RIP Frank Robinson

[Stark]

Frank Robinson, the first black manager in baseball history and one of the game's greatest ambassadors, has passed away at age 83 from bone cancer.

Robinson spent the last two and a half years of his playing career in Cleveland where he hit .226, but made his greatest impact as a manager for the ballclub.

Robinson managed the Tribe, originally as a player-manger, from 1975-1977 before also making stops in San Francisco, Baltimore, Montreal, and Washington. Robinson won 2 MVPs and clubbed 586 home runs in his playing career, with a career high of 49 in 1966.

He was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame on his first ballot in 1982, along with being inducted into the Indians HOF and having his #20 retired by the Indians in 2017.

 

[Lee]

His importance to the history of sports is always under appreciated. The first black manager in MLB and broke what might be an even more important color barrier in my opinion.

 

[Seiklis]

His one Indians card

Rest well Frank Robinson

 

[David.]

First black baseball player in the world. Damn.

 

[The Oi]

As the first ever black athlete, he was a trailblazer. But he was also a good man.

RIP

 

[2 For The Brew]

Frank hit a pinch-hit home run in his first game as player-manager.

Cleveland doesn't get the respect it deserves when it comes to trailblazing for black athletes / managers:

-- Marion Motley / Bill Willis re-integrated pro football in 1946, one year ahead of Jackie Robinson.

-- Larry Doby was the first black player in the American League.

-- The first black head coach of ANY pro sports team was John McLendon of the Cleveland Pipers (American Basketball League) -- hired by the owner, GEORGE STEINBRENNER!!!!

-- First black mayor of a major American City -- Carl Stokes.

-- Cavaliers in 1994 made Wayne Embry President (and Chief Operating Officer) -- Another first

-- Jesse Owens kicked ass in Berlin in 1936

 

[Randolphkeys]

I never knew until today that Robinson was briefly a teammate of Bill Russell’s at McClymonds High School playing basketball. The first African American NBA coach and MLB manager were on the same high school team. Damn.

 

[JFT]

Amazing career and man!

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frank_Robinson

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