Recent Photo of Eddie Robinson
Eddie is Also the Oldest Living Ex-Yankee
He turns 96 on December 15, 2016
Eddie Robinson, age 95, is baseball’s latest forgotten man. Even though Eddie is the only living member of the Cleveland Indians’ last 1948 World Series Championship, the current AL club champions in that same baseball lineage apparently forgot – or else – they are too young to remember – what this still incredibly healthy and alert good baseball man did for their franchise – only 78 years ago. Their oversight is altogether sad, bothersome, and understandable – in terms of contemporary thinking about forgetfulness among the very young and the very old.
The young often forget the old and yesterday because the accomplishments of past generations no longer matter or bear relevance to them. The surviving old often forget the young and today for reasons of decline in the brain’s capacity for retaining recent names and events. Eddie Robinson’s memory, now only a little more than 5 years away from 100, is working just fine. Of course, he understands the importance of 1948 in baseball, to Cleveland fans, especially. He also understands the relevance of his surviving presence to that last Cleveland World Championship of 78 years ago well enough to have recently uttered this bottom line quote to a question put forth to him by the New York Daily News since the Indians finished off the Blue Jays for the 2016 AL pennant. The Daily News wanted to know what Eddie had heard from the Cleveland Indians since their clincher. Eddie responded in apparent frustration:
“That’s the funny thing about it,” the career .268 hitter told the Daily News. “I haven’t heard a damn word from Cleveland. Not a word.”
“I’m disappointed,” Robinson continued in his remarks to the Daily News about not hearing from his old team. “It just seems like they would want to talk to any member of the ’48 team, let the press talk to them. I don’t understand it. Maybe they’ll get in touch with me.”
Ten years ago, when this editor served a term as volunteer Board Chair of The Texas Baseball Hall of Fame from 2004 to 2008, I was privileged to have served with Eddie Robinson on the board for part of that time. This great man, this same guy who had once been a star member of my childhood collection of Texas-born big league player baseball cards, was simply an ace among aces as a live human being. He knew his baseball, he was bright, alert, and funny, and he treated those of us who were never good enough as players to get anywhere within a thousand miles from a big league field with the all the kindness and modesty of a genuine “raised right” Texas gentleman. When I see Eddie Robinson now in current videos of his reaction to the Cleveland 2016 success, I am simply blown away by the man’s mental sharpness and “still got it” good looks of a much younger man.
http://www.star-telegram.com/sports/mlb/article110179832.html
We first learned of Eddie’s Cleveland “whoops” by e-mail from his biographer, the wonderful SABR researcher and law professor and former Dean of the SMU Law School, Mr. Paul Rogers. Thanks to Paul and John Blake of the Texas Rangers, the Cleveland Indians were apprised of Eddie Robinson’s importance as the only surviving member of the franchise’s last 1948 World Series winner, but, if anything material has resulted from that important prompt of the Indians to “do the right thing”, we’ve heard nothing else.
Here’s the link we received from Paul Rogers:
Too bad. – Eddie Robinson would’ve, could’ve, should’ve been there with former Cleveland manager Mike Hargrove to escort the young lady to the mound who threw out the first pitch in Game One at Cleveland last night.
If any reference was made to Eddie Robinson in the pre-game show or telecast of Game One last night, we missed it, and we were “bug-glued” to that event from pre-game to post-game.
Here’s hoping the Cleveland Indians figure out a way to get through their embarrassment and acknowledge Eddie Robinson tonight in Game 2 – which still could be the last game the Indians play at home.
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Publisher, Editor, Writer
The Pecan Park Eagle
Houston, Texas
The Pecan Park Eagle 
October 26, 2016 at 8:55 pm |
Excellent article. Shame on Cleveland!
October 26, 2016 at 11:09 pm |
Respect – one more reason the Chicago Cubs stay my favorite team after the Texas Rangers.
October 27, 2016 at 5:17 am |
I pull for Cleveland for Eddie’s sake, but my gut says go Cubs!