RetroSimba

(Updated Jan. 5, 2021)

During spring training in 2014, Orioles manager Buck Showalter told a Baltimore prospect to write a report on the career of Frank Robinson after the minor-league player admitted he was clueless about the Hall of Fame slugger who became baseball’s first black manager.

That got me thinking: How many Cardinals fans know about Robinson’s achievements versus St. Louis?

In tribute to Frank Robinson, here’s my written report on the feats you should know he achieved while playing against the Cardinals:

Turning anger into runs

Robinson produced 586 home runs, 1,812 RBI and 2,943 hits in a 21-year major-league playing career from 1956-76. He spent 11 seasons _ 10 with the Reds; one with the Dodgers _ in the National League. In 203 games against the Cardinals, Robinson had 220 hits, including 46 home runs and 41 doubles, and drove in 127 runs. His career batting average versus St. Louis was .290.

Against the Cardinals, Robinson made his major-league debut, had his greatest single-game home run performance, delivered several game-winning shots and won a couple of dramatic duels with Bob Gibson.

In the book “Sixty Feet, Six Inches,” Gibson said, “Frank Robinson might have been the best I ever saw at turning his anger into runs. He challenged you physically as soon as he stepped into the batter’s box, with half his body hanging over the plate.

“His fearlessness played a tremendous part in making him the hitter he was. He practically dared you to clip him or knock him down and, when you did, he’d use it as intensity. He seemed to gain strength from it. If you couldn’t drive him off the plate _ and you couldn’t _ then you couldn’t take away his outside corner.

“As a rule, I’m reluctant to express admiration for hitters, but I make an exception for Frank Robinson.”

In the book “Pure Baseball,” first baseman Keith Hernandez said Robinson would wear out a pitching staff if one of them threw at him. According to Hernandez, Cardinals manager Red Schoendienst “called a meeting and told his pitchers he’d fine them $100 for hitting Frank Robinson. Leave him alone. We want to win these games.”

Vinegar Bend Mizell

In his first big-league game, April 17, 1956, at Cincinnati, Robinson, batting seventh and playing left field, was 2-for-3 with a walk versus Cardinals starter Vinegar Bend Mizell. In his first at-bat in his debut game, Robinson doubled. “Second pitch,” Robinson said to the Washington Post, “line drive off the center field fence. Missed being a home run by a couple of feet.” Boxscore

Three years later, Robinson hit three home runs in a major-league game for the only time. It happened against the Cardinals on Aug. 22, 1959, at Cincinnati. All three homers were hit with two outs.

The first of the three came against Mizell. It was a three-run shot in the fifth inning that broke a 1-1 tie. It was one of eight homers Robinson hit against Mizell in his career. Robinson followed that with a two-run homer off Dean Stone in the sixth and a solo blast against Bob Duliba in the eighth. Boxscore

Larry Jackson

Robinson hit 10 home runs in his career against Larry Jackson. Seven occurred while Jackson was with the Cardinals. The most damaging was struck on Sept. 2, 1957, at Cincinnati.

In the second game of a doubleheader with the Cardinals, the Reds batted in the 10th inning with the score 1-1. Jackson, the starter, walked the leadoff batter, Bob Thurman, and Robinson followed with a walkoff, two-run home run, lifting the Reds to a 3-1 victory. Boxscore

Two-homer games

On April 30, 1958, at Cincinnati, Robinson hit a fifth-inning solo home run off Lindy McDaniel, giving the Reds a 4-2 lead. After the Cardinals rallied with two runs in the ninth to tie the score at 4-4, Robinson led off the 10th against Morrie Martin, who had held the Reds scoreless for three innings, and hit a walkoff home run, giving the Reds a 5-4 victory. Boxscore

Robinson also had a pair of other two-homer games against the Cardinals:

_ He hit a solo home run in the second inning off Ernie Broglio and the winning shot in the 11th, also off Broglio, in a 4-3 Reds victory on Sept. 10, 1962, at St. Louis. Boxscore

_ He hit a pair of home runs off Tracy Stallard in a 6-3 Reds victory on April 24, 1965, at Cincinnati. Boxscore

Bob Gibson

In showdowns between Hall of Famers Gibson and Robinson, the Cardinals pitcher usually had the upper hand, but Robinson also enjoyed spectacular successes against Gibson.

Robinson hit .229 (19-for-83) versus Gibson and struck out 12 times. He also hit four home runs.

In his book ‘Stranger to the Game,” Gibson said, “I brought the ball in close to Frank Robinson … although I believe most pitchers tried him outside. The way he crowded the plate, they figured he was waiting to pounce on the inside pitch, but it seemed to me that he beat a hell of a lot of guys who pitched him away.”

In an interview with former baseball commissioner Fay Vincent for the book, “We Would Have Played For Nothing,” Robinson said, “Bob threw what we called a heavy ball. He had a hard slider. He was just mean enough, you know, he was up under your chin and that type of thing. So he was tougher to hit against than Sandy Koufax, but Koufax was tougher to get hits off of.”

Here is a look at the four home runs Robinson hit off Gibson:

_ Gibson blew leads in the ninth and 10th innings of a game at Cincinnati on Sept. 7, 1962.

The Cardinals led, 4-3, entering the bottom of the ninth before the Reds scored a run off Gibson to tie.

In the 10th, St. Louis regained the lead, 5-4, giving Gibson another chance to seal the win, but Robinson hit a solo home run against him in the bottom of the 10th.

The Reds won, 6-5, on a RBI-double by Vada Pinson off Curt Simmons in the 11th. Boxscore

_ Gibson was matched against fellow power pitcher Jim Maloney on May 4, 1963, at Cincinnati.

In the third inning of a scoreless game, Pete Rose walked, Pinson singled and Robinson followed with a three-run home run off Gibson. Maloney shut out the Cardinals on four hits and the Reds won, 6-0. Boxscore

_ In the opener of a doubleheader on Sept. 19, 1964, at Cincinnati, Gibson took a 5-4 lead into the ninth. With two outs and pinch-runner Tommy Harper on third, Gibson walked Pinson, bringing Robinson to the plate.

Robinson crushed a three-run, walkoff home run, lifting the Reds to a 7-5 triumph. Boxscore

_ In the first game of a doubleheader at Cincinnati on June 22, 1965, Robinson hit a solo home run off Gibson in the sixth inning, helping the Reds to a 5-4 victory. Boxscore

Previously: Bob Gibson vs. Billy Williams: a classic duel