Frank Robinson Dead: Baseball Legend Dies at 83

Getty Frank Robinson has died.

Baseball legend Frank Robinson has died in Los Angeles at the age of 83, the New York Daily News and MASN Sports report. Robinson had been battling bone cancer, the newspaper reports. His death was later confirmed by Major League Baseball.

Robinson died Thursday morning, February 7, at his home in Los Angeles while surrounded by his family and friends, the MLB said in a press release.

“We are deeply saddened by this loss of our friend, colleague and legend, who worked in our game for more than 60 years. On behalf of Major League Baseball, I send my deepest condolences to Frank’s wife Barbara, daughter Nichelle, their entire family and the countless fans who admired this great figure of our National Pastime,” MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred said in a statement.

Robinson had a Hall of Fame playing career in Major League Baseball and was then the league’s first black manager. Robinson starred on the diamond with the Cincinnati Reds, Baltimore Orioles, Los Angeles Dodgers, California Angels and Cleveland Indians from 1956 to 1976, hitting 586 home runs, with 1,812 RBIs and 2,943 hits with a .294 career batting average. He was elected into the Hall of Fame in 1982 on his first ballot with 89 percent of the vote.

Robinson Was a 2-Time World Series Champion, Won the AL & NL MVP Awards & Hit for the Triple Crown Before Becoming a Manager & Breaking the Color Barrier

Frank Robinson.

As a player, Robinson twice won the World Series with the Baltimore Orioles, in 1966 and 1970. He was a 14-time All Star, won the Most Valuable Player award in both the American League and the National League, the World Series MVP award and the Triple Crown. He was the NL Rookie of the Year in 1956 and won a Gold Glove Award in 1958. He is the only player in baseball history to win the MVP award in both leagues.

After retiring from his playing career, Robinson transitioned to become a coach and manager, leading the Cleveland Indians, San Francisco Giants, Baltimore Orioles, and Montreal Expos/Washington Nationals, winning 1,065 games. He was the AL Manager of the Year in 1989.

MLB.com’s Richard Justice writes, “the proudest moment of Robinson’s career occurred on April 8, 1975, when he walked the lineup card to home plate as player-manager of the Indians in front of 56,715 at Cleveland Stadium. Just as Jackie Robinson’s breaking of baseball’s color barrier in 1947 had opened doors for Frank Robinson, Hank Aaron and Willie Mays and many others to play in the Major Leagues, it was Frank Robinson who paved the way for every minority manager who has followed.

Justice added, “He understood the historical significance of the moment, in part because he had endured racial taunts and the humiliation of segregation, including not being allowed to eat or live with his white teammates.”

Robinson Remained a Fixture in Baseball as an Executive With the MLB Until His Death

Frank Robinson and Cal Ripken.

He finished his managerial career in 2006, but remained a fixture in the baseball world after his retirement. In 2007, he became a special advisor for baseball operations in the MLB front office and then became executive vice president of baseball development in 2012. In 2015, Robinson became senior advisor to the commissioner of baseball and honorary American League president, positions he held until his death.

In 2005, President George W. Bush honored Frank Robinson with the Presidential Medal of Freedom for “setting a lasting example of character in athletics.”

Manfred said in a statement:

Frank Robinson’s résumé in our game is without parallel, a trailblazer in every sense, whose impact spanned generations. He was one of the greatest players in the history of our game, but that was just the beginning of a multifaceted baseball career. Known for his fierce competitive will, Frank made history as the first MVP of both the National and American Leagues, earned the 1966 AL Triple Crown and World Series MVP honors, and was a centerpiece of two World Championship Baltimore Orioles’ teams.

With the Cleveland Indians in 1975, Frank turned Jackie Robinson’s hopes into a reality when he became the first African-American manager in baseball history. He represented four franchises as a manager, most recently when Baseball returned to Washington, DC with the Nationals in 2005. Since 2000, Frank held a variety of positions with the Commissioner’s Office, overseeing on-field discipline and other areas of baseball operations before transitioning to a senior role in baseball development and youth-focused initiatives. Most recently, he served as a Special Advisor to me as well as Honorary American League President.

Robinson, Who Was High School Teammates With Bill Russell & Curt Flood in Oakland, Is Survived by His Wife, Son & Daughter

Baseball Hall of Famer Frank Robinson throws out the first pitch before the Atlanta Braves play the Washington Nationals at Nationals Park on May 9, 2015 in Washington, DC.

Robinson is survived by his wife, Barbara Cole Robinson, son, Frank Robinson Jr., and daughter, Nichelle Robinson. He was born August 31, 1935, in Beaumont, Texas. He and his family later moved to Oakland, where he attended McClymonds High School and was a basketball teammate there of NBA legend Bill Russell and baseball teammate of Vada Pinson and Curt Flood. Robinson was the youngest of 10 children.

Russell tweeted, “Heartbreaking news in the passing of my Dear Friend & @McClymondsHS classmate Frank Robinson. It was my pleasure & great honor to have known him. We all know we lost one of the Greats, what we really lost was a Friend.”

Fellow Orioles legend Jim Palmer told MASN’s Roch Kubatko, “He changed baseball in Baltimore. There’s no doubt about it. He made us all believe that the Orioles were going to be a great franchise.”

In January 2019, the Baltimore Sun reported that Robinson was in “failing health.” Peter Schmuck reported for The Sun, “He has been battling health problems for several months and last appeared at a major baseball event in July, when he traveled to Washington to take part in the All-Star Game festivities.”

Robinson made an appearance at Dodger Stadium on April 15, 2017, to help unveil a statue of Jackie Robinson, who broke baseball’s color barrier as a player. Frank and Jackie were not related, but Frank Robinson has given credit for his career to Jackie Robinson and said every black player that came after him was connected to the pioneering Jackie.

“I’m here to honor Jackie and his family,” he said in 2017, according to MLB.com. “Everything I have, everything Willie [Mays] and Hank [Aaron] have, started with Jackie Robinson doing what he did. He could have lost his life for it. That’s a debt you can’t repay except to say, ‘Thank you’ as often as you can.”

According to the MLB, “The Robinson family has asked that, in lieu of flowers, contributions in Frank’s memory can be made to the National Civil Rights Museum in Memphis, Tennessee or the National Museum of African American History & Culture in Washington, D.C.”