Robin Roberts (baseball player)

Robin Evan Roberts (born September 30 1926 in Springfield, Illinois) is a former Major League Baseball starting pitcher who played with the Philadelphia Phillies (1948-61), Baltimore Orioles (1962-65), Houston Astros (1965-66) and Chicago Cubs (1966).

A workhorse, hard thrower, and a tough competitor, Roberts is considered by many as the best right-handed pitcher in Phillies history. In 1950 he led his Phillies "Whiz Kids" team, the youngest major league baseball squad ever fielded, to its first National League pennant in 35 years. Amazingly, Roberts started three games in the last five days of the season, defeating the heavily favored Brooklyn Dodgers at Ebbets Field, in a pennant-deciding, 10-inning game. It was his 20th victory, becoming the Phillies' first 20-game-winner since Grover Cleveland Alexander did it in 1917. Since then, the 1950 Phillies went down in baseball history known forever as the "Whiz Kids."

Between 1950 and 1955 Roberts won 20 games each season, leading the NL in victories from 1952-55. Six times he led the league in games started, five times in complete games and innings pitched, and once pitched 28 complete games in a row. A fabulous control pitcher, Roberts never walked more than 77 batters in any regular season. Beside this, he helped himself as a fielder as well as his bat, hitting 55 doubles, 10 triples, and five home runs with 103 RBI. His only weakness as a pitcher was surrendering the longball.

Despite his 28 victories in 1952, Roberts enjoyed his best season in 1953 posting a 23-16 record and also leading the NL pitchers in strikeouts with 198. In a career-high 346.2 innings pitched he walked just 66 batters, and his 2.75 ERA was second in the league behind Warren Spahn 2.10, narrowly missing the Triple Crown.

In his 19-season career, Roberts compiled a 286-245 record with 2,357 strikeouts, a 3.41 ERA, 305 complete games, 45 shutouts, and 4,688.2 innings pitched in 676 games. He holds the major league record for most consecutive Opening Day starts for the same team with 12, between 1950 and 1961.

After the conclusion of the 1961 season, Roberts was released by the Philadelphia Phillies. Roberts then tried out in spring training with the New York Yankees but was released shortly after the season began. After that the Baltimore Orioles picked him up and he had several successful seasons for the Orioles, going 42-36 in 3 1/2 seasons before moving on to the Houston Astros and Chicago Cubs to conclude his career.

Robin Roberts was selected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1976. In 1999, he ranked number 74 on The Sporting News' list of the 100 Greatest Baseball Players, and was a nominee for the Major League Baseball All-Century Team. The Phillies have honored him with the retirement of his uniform number 36 and a statue outside the first base gate of Citizens Bank Park.

Highlights

* 7-time All-Star (1950-56)
* 5-time Top 10 MVP (1950, 1952-55)
* 6-time won 20 or more games (1950-55)
* 4-time led league in won games (1952-55)
* Twice led the league in strikeouts (1953-54)
* Led league in shutouts (1950)
* 6-time led the league in games started (1950-55)
* 5-time led league in complete games (1952-56)
* 5-time led league in innings pitched (1951-55)
* 6-time pitched over 300 innings (1950-55)
* Ranks #26 on the all-time wins leaderboard

Facts

* On May 13, 1954, Cincinnati Redlegs' Bobby Adams hit a lead-off home run off Roberts. Then, Roberts retired the next 27 batters in a row to win 8-1, on a one-hitter game.
* His 28 wins in 1952 are the most in the National League since 1935, when Dizzy Dean also won 28 games.

External links

* Baseball Hall of Fame
* Baseball Library
* The Baseball Page
* Baseball Digest - "1950: When Philadelphia's Whiz Kids won the NL pennant"