Who is the only baseball player to win MVP awards in both the AL and NL? The great Frank Robinson, of course. Like Hank Aaron, Frank Robinson doesn't get the kind of respect of acknowledgement toady as he should. People know Hank Aaron, certainly, but only for the home runs, not for the all-around hitter he was. Only two players ever got more than 4000 hits; Hank Aaron has the most besides those two with 4000. When Frank Robinson retired he had the fourth most home runs in a career. Now he's ranked 9th all time.
This little post is more about another strange fact about Frank Robinson. Besides being the only player to win those MVPs in both leagues ('61 Reds and '66 Orioles), he was the first black manager in all of baseball, with the Cleveland Indians, in the American League.
Any guesses on the first black manager in the National League? Frank Robinson, with the Giants. Wild.
Luis Tiant, Cubano pitching hero with the Red Sox in the '70s, wore number 23 on the Yankees two seasons before Donnie Baseball arrived. Actually, Donnie started out as number 46, but was given his final playing number the next year, after he became a regular, and the other guy wearing 23, catcher Barry Foote, washed out.
So much information, and I barely even care.
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