Photo credit: @957thegame

By: Amaury Pi-Gonzalez

One of the great players of his generation passed away today. Robinson, the only player to win the MVP in both leagues, fell 57 hits shy of 3,000 hits and hit 586 home runs. He was also the first African-American manager in the Major Leagues. He won the Triple Crown twice, one of only two players since then, as Carl Yastremski and Miguel Cabrera won it twice in either league. He was a member of the Hall of Fame after playing baseball for 21 years.

When you watched him play, you saw a big guy with speed, power and tremendous ability. Seeing Robinson running the bases was truly a spectacle. With his long legs, he seemed to get from the plate to second with fewer strides than most other hitters of his time. To this day, I remember the trade that took him from Cincinnati to the Baltimore Orioles in 1965 for pitcher Milt Pappas. His number 20 was retired by the Orioles, Indians and Reds.

As a manager for 16 years with four different teams, we had him here as the skipper of the San Francisco Giants (more on that to follow!). He began his managerial career with the Cleveland Indians during his last two years as a player, then managed the Giants, Orioles and Montreal Expos/Washington Nationals.

I covered him during Robinson’s managing years with the Giants from 1981-1984. Those were under .500 teams most of the time. He was not an easy guy to play for. Back then, I talked to some players (who I shall not name) who told me that. He was a disciplinarian, a Billy Martin type with a lot of character and will tell if your question was a good or stupid one.

Robinson could not manage today in this “politically correct” culture because he would offend somebody. He will tell you what he thought without much hesitation and without a filter. I cannot remember the year,but it was a night game at Candlestick Park and the Giants lost (nothing rare those years) and we went down to speak to him, who was a vintage Frank Robinson. One of the reporters asked him a question and he went totally off with a bunch of expletives which nobody could run then on the air and left his office and didn’t say a word, meaning the “press conference” ended. For the younger readers, those days the manager did not speak live on television after each game, as they do today. It was a bunch of writers, radio reporters and on occasion, local television stations taping for later use. He did not enjoyed those managerial days in San Francisco. He was very frustrated in San Francisco because those teams were not winning and he demanded better play. To be fair to Robinson(and like I always say), the best jockey in the world cannot win a race if he doesn’t have a good horse.

Another player from the Bay Area, Robinson went to McClymonds High School in Oakland, which was his birthplace. I will always remember him as one of the best players I ever saw. When he went to the Orioles, he joined another Robinson (Brooks), who was one of the best third basemen ever. To see Brooks and Frank in the same lineup with the Orioles, it was truly a pleasure as a fan.

Robinson also worked for the Commissioner, he was the ultimate baseball lifer and he had quite a life, may I say.

Rest in Peace.