Robinson, Wilbert
Baseball
b. June 29, 1864, Bolton, MA
d. Aug. 8, 1934
Robinson's fifty-year career in professional baseball began in 1885, when he joined a team in the minor New England League as a catcher. The following season he went to the Philadelphia Athletics of the American Association, then a major league.
Although he didn't hit well during his early years in the majors, Robinson was respected for his defensive skills and knowledge of the game. During the 1890 season, he was traded to the Baltimore Orioles, who moved into the NL in 1892, after the American Association folded.
His hitting improved dramatically when Ned Hanlon took over as manager in 1893. Robinson's average went from .267 to .334 in 1893 and then to .353 in 1894. He slipped to .262 in 1895 but batted .347 and .315 in the next two years.
The Orioles were the best team of the 1890s and Robinson was their captain. He and John McGraw, the team's third baseman, became good friends and opened a restaurant, The Diamond, in Baltimore.
The Baltimore franchise folded after the 1899 season. Robinson and McGraw were sold to the St. Louis NL team in 1900, but they jumped to a Baltimore team in the new AL in 1901, with McGraw as manager and Robinson as a back-up catcher. McGraw left the team to become manager of the New York Giants during the 1902 season, taking most of Baltimore's best players, and Robinson took over as manager. That was his last year as a player.
The new Baltimore franchise did no better than the old one and moved to New York in 1903, eventually becoming the Yankees. Robinson managed and coached for a minor-league Baltimore team at times, but mainly focused on running the restaurant until 1911, when McGraw hired him to work with the Giants' pitchers.
The old friends began to argue violently in 1913 and became enemies. Robinson left the Giants to become manager of the Brooklyn Dodgers in 1914. Combative and profane on the field, genial and jovial off the field, he was immediately adored in Brooklyn as "Uncle Robbie," and the team was called the Robins during his tenure.
Brooklyn won pennants in 1916 and 1920, losing both World Series. During the 1920s, though, they became known as the "Daffiness Boys" because of the number of characters on the team, and Robinson was an appropriate leader for them. He once announced he was setting up a "Bonehead Club" with a fine for any player who made a stupid play. Then he gave the wrong lineup card to the umpires, fined himself, and became the club's first member.
In 1925, Robinson became president of the team for a short time, but left that job to become manager again before the season was over. He resigned after the 1931 season and in 1933 he bought a minor-league team in Atlanta. He served as manager for one year, then resigned that job to become president of the team. He died less than a year later.