Robin Roberts (baseball player)

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Robin Roberts

Robin Roberts
Personal Info
Birth September 30, 1926 (age 80), Springfield, Illinois
Professional Career
Debut June 18, 1949, Philadelphia Phillies vs. Pittsburg Pirates, Shibe Park
Team(s) Philadelphia Phillies (1948-1961)
HOF induction: 1976
Career Highlights

Robin Evan Roberts (b. September 30, 1926, Springfield, Illinois) is a former Major League Baseball starting pitcher who played with the Philadelphia Phillies (1948-61), Baltimore Orioles (1962-65), Houston Astros (1965-66) and Chicago Cubs (1966). His major league debut was on June 18, 1948.

A workhorse, hard thrower, and a tough competitor, Roberts is considered by many as the best right-handed pitcher in Phillies history. In 1950 he led his Phillies "Whiz Kids" team, the youngest major league baseball squad ever fielded, to its first National League pennant in 35 years. Amazingly, Roberts started three games in the last five days of the season, defeating the heavily favored Brooklyn Dodgers at Ebbets Field, in a pennant-deciding, 10-inning game. It was his 20th victory, becoming the Phillies' first 20-game-winner since Grover Cleveland Alexander did it in 1917. Since then, the 1950 Phillies went down in baseball history known forever as the "Whiz Kids."

Baseball Hall of Fame
Robin Roberts (baseball player)
is a member of
the Baseball
Hall of Fame

Between 1950 and 1955 Roberts won 20 games each season, leading the NL in victories from 1952 to 1955. Six times he led the league in games started, five times in complete games and innings pitched, and once pitched 28 complete games in a row. A fabulous control pitcher, Roberts never walked more than 77 batters in any regular season. Beside this, he helped himself as a fielder as well as his bat, hitting 55 doubles, 10 triples, and five home runs with 103 RBI. His only weakness as a pitcher was surrendering the longball.

Despite his 28 victories in 1952, Roberts enjoyed his best season in 1953 posting a 23-16 record and also leading the NL pitchers in strikeouts with 198. In a career-high 346⅔ innings pitched he walked just 66 batters, and his 2.75 ERA was second in the league behind Warren Spahn 2.10, narrowly missing the Triple Crown.

After the conclusion of the 1961 season, Roberts was released by the Philadelphia Phillies. Roberts then tried out in spring training with the New York Yankees but was released shortly after the season began. After that the Baltimore Orioles picked him up and he had several successful seasons for the Orioles, going 42-36 in 3½ seasons before moving on to the Houston Astros and Chicago Cubs to conclude his career. His final major league game was on September 3, 1966 but he pitched in the minors during 1967 (trying to work way back to majors to try to reach 300 wins).

Contents

[edit] Highlights

  • 7-time All-Star (1950-56)
  • 5-time Top 10 MVP (1950, 1952-55)
  • 6-time won 20 or more games (1950-55)
  • 4-time led league in won games (1952-55)
  • Twice led the league in strikeouts (1953-54)
  • Led league in shutouts (1950)
  • 6-time led the league in games started (1950-55)
  • 5-time led league in complete games (1952-56)
  • 5-time led league in innings pitched (1951-55)
  • 6-time pitched over 300 innings (1950-55)
  • Ranks #26 on the all-time wins leaderboard

[edit] Facts

  • His 28 wins in 1952 are the most in the National League since 1935, when Dizzy Dean also won 28 games.

[edit] Legacy

In his 19-season career, Roberts compiled a 286-245 record with 2,357 strikeouts, a 3.41 ERA, 305 complete games, 45 shutouts, and 4,688⅔ innings pitched in 676 games. He holds the major league record for most consecutive Opening Day starts for the same team with 12, between 1950 and 1961.

Robin Roberts on cover of Time Magazine
Robin Roberts on cover of Time Magazine

Robin Roberts was selected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1976.

In 1999, he ranked number 74 on The Sporting News' list of the 100 Greatest Baseball Players, and was a nominee for the Major League Baseball All-Century Team. The Phillies have honored him with the retirement of his uniform number 36 and a statue outside the first base gate of Citizens Bank Park.

Roberts has written two books about his baseball experiences: The Whiz Kids and the 1950 Pennant (1996), and My Life In Baseball (2003), both with C. Paul Rogers, III, a professor at the law school of Southern Methodist University.

In 1995, Roberts was mentioned in a commercial promoting Major League Baseball. In it, San Diego Padres outfielder Bip Roberts told fans that collecting baseball cards was profitable, and had a guidebook for card prices, mentioning that his own rookie card was worth $600 and that years from now, who knows? $1000? $2000?. Teammate Tony Gwynn interrupted, "Hey man, you're looking at Robin Roberts. Says here your card's worth four cents!", which Bip was shocked to find was true. As a member of the Hall of Fame who began his career in the 1940s, Robin Roberts' rookie card could command such a high price; as a utility player with an injury-riddled and -shortened career (though he was named to the All-Star Game in 1992), Bip Roberts' rookie card, as Bip mentioned at the end of the commercial, "Yo, T[ony]! Four cents, if it's in excellent condition, but ten cents, if it's totally mint!" To which Tony replied, "Well, sorry..."

[edit] Trivia

[edit] External links

Preceded by
Warren Spahn		 Lou Gehrig Memorial Award
1962		 Succeeded by
Bobby Richardson
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