John Lowenstein, left, congratulates Indians DH and manager Frank Robinson, who homered in his first at-bat on Opening Day, 1975. Photo by Paul Tepley of the Cleveland Press. Used by permission of the Michael Schwartz Library, Cleveland State University.
Hall of Famer Frank Robinson, one of the greatest baseball players of all time and the first African-American manager in the major leagues, died today at the age of 83. He had been in the late stages of an illness, thought to be cancer.
Robinson is best remembered by Indians fans as manager of the team from 1975 to 1977. In September of 1974, the Indians acquired Robinson from the California Angels for Ken Suarez, a player to be named later (Rusty Torres), and cash. The organization wouldn’t admit it at the time, but the plan was for Robinson to replace Ken Aspromonte as team manager in 1975, and that’s exactly what happened. Robinson also remained on the roster as a player, thus becoming the first player-manager in the bigs since 1962. On Opening Day, April 8, 1975, at Municipal Stadium, Robinson wrote himself into the lineup in the #2 slot as the DH. When he came to bat in the first inning, he hit a home run off Yankees starter Doc Medich to give the Tribe a 1-0 lead. I’ve been to maybe a dozen Opening Day games, and I’ve attended a few hundred other Indians games in the past 57 years, but nothing before or since ever matched the thrill I got by seeing that ball sail over the fence, and watching Robinson round the bases.
Robinson’s tenure as manager of the Tribe was not a successful one, although it certainly wasn’t his fault that the Indians management was very stingy with the pocketbook when it came to signing and paying for good players (or for anything else, really). Robinson served as player-manager throughout 1975 and 1976, with win-loss records of 79-80 and 81-78. Robinson played in his last game in September of 1976, but returned as manager in 1977. After the team got off to a disappointing start, going 26-31 after 57 games, he was replaced by Jeff Torborg.
Of course, there was much more to Robinson’s baseball career than his tenure with the Indians. He began his career with the Cincinnati Reds in 1956, appearing in 152 of the 154 games, mostly as a left fielder. He led the league with 122 runs that season, in addition to hitting 38 home runs. He was named National League Rookie of the Year. Robinson put up monster numbers for the Reds for the next ten years, during which span he led the league in slugging, on-base percentage, and OPS+ for three consecutive years. He was named National League MVP in 1961.
In December of 1965, the Reds foolishly traded Robinson to the Baltimore Orioles for pitcher Milt Pappas and two guys you’ve never heard of. Robinson responded by having the best season of his career in 1966, leading the major leagues in runs scored, home runs, and total bases, and leading the American League in RBI, batting average, and on-base percentage. He won the American League triple crown for batting, becoming the first player to lead the league in all three offensive categories since Mickey Mantle in 1956. Robinson also won the American League MVP award that year, making him the first and only player to win the award in both leagues. He finished his playing career with 586 home runs. At the time, that put him fourth overall, behind only Hank Aaron, Babe Ruth, and Willie Mays. He is currently tenth all-time.
Robinson was no slouch on defense, either. He played all three outfield positions, winning the National League Golden Glove award in three successive seasons. He also played over 300 games at first base, and played at third when asked to do so.
Robinson also served as manager for the San Francisco Giants, the Baltimore Orioles, the Montreal Expos, and the Washington Nationals for all or part of thirteen seasons. His best season as manager was in 1989, when he took the Orioles to 87-75, finishing two games out of first place. He was named the AL Manager of the Year by the Baseball Writers Association of America.
Robinson was elected to the Hall of Fame as a player in 1982. He will be remembered for as long as the game of baseball is played.