Wilbert Robinson

Baseball manager, born in Bolton, Massachusetts, USA. He had a 17-year major league career (1886–1902), mostly as a star catcher with the Baltimore Orioles (1892–9), then went on to manage and coach minor-league teams. To demonstrate his catching prowess, he once caught a grapefruit dropped 400 feet from an aeroplane. As manager of the Brooklyn Dodgers (1914–31), he was so popular that the Dodgers were sometimes called the ‘Robins’ in his honour. He was elected to baseball's Hall of Fame in 1945.

Wilbert Robinson (June 29, 1863 - August 8, 1934), nicknamed "Uncle Robbie", was an American player, coach and manager in Major League Baseball.

Born in Bolton, Massachusetts, Robinson was a catcher in the minor New England League in 1885 and made it to the major leagues in 1886 with the Philadelphia Athletics of the American Association, where he remained until 1890. He lasted in the majors until 1902, playing much of his career with two separate Baltimore Orioles franchises – from 1890-99 with the Orioles team which folded after the 1899 National League season, and in 1901-02 with the American League team which moved to New York in 1903 and became the Yankees.

Over the course of his career, Robinson played 1,316 games as a catcher, which prepared him for his second baseball career as a manager.

Robinson served as player-manager of the AL Orioles in 1902, after his friend and former teammate John McGraw had departed to the New York Giants. Afterward, McGraw enticed Robinson to be his pitching coach from 1903 to 1913, during which time the Giants won five NL pennants. Robinson would not don the manager's cap again in the majors until 1914, when he took over the Brooklyn, New York franchise in the National League. The team was known by various nicknames, including Bridegrooms, Superbas, and Dodgers, but during Robinson's managerial tenure, which lasted until 1931, the club was as often referred to as the "Robins" in honor of their manager, who had acquired the nickname "Uncle Robbie".

In his 18 years at the helm of the Brooks, Robinson compiled a record of 1375-1341, including National League championships in 1916 and 1920 - Brooklyn's only pennants between 1901 and 1940.

Robinson was highly regarded for his ability to draw outstanding performances from his pitching staffs, a result of his many years as a catcher. Another pitcher who would later recall Robinson's excellent advice, although they never played together during a regular season, was John Tener, who in the 1910s served simultaneously as NL president and Governor of Pennsylvania.

On March 13, 1915, at spring training in Daytona Beach, Florida, Robinson decided to try to set a record of sorts by catching a baseball dropped from an airplane being flown 525 feet (160 m) overhead.

After his retirement from managing, Robinson became the president of the Atlanta Crackers minor league team.