Orioles Hall of Fame Week- Frank Robinson

Frank Robinson might be the best all-around player to ever wear the Orioles uniform, but to me, he will always be the jerk who refused to sign a sheet of paper for me at a Minor League baseball game when I was about 8 years old. I'm not a big fan of the man nor of the autographed card of his that's currently in my collection.

It's a certified autograph and all, but it's not an Orioles card per se, so I would like to upgrade it one day. I just have a hard time justifying paying a lot of money for the autograph of a player I don't care for.

Now here's my story. I know that some of you might feel like I should get over the snub and appreciate how great Frank was during his six seasons in Baltimore. Honestly, Frank's playing career was finished six years before I was even born, so while I appreciate and enjoy the World Series Championships that he helped to bring to Baltimore in 1966 & 1970, my only personal experience with him was decidedly negative.

I was at a AA Harrisburg Senators game with my dad sometime during the summer of 1991. There were normally scouts at the games, but the O's must have been off that day, because we spotted their current manager at the game. It was none other than Frank Robinson!

I didn't really do the autograph thing way back then, I was generally too shy, but this was a Hall of Famer. Now I don't remember their being too many more than 500 people at the game because it was really hot and we seemed to be the only two who knew Frank was sitting in the stands. He was wearing a large sun bonnet-sombrero type hat to try to hide his face a bit, but we spotted him anyway. The only thing I had to get signed was the autograph page in the Senators' program but luckily the souvenir stand sold sharpies. I waited until between innings and walked over to Frank and quietly asked if he would sign my paper. "No". And that was that. The other guys he was sitting with, including the O's GM at the time, Roland Hemond, kindly signed my paper, but it was no consolation. Frank had refused my request and I dejectedly went back to my seat and told my dad that he refused to sign. I think my dad considered asking Frank to step outside to teach him some etiquette and/or manners. Now my dad isn't the violent type, so you know he had to be pissed.

About twenty years later, that is still what I think of when I think about Frank, and I probably always will. He's one of my least favorite Orioles because of that and maybe I'd feel different if I was around for his playing days, but I wasn't. As Night Owl commented in my post about Brooks Robinson, his brother had a negative experience with Brooks and it's stuck with him over the years. While that seems to have been uncommon considering Brooksie's typically pleasant demeanor, Frank has a reputation as a curmudgeon. And I'm here to tell you it's true, at least in my experience with him.

If you want to read about Frank's career you can go here or here. Apparently he was pretty good.

 

Don't forget to enter my contest. Tomorrow is your last chance to win a certified autograph of Earl Weaver.