Top 38 Quotes & Sayings by Frank Robinson

Explore popular quotes and sayings by an American athlete Frank Robinson.

Last updated on April 14, 2025.

Frank Robinson was an American professional baseball outfielder and manager in Major League Baseball (MLB) who played for five teams, from 1956 to 1976. The only player to be named Most Valuable Player (MVP) of both the National League (NL) and the American League (AL), he was named the NL MVP after leading the Cincinnati Reds to the pennant in 1961 and was named the AL MVP in 1966 with the Baltimore Orioles after winning the Triple Crown; Robinson's 49 home runs (HR) that year tied for the most by any AL player between 1962 and 1989, and stood as a franchise record for 30 years. He helped lead the Orioles to the first two World Series titles in franchise history in 1966 and 1970, and was named the Series MVP in 1966 after leading the Orioles to a four-game sweep of the Los Angeles Dodgers. In 1975, Robinson became the first Black manager in big league history, as the Cleveland Indians’ player-manager.

American - Athlete | Born: August 31, 1935

Source: Wikipedia

No. 1, these guys out here on this field. They keep my energy level up. They try hard, they don't complain about things - and I'd just like to be with them when things are good, and hopefully we can win a pennant together.

Frank Robinson

People come out to see the players. When do you see a manager anyway? When he's out on the field arguing with the umpires, making a fool of himself and you know you can't win, and when he brings out the line-up card.

Frank Robinson

I've never seen baseball advertise for a job, and I've never heard of whites applying for a job. I mean, there's an old boy network, and it's lily white.

Frank Robinson

I played with some outstanding players.

Frank Robinson

It's nice to come into a town and be referred to as the manager of the Cleveland Indians instead of as the first black manager.

Frank Robinson

Pitchers did me a favor when they knocked me down. It made me more determined. I wouldn't let that pitcher get me out. They say you can't hit if you're on your back, but I didn't hit on my back. I got up.

Frank Robinson

It was a breaking period for black people coming into baseball, and how many followed depended on Jackie's conduct. But that's not the case now. What and how I do doesn't mean nearly as much as what and how Jackie did.

Frank Robinson

If he can hit, he can hit. I don't care if he came from Class Z league.

Frank Robinson

As a black, you find you have to be two or three times better than a white even to play. And when it comes to front-office jobs, management believes you'll never be as good.

Frank Robinson

If the guys on the bench were as good as the guys you have out there, they'd be out there in first place.

Frank Robinson

I wanted to show Baltimore that they were getting a good ballplayer.

Frank Robinson

The fan is the one who suffers. He cheers a guy to a .350 season then watches that player sign with another team. When you destroy fan loyalties, you destroy everything.

Frank Robinson

You have to have a short memory as a closer.

Frank Robinson

Managers don't have as much leverage as they used to have. We can't really be the boss.

Frank Robinson

But I'm not going to walk Barry Bonds, like some teams do, in the first inning with nobody on.

Frank Robinson

I just didn't have anything to say, so I said nothing.

Frank Robinson

At least when it's in French, I won't know what the heck they're saying.

Frank Robinson

I know a lot of people on the field - players, coaches, managers - are glad that I'm gone.

Frank Robinson

Al Campanis made people finally understand what goes on behind closed doors - that there is racism in baseball.

Frank Robinson

All in all, I wouldn't call it a bad outing. It was a short outing.

Frank Robinson

I haven't seen a player in this game, as long as I've been in it, that can't be pitched to... Barry is an outstanding ballplayer. I respect him an awful lot. I also have confidence in my pitchers that they can pitch to Barry Bonds and get him out.

Frank Robinson

I always tried to do the best. I knew I couldn't always be the best, but I tried to be.

Frank Robinson

During the years I was still playing, I would go to Puerto Rico in the winter and manage. When the day came, I had the experience without having to go to the minor leagues for four or five years and then wait for an opportunity. Still, there's a double standard. Some whites, like Pete Rose, Joe Torre and Ted Williams, never had to go to the minors.

Frank Robinson

Close don't count in baseball. Close only counts in horseshoes and grenades.

Frank Robinson

The way we're going... if I called up another pitcher, he'd just hang up the phone on me.

Frank Robinson

No, I don't think my presence will cause an increase in black attendance at Cleveland.

Frank Robinson

I had no trouble communicating, the player's just didn't like what I had to say.

Frank Robinson

Listen, I was the first black manager in baseball and there was incredible pressure. I don't blame anyone else. I was too tough . . . I lack patience. I probably got on guys a little too hard, with the wrong tone of voice.

Frank Robinson

No, I don't think my presence will cause an increase in black attendance at Cleveland. People come out to see the players. When do you see a manager anyway? When he's out on the field arguing with the umpires, making a fool of himself and you know you can't win, and when he brings out the line-up card.

Frank Robinson

Whether you're trying to excel in athletics or in any other field, always practice. Look, listen, learn - and practice, practice, practice. There is no substitute for work, no shortcut to the top.

Frank Robinson

Probably the most dramatic change in pitching I've observed in my years in baseball has been the disappearance of the knockdown or brushback pitch. This is why record numbers of home runs are flying out of ballparks, why earned run averages are soaring, and why there are so few twenty game winners in the majors.

Frank Robinson

There's absolutely no way you can go barreling into second and dump a guy on a double play, like you should do, when you've been fraternizing with him before a game.

Frank Robinson

I don't see anyone playing in the major leagues today (1982) who combines both the talent and the intensity that I had. I always tried to do the best. I knew I couldn't always be the best, but I tried to be.

Frank Robinson

Be anything you want to be, but don't be dull.

Frank Robinson

I don't see why you reporters keep confusing Brooks (Robinson) and me. Can't you see that we wear different numbers.

Frank Robinson

The baselines belongs to the runner, and whenever I was running the bases, I always slid hard. I wanted infielders to have that instant's hesitation about coming across the bag at second or about standing in there awaiting a throw to make a tag. There are only 27 outs in a ballgame, and it was my job to save one for my team every time I possibly could.

Frank Robinson

I have heard of managers who encourage players not to slide hard for fear they will get hurt and be lost from the lineup for a time. That is why you occasionally see a player go into second base on a double-play ball and not even bother to slide. I wonder, could Ty Cobb sit though plays like that and hold his lunch?

Frank Robinson

I expect that [trying to do the best] of my players today and of my kids. My wife says I shouldn't expect that of my children, but I don't think that's asking too much.

Frank Robinson

Top 38 Quotes & Sayings by Frank Robinson

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