Frank Robinson

While playing with the Orioles, Robinson had set his sights on becoming a major league manager. He knew the odds were against him. Despite integration of players, there was still a de facto color barrier at the management level in the majors. No black or Hispanic had ever managed a big league team, much less made it into the executive ranks. Knowing of Robinson's ambition, Baltimore manager Earl Weaver helped him obtain an entry level managing job with the Santurce Cangrejeros in the Puerto Rican winter leagues, a job he held from 1968 to 1975. The team won the pennant in 1968 and Robinson was named Manager of the Year.

In 1975, in a historic move, he was named the Cleveland Indians' player-manager. The appointment came with a hitch, however: Much to Robinson's displeasure, the Indians refused to give him even a token raise over his player's salary. "If they were to release me right now, I would get $180,000 over the next year," he relates telling his agent. "If I take the job to manage the ball-club, and also play, I get the same amount. But they've put me in a position where they know I almost can't refuse their offer. If I refuse, there's no telling when I will ever get another chance to manage in the major leagues—or if I will. If I turn the job down, that would just give other owners an excuse not to hire me or other blacks." Robinson ultimately took the Cleveland job, becoming the first African-American manager in baseball. He kept the job a little over a year.

In 1980 Robinson became the first black manager in the National League when he took over the San Francisco Giants. The team played so well in 1982, going 87-75, that Robinson was named the National League's Manager of the Year. However, conflict on the Giants bench, combined with Robinson's impatience with some young players, and an uncooperative front office led to his being fired in 1984. He returned to his old home, the Baltimore Orioles, as a coach in 1985, and in 1988 was appointed manager there. In 1989 he led the team, which had come in last the previous year, to an 87-75 record and surprising second-place finish, just two games behind pennant-winning Toronto. At the season's end, he was the unanimous choice for the American League's Manager of the Year. He was the first manager to win the award in both leagues. When the team faltered in 1990, Robinson was replaced, but not fired. He was promoted to assistant general manager of the Orioles.

In 2000 Robinson became one of the highest-placed blacks in organized baseball when Commissioner Bud Selig created a position for him, the vice president for on-field operations. A large part of Robinson's responsibility was disciplining players involved in on-field altercations. His hard-line approach thrust him back into the public eye. After one brawl between the Dodgers and Cubs, Robinson levied fines totaling $72,000 and suspended 16 players and three coaches for a total of 84 games, a major league record. Once one of the fiercest, most unrelenting players in the major leagues, Robinson was determined to put an end to the disturbing trend of violence on major league baseball diamonds.

Frank Robinson's life in baseball has been one of unremitting commitment to excellence, as witnessed by his Rookie of the Year, two MVP, and two manager of the Year awards, his presence on 12 All-Star teams in both major leagues, and his first ballot induction into baseball's Hall of Fame. His outspoken courage in criticizing baseball's discrimination against people of color and his own success in overcoming racial barriers have earned him an equally important place in the sport's history.