Baseball Hall of Famer Frank Robinson Dies at 83
Frank Robinson, the first African-American manager in Major League Baseball and the only player to win MVP in both leagues, has died at age 83, MLB said Thursday. An outfielder and first baseman, Robinson was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1982 in his first year of eligibility.
A fearsome hitter, Robinson ranks 10th on the career home run list with 586. He won the Triple Crown with the Orioles in 1966 and became the first black manager in MLB history in 1975 with the Cleveland Indians.
He also served as MLB's executive vice president of baseball development, with his focus on increasing African-American participation in the sport. He later served as a senior adviser to Commissioner Rob Manfred.
Robinson retired from playing after the 1976 season, but his managerial career was just beginning.
Being the sport's first black manager "was nothing compared to what Jackie did or what he went through, but it was important because I was the first and that meant the door's open," Robinson told OTL in 2016. "But how long the door would stay open depended on basically the way I conducted myself and the success that I would have."
© 2019 ESPN Internet Ventures. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.