boys of summer Eddie Robinson

William Edward Robinson (born December 15, 1920 in Paris, Texas) is a retired American first baseman, scout. coach and front office executive in Major League Baseball. During a 13-year playing career (1942; 1946-57), Robinson played for seven of the eight American League teams then in existence.

A lefthanded batter who threw righthanded, Robinson helped his first team, the Cleveland Indians, win the 1948 world championship. He was then traded during that offseason; at his next two stops, with the Washington Senators (1949-50) and the Chicago White Sox (1950-52), he enjoyed his most productive seasons. Overall, he appeared in 1,315 games and batted .268 with 172 home runs.

Upon retirement, he became a coach for the Baltimore Orioles and then moved into their player development department. A protege of Orioles manager Paul Richards, he followed Richards to the Houston Astros, then worked as the farm system director of the Kansas City Athletics during the tempestuous ownership of Charlie Finley in the mid-1960s. In 1968 he rejoined Richards in the front office of the Atlanta Braves. He succeeded Richards as general manager of the Braves during the 1972 season, serving through early 1976 in that post.

Robinson then returned to the American League as a member of the Texas Rangers front office. In 1977, Robinson was named co-general manager (with Dan O'Brien) of the Rangers, and he became sole GM from 1978-82. Although the Rangers posted winning seasons in 1977, 1978 and 1981, a disastrous 1982 campaign cost Robinson his GM job.

He continued his career in the game as a scout and player development consultant, however. In a bit of irony, Robinson's last job in the game was as a scout for the Boston Red Sox - the only team of the "original eight" AL clubs that he did not play for.

Batting Statistics
Year Team G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO AVG
1942 Cleveland 8 8 1 1 0 0 0 2 1 0 .125
1946 Cleveland 8 30 6 12 1 0 3 4 2 4 .400
1947 Cleveland 95 318 52 78 10 1 14 52 30 18 .245
1948 Cleveland 134 493 53 125 18 5 16 83 36 42 .254
1949 Washington 143 527 66 155 27 3 18 78 67 30 .294
1950 Wash/Chi 155 553 83 163 15 4 21 86 85 32 .295
1951 Chicago 151 564 85 159 23 5 29 117 77 54 .282
1952 Chicago 155 594 79 176 33 1 22 104 70 49 .296
1953 Philadelphia 156 615 64 152 28 4 22 102 63 56 .247
1954 New York 85 142 11 37 9 0 3 27 19 21 .261
1955 New York 88 173 25 36 1 0 16 42 36 26 .208
1956 N.Y./K.C. 101 226 20 46 6 1 7 23 31 23 .204
1957 Det/Cle/Bal 36 39 1 1 1 0 1 3 4 4 .154

Career statistics
Batting average  .268
Hits  1146
Home Runs  172
Runs batted in  723