Quote

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

Change background

T
T
T

Change font

TAGS & TOPICS

Frank Robinson
Age: 83 †
Born: 1935
Born: August 31
Died: 2019
Died: February 7
Baseball Manager
Baseball Player
Baseball Player-Managers
Beaumont
Texas
First
Anyone
Blame
Hard
Wrong
Baseball
Voice
Pressure
Manager
Black
Guys
Managers
Else
Tough
Incredible
Littles
Listen
Tone
Little
Probably
Patience
Firsts
Guy
Lack

More quotes by Frank Robinson

Image
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
Image
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
Image
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
Image
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
Image
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
Image
Close don't count in baseball. Close only counts in horseshoes and grenades.
Frank Robinson
Image
But I'm not going to walk Barry Bonds, like some teams do, in the first inning with nobody on.
Frank Robinson
Image
You have to have a short memory as a closer.
Frank Robinson
Image
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
Image
I always tried to do the best. I knew I couldn't always be the best, but I tried to be.
Frank Robinson
Image
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
Image
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
Image
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
Image
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
Image
Be anything you want to be, but don't be dull.
Frank Robinson
Image
The way we're going... if I called up another pitcher, he'd just hang up the phone on me.
Frank Robinson
Image
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