View full sizeFormer Cleveland Indians Manager Frank Robinson throws out the ceremonial first pitch before a game against the Boston Red Sox at what was then Jacobs Field in July 2007. Correction: This story incorrectly described Frank Robinson's home run that enabled the Cleveland Indians to win his managerial debut in 1975. He homered while being the team's designated hitter, not as a pinch-hitter.
CLEVELAND, Ohio -- As part of Black History Month, we remember Frank Robinson, the first black manager of a major-league baseball team when the Cleveland Indians named him to that position in 1975.
Robinson, now 75 and a Major League Baseball senior vice president, played from 1956 to 1976. His peak years were with the Cincinnati Reds and the Baltimore Orioles. He became the only player to win most valuable player honors in both the National League (1961) and American League (1966).
The Angels traded him to the Indians on Sept. 12, 1974.
In his 1975 debut as a rare player-manager, Robinson hit a pinch-hit home run, enabling the Indians to win the season opener.
After a 79-80 record in 1975, the Tribe improved to 81-78 the next year, good for fourth place in the American League East. Cleveland started slow in 1977, going 26-31 -- and costing Robinson his job.
He was voted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1982.
In 1989, he was named American League manager of the year for leading the Baltimore Orioles to an 87-75 record. The previous year, the Orioles were 54-101.
Frank Robinson and Brooks Robinson of the Baltimore Orioles pose for photographers at Los Angeles in October 1966 after leading their Baltimore Orioles to a 5-2 win in the opening game of the World Series. They stroked successive home runs in the first inning to provide three runs.