Frank Robinson

As manager

Frank Robinson (born August 31, 1935 in Beaumont, Texas), is a Hall of Fame former Major League Baseball player. During a 21-season career, he became the first player to win League MVP honors in both the National and American Leagues, 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 sixth).

During the last two years of his playing career, he served as the first permanent African-American manager in Major League history.

Early career

Robinson was born in Beaumont, Texas and grew up in Oakland, California.

Playing career

Robinson had a long and successful playing career.

In his rookie year, 1956, he hit a then rookie-record 38 home runs as a member of the Cincinnati Reds and was named Rookie of the Year. His best of many seasons with the Reds was 1961, when the Reds won the pennant and Robinson won his first MVP award.

Prior to the 1966 season, Reds owner Bill DeWitt made the controversial decision of sending Robinson to Baltimore in the same deal that sent ace pitcher Milt Pappas to Cincinnati. (The trade has been made famous in the 1988 movie Bull Durham, where Susan Sarandon's character says, "Bad trades are a part of baseball, I mean who can forget Milt Pappas for Frank Robinson, for gosh sakes.") DeWitt famously defended the deal to skeptical Reds fans by claiming that Robinson was "an old 30." The Orioles won the World Series, something Robinson's Reds had never accomplished, and Robinson was named the Series MVP.

On June 26, 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.

Robinson's Orioles won three consecutive pennants between 1969 and 1971, and won the 1970 World Series.

His career totals include a .294 batting average, 586 home runs, 1812 runs batted in, and 2,943 hits in 2808 games played.

Managing career

Frank Robinson became the first black manager of a Major League Baseball team, when he was a player-manager with Cleveland in 1975.

Robinson's managerial record is 1,065-1,176, a .475 winning percentage.

Robinson's style of managing is somewhat controversial. On Thursday, April 20, 2006, with the Nationals winning 10-4 against their division rival, the Philadelphia Phillies, Nats manager Frank Robinson got his 1,000th win, becoming the 53rd manager to reach that milestone. During a game against the Houston Astros on May 25, 2006, Frank Robinson was forced to pull out the Nationals catcher, Matt LeCroy, during the middle of the 7th inning.

On September 30, 2006, the Nationals' management declined to renew Robinson's contract for the 2007 season.

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. 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.

In 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.