On this day in 1975 Frank Robinson of the Cleveland Indians became the baseball’s first African-American manager. He was a player-manager that season. It was an exciting day in Cleveland not only did Robinson become the first African-American manager but he also hit a home run in his first at-bat. This was probably the greatest Cleveland Indian moment for the 1970’s and 1980’s, the great moment were few and far between for the Indians back then.
Robinson would manager the Indians for three years. He would go on to later manager the Giants, Orioles and Washington Nationals. He last managed in 2006. He had his ups and downs as a manager. Baseball managers are as good as the talent they manage. He never had great teams to work with. In 2005 when he was with the Nationals one of his players actually asked him if he had ever played in the majors. Frank Robinson was one of the all-time great players. Shows how little the current players know/appreciate the history of the game and the achievements of the greats before them. Did Frank Robinson ever play in the majors…errrrrrrr.