Frank Robinson (born August 31, 1935) was a Major League Baseball player and is currently the manager of the Washington Nationals. Robinson was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1982.
Robinson had a very successful career with five teams: Cincinnati Reds (1956 - 1965), Baltimore Orioles (1966 - 1971), Los Angeles Dodgers (1972), California Angels (1973 - 1974) and Cleveland Indians (1974 - 1976). He was a member of two teams that won the World Series, the 1966 and 1970 Baltimore Orioles. Robinson was given the World Series MVP Award in 1966. He was named Most Valuable Player twice, in 1961 with the Reds and again in 1966 with the Orioles, becoming the first player to win MVP awards in both leagues. In 1966 he hit for the Triple Crown, leading the American League with a .316 batting average, 49 home runs and 122 runs batted in. In 1966, he was honored with the Hickok Belt as top professional athlete of the year.
Robinson's final career totals included a .294 average, 586 home runs, 1812 runs batted in, and 2808 games played.
Frank Robinson became the first black manager of a Major League Baseball team, when he was a player-manager with Cleveland in 1975. He managed the Cleveland Indians (1975 - 1977), San Francisco Giants (1981 - 1984), Baltimore Orioles (1988 - 1991) and Montreal Expos 2002 - 2004.
In 2005, Robinson will be the manager of the Washington Nationals, the new name of the relocated Montreal Expos in their new home city of Washington, D.C.
Robinson's managerial record coming in to 2002 is 680-751, a .475 record. He was awarded the American League Manager of the Year Award in 1989 for leading the Baltimore Orioles to an 87-75 record, a huge turnaround from their previous season in which they went 54-101.
Except for 1972, when the Dodgers gave Robinson uniform 36, he wore uniform number 20 on all his teams.
In 1982, Frank Robinson was inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame.
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