As the MLB community is well-aware, Jackie Robinson broke the color barrier when he became the first Black player in MLB in 1947.
As important for the game as that moment was, Robinson wasn’t the only one breaking barriers.
Frank Robinson did it, 49 years ago, by becoming the first Black manager in MLB history.
The Cleveland Guardians, then Indians, gave him the job.
“49 years ago today, Frank Robinson broke racial barriers by becoming MLB’s first Black manager with the Cleveland Indians,” Bally Sports Cleveland wrote via Twitter.
49 years ago today, Frank Robinson broke racial barriers by becoming MLB’s first Black manager with the Cleveland Indians. 👏#ForTheLand pic.twitter.com/slNAhOn4gV
— Bally Sports Cleveland (@BallySportsCLE) October 3, 2023
It happened on this day, but in 1974.
It’s mind-blowing that it took so long for the league to finally realize that a Black manager should receive the same opportunities as a White one and that their ability to lead an MLB team should be the one being evaluated.
Robinson was probably the right person for the job and for the specific context that came with it: he was a man of a fiery personality that wasn’t going to let the circumstances affect him.
In the end, his career as a manager wasn’t better than what he did as a player, but that doesn’t mean it was bad.
He did win more than 1,000 games as a skipper, retiring with a 1,065-1,176 record and a .475 winning percentage.
He was the American League Manager of the Year in 1989 with the Baltimore Orioles.
With Cleveland, he managed for three seasons, from 1975 to 1977, losing his job after just 57 games that year.
Still, it was a huge step in the history of the game and for Black people in baseball looking for opportunities.
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