Frank Robinson is a Hall of Famer who played 21 years in the major leagues. During that time, he won the Most Valuable Player award in both the American and National leagues – the only player to ever do that. He was also the first black manager in Major League history.
Frank Robinson was born Aug. 31, 1935, in Beaumont, Texas. He attended McClymonds High School in Oakland. After graduation, he attended Xavier University in Cincinnati.
Robinson was signed by the Cincinnati Reds as a free agent in 1952. After a few years in the minors, he was called up to the Reds in 1956. That year, he hit .290, with 38 home runs and 83 runs batted in (RBIs). That was good enough to win him the American League Rookie of the Year award.
Robinson spent the next nine seasons with the Reds. One of his best seasons was 1961, when he hit .323, with 37 home runs and 124 runs batted in (RBIs). He won the Most Valuable Player award that season for the National League. The Reds would win the National League pennant that year, but lose the World Series to the New York Yankees in five games.
In December 1965, Robinson was traded to the Baltimore Orioles. That year, the Orioles won the American League pennant. Robinson won the Triple Crown, leading the league in batting average (.316), home runs (49), and runs batted in (122) and he was named the American League Most Valuable Player. The Orioles went on to beat the Los Angeles Dodgers in the World Series, with Robinson being named the series Most Valuable Player.
The Orioles won the World Series again in 1970 with Robinson hitting a two-run homer in Game three. He was traded to the Los Angeles Dodgers in late 1971. He played the 1972 season there before being traded to the California Angels. In 1973, he hit .266, knocking in 30 home runs and 97 RBIs for the Angels. He was traded to the Cleveland Indians halfway through the 1974 season. He finished his career with the Indians, retiring in 1976.
With a lifetime career batting average of .294, Robinson was a great player who was elected to the Hall of Fame in 1982. But, before that, he did something that was much more monumental. He became the first black manager in the major leagues when he took over the Cleveland Indians in 1975 while still a player. He managed the Indians for three seasons, then the San Francisco Giants for four seasons. He took the manager job at the Baltimore Orioles in 1988. The next season, he would lead the team to an 87-75 record, an incredible feat considering the team finished a dismal 54-107 the year before. For the turnaround, Robinson was named the American League Manager of the Year. Robinson left as manager of the Orioles in 1991, but returned to managing when he joined the Montreal Expos/Washington Nationals from 2002-2006. While managing the Nationals in 2006, Robinson got his 1,000th win, becoming only the 53rd manager to do so.
Robinson was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1982. He is also a member of the Baltimore Orioles and the Cincinnati Reds Hall of Fame. Both teams retired his No. 20 jersey. The Sporting News honored him by placing him at No. 22 on the 100 Greatest Baseball Players list.
