This Old Man, He Played, Won

     At the Diamondbacks inaugural game celebration in 1998, three greats were introduced to the crowd at Bank One Ballpark to evoke the game's history. The biggest cheers were bestowed on icons Willie Mays and Rachel Robinson. The third man, one of the twenty greatest players in major league history, received polite applause. Tonight he is managing against the Diamondbacks and his name is Frank Robinson.

Historian Bill James ranks him as the third greatest rightfelder ever, behind only Ruth and Aaron. Playing the heart of his career in the leanest offensive environment since the dead ball era, he somehow managed 586 home runs, sixth all time. HOF rightfielders ranked below Robby, by James, are Gwynn, Clemente, Mel Ott, Al Kaline, Winfield and Reggie.   

The most home runs ever hit by a twenty year old was in 1929, when the Giant's Ott, a pull hitting lefty, hit 42 - the right field foul pole at the Polo Grounds was 258 feet from home plate. The second most home runs ever hit by a 20 year old is 38, by Frank Robinson on his way to winning the 1956 NL Rookie of the Year Award. He arrived a few seasons after Aaron, Mays and Mantle, as the careers of Ted Williams and Stan Musial were winding down, and played in the enormous shadow cast by those all time great outfielders. He was NL MVP in 1961, and won both the AL's MVP and triple crown in his first year free from Hank and Willie's direct competition. With just under 600 home runs and 2943 hits, Robinson was destined to be the most underappreciated of the truly great modern players.

"Pitchers did me a favor when they knocked me down. It made me more determined. I wouldn't let that pitcher get me out. They say you can't hit if you're on your back, but I didn't hit on my back. I got up."

I remember how hard he used to slide into second base and how close he stood to the plate. In an era before ear flaps and elbow pads, when pitchers threw up and in with impugnity, Robinson was hit 198 times, the bill of his helmet tickling the strike zone. One time, he jumped up against Yankee Stadium's short RF wall to snag a potential homer - and landed upside down in the stands. He could be gruff and crude when gruff and crude wasnt sold in the color black at a store near you, but was the undisputed leader in every clubhouse he ever played in.

"The baselines belongs to the runner, and whenever I was running the bases, I always slid hard. I wanted infielders to have that instant's hesitation about coming across the bag at second or about standing in there awaiting a throw to make a tag. There are only twenty-seven outs in a ballgame, and it was my job to save one for my team every time I possibly could."

Frank Robinson is 71 years old. He unexpectedly cried earlier this year and certain observers suggest he should step down. We dont follow the Nats enough to have an informed opinion on the subject, so instead we'll leave you with a quote from Robinson early in his managerial tenure.

"I had no trouble communicating, the player's just didn't like what I had to say."

If we ran the Diamondbacks, we'd sign this dude til he's eighty.