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Frank Robinson has passed

weams

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OFFNY Hangout Grand Counsel

OFFNY

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My apologies if this article was already posted in this thread.

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"Then he (Doc Medich) throws me this bastard slider, just off the outside part of the plate," Robinson said.

"I thought, 'This SOB is trying to strike me out on three pitches ........ on MY day !!! He's trying to embarrass me ........ on MY day. NO ONE does that to me.'"

On the next pitch, Robinson hit a home run over the left-center field wall.

 

No One Tried to Embarrass Frank Robinson and Got Away with It

(By Tim Kurkjian)

http://www.espn.com/mlb/story/_/id/8944321/no-one-tried-embarrass-frank-robinson-got-away-it

 

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OFFNY Hangout Grand Counsel

OFFNY

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I remember hearing a story about Frank Robinson apologizing to Earl Weaver after committing a very rare gaffe.

One time, Frank hit a long ball that he was sure that was going over the fence. He went into a home run trot prematurely, as the ball stayed in the park. Frank was able to salvage a double out of it when he started sprinting, after he realized that it was not a home run ........ but he felt that he could have had a triple if he had been hustling right out of the box (which he almost always did.) When he went back to the dugout after the half inning was over, he told Earl that he was sorry, and that it wouldn't happen again.

 

Instances like that were obviously very rare when Robinson was playing, otherwise the incident (and his subsequent apology to the manager) probably would not have been remembered.
 

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TonySoprano Hangout Grand Counsel

TonySoprano

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Curt Schilling tells a funny tale about Frank in a 1990 game ( https://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/BAL/BAL199007131.shtml )

The guys in the bullpen would watch Frank with binoculars because, every game, Frank would put his head down and nod off to sleep.   When it would come time to make a substitution, Frank, a man of little words, would point down the end of the bench.  The players on the bench would be trying to figure out to whom Frank was pointing.  "Me? Me?"  Well, Phil Bradley, who had just returned from being on the D/L sticks his head out.  "Me?"  Frank points to Bradley to go in the game.   Frank nods off briefly only to hear that Bradley had his name announced to bat (PH for Joe Orsulak).  Well, Frank is livid until....first pitch, Bradley hits a grand slam off John Candelaria
 

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When Orioles Manager Frank Robinson called for Bradley, he wanted him as a pinch runner. But Bradley had a bat in his hands, and walked to the on-deck circle upon hearing his name called. Robinson instead sent Brad Komminsk to run for Bob Melvin, who walked to load the bases, setting the stage for Bradley's game-winning blast over the 387-foot sign in left-center.

"I can't take any of the credit," Robinson said. "I told him to go in to run. {Bradley} didn't say anything. He just got a bat and went up there. I figured that if he was that confident, I'd better let him hit."

Said Bradley, who had arthroscopic surgery to repair torn cartilage in his left wrist June 22: "I was sitting right here in the dugout and I heard {Frank} say something.

"I didn't think I was supposed to run."

Washington Post, July 4, 1990 - https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/sports/1990/07/14/bradley-makes-orioles-return-with-a-bang/3a214e82-629b-4841-a3f5-d111ed7f6240/?noredirect=on&utm_term=.2585e4e8fca7

 

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OFFNY Hangout Grand Counsel

OFFNY

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Robinson actually held a certain Major League record (along with Wally Berger of the Boston Braves) until Cody Bellinger barely broke in 2017 ........ home runs by a literal Rookie/1st Year Player. Wally Berger hit 38 for the Braves in his first Major League season in 1930, and Robinson tied it with 38 of his own for the Reds in 1956.

 

Mark McGwire surpassed Frank's and Wally's (at that time) Major League record of home runs by a Rookie when he swatted 49 for the Athletics in 1987 ........ but McGwire had played in some games in 1986. The same was the case with Aaron Judge, who hit 52 home runs as a Rookie for the Yankees in 2017, but he (like McGwire) also played in some Major League games the previous season in 2016.

 

Cody Bellinger finally broke Frank's (and Wally Berger's) literal Rookie/1st Year Player record for home runs in a season, hitting 39 for the Dodgers in 2017 (Robinson had hit 38 for the Reds in 1956, and Berger had hit 38 for the Braves in 1930.)

 

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Frobby Hangout Grand Counsel

Frobby

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42 minutes ago, Moose Milligan said:

Get your own patch idea, Reds.  

The Indians, Giants and Nats need to get with the program!

Maybe the O’s should have a Frank Robinson Day where all their players wear no. 20.    But truth is, none of them are worthy of wearing it.  

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SouthRider Major Leaguer Rising Star

SouthRider

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My fourth grader just finished his Black History Month project on Frank Robinson.  He was looking for a subject right at the time of Frank's passing.   He still doesn't quite understand why Frank was a great human being as well as a great baseball player, but I enjoyed trying to teach him.

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