. It was the last year when he had more walks (72) than strikeouts (62).

Final Years as a Player

In 1972, Robinson left the Orioles and played for the Los Angeles Dodgers for a year. He finishe the season with 86 hits and a .251 batting average in 103 games.

Robinson moved to the California Angels in 1973. He finished the season with 142 hits, 29 doubles, 30 home runs, 97 RBIs, and a .266 batting average in 147 games. He was traded to the Cleveland Indians during the 1974 season. That year, he batted .245 with 117 hits, 27 doubles, 22 home runs, and 68 RBIs in 129 games with the Angels and 15 games with the Indians.

In 1975, Robinson became the player-manager for the Indians and he continued as manager for a year after ending his career as a player in 1976. He played in just 49 games in 1975 and 36 games in 1976.

Awards and MLB Records

  • NL Rookie of the Year award
  • Sporting News Rookie of the Year award
  • NL and AL MVP awards
  • AL Triple Crown
  • World Series MVP award
  • AL Babe Ruth award
  • All Star Game MVP
  • Sporting News Player of the Year award (3 times)
  • Associated Press Athlete of the Year award
  • Gold Glove award
  • Led NL in slugging percentage and OPS three times and AL once

Career Statistics

Statistics for Robinson in 21 seasons (1956-1976) in the major leagues include:

  • 9 seasons with over 150 hits, with a high of 208 in 1962
  • 7 seasons with over 30 doubles, with a high of 51 in 1962
  • 17 seasons with over 20 home runs, with a high of 49 in 1966
  • 6 seasons with 100 or more RBIs, with a high of 136 in 1962
  • 9 seasons with a batting average over .300, with a high of .342 in 1962

Career batting statistics for Robinson include:

  • 2,808 games played
  • 2,943 hits
  • 528 doubles
  • 586 home runs
  • 1,812 RBIs
  • 204 stolen bases
  • 1,532 strikeouts to 1,420 walks
  • .294 batting average
  • .389 on-base percentage
  • .926 OPS

Career fielding statistics for Robinson as an outfielder include:

  • 1,270 games in right field, 834 games in left field
  • 2,251 putouts as a right fielder, 1,479 putouts as a left fielder
  • 32 errors as a right fielder, 33 errors as a left fielder
  • .986 fielding percentage as a right fielder, .979 fielding percentage as a left fielder

Postseason statistics for Robinson include:

  • 35 games played
  • 126 at-bats
  • 30 hits
  • 5 doubles
  • 1 triple
  • 10 home runs
  • 19 RBIs
  • 32 strikeouts to 20 walks
  • .238 batting average

Post Playing Career

Robinson, as manager of the Indians from 1975-1977, made baseball history as the first African-American manager in the major leagues. After ending his time as manager of the Cleveland team, he coached in the major leagues, first for the California Angels and then for his former team, the Orioles.

In 1981, he was hired as manager of the San Francisco Giants and he stayed with them for four years. After leaving the Giants in 1984, Robinson again took a position as a coach, this time with the Milwaukee Brewers. A year later, he returned again to the Orioles as a coach.

Robinson's next managerial position was with the Orioles from 1988-1991. In 1989, he won the American League Manager of the Year award and the Sporting News AL Manager of the Year award for leading the Orioles to a second place finish in the American League East division.

After leaving the Orioles in 1991, Robinson didn't coach or manage in the major leagues again until 2002 when he was hired to manage the Montreal Expos. He had his longest managerial stint with the Expos/Washington Nationals, staying in that position for five years. In his 16 years as a manager, Robinson had seven seasons with a .500 or better win percentage and a career managerial record of 1,065 wins to 1,176 losses.

Robinson was elected to the Hall of Fame in 1982 on the first ballot with 89.2% of the vote.

Robinson died on February 7, 2019.

Sources for Information
Wikipedia - Frank Robinson
ESPN - Frank Robinson
Baseball Reference - Frank Robinson

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