Eddie Robinson to appear for signing event on Saturday, August 27, 2011 from 10 AM - Noon at the Days Inn in Horsham, PA

LIVE AUCTION!

Catalog of Live Auction of the 50 lots are available by calling the A's Society at 1-800-318-0483 or CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE CATALOG. Bids will be accepted over the phone until 3pm on Friday August 26th @ 1-800-318-0483.

Sneak peek below...

Eddie Robisnon By Mike Morsch

Eddie Robinson knew it wasn’t going to be easy when he was traded to the Philadelphia Athletics in 1953.
And it wasn’t. After all, the other team in the deal, the Chicago White Sox, were getting two-time defending American League batting champion Ferris Fain, who also happened to be one of the more favorite A’s players among the Philadelphia faithful in the early 1950s.
“Fain was a real popular player there and trading him I think angered the fans,” said Robinson in a recent interview from his home in Fort Worth, Texas. “Me coming in — I didn’t hit all that well for average — and the fans were still fretting over losing Fain. And I wasn’t as smooth a fielder as he was. He was a fancy fielder and a feisty guy.”
That’s just one of the many stories that Robinson tells in his recently released book, “Lucky Me: My Sixty-five Years in Baseball,” on which he collaborated with C. Paul Rogers III.
Local fans will get a chance to meet the 91-year-old Robinson when he comes to the Philadelphia area Saturday, Aug. 27, for a book signing from 10 a.m. to noon at the Days Inn in Horsham. The event is sponsored by the Hatboro-based Philadelphia Athletics Historical Society.
Robinson began his career in 1942 appearing in eight games for the Cleveland Indians. He lost the next three seasons to World War II, serving in the Navy, but returned for eight games with the Indians in 1946. By 1947, Robinson was with the Indians to stay, eventually becoming a starter for the 1948 squad that went on to win the World Series that year.
Robinson went on the have a 13-year Major League career, making the A.L All-Star team four times. His one year with the Philadelphia Athletics in 1953 saw him produce decent power numbers with 22 home runs and 102 RBIs, despite hitting only .247 that season. Those numbers were remarkably similar to his 1952 season with the White Sox in which he hit 22 home runs, drove in 104 runs and hit .296.
“I thought I was set in Chicago, but the trade to the A’s was definitely a surprise,” said Robinson. “And we thought we had a pretty good team in 1953 in Philadelphia. It turned out that we didn’t play all that well.”
During his brief stay with the Philadelphia A’s — he would return to the Athletics for 75 games during the 1956 after the team had moved to Kansas City — Robinson was close with A’s players Dave Philley, Gus Zernial and Ray Murray.
“Gus and I were together with the White Sox and I thought he was a great guy,” said Robinson. “They didn’t like him too well in Philadelphia sometimes. If he didn’t hit a home run, they didn’t like it.”
Philley is from the same hometown as Robinson – Paris, Texas – and the two remain friends to this day. Murray, a teammate of Robinson on the 1948 Cleveland championship team, died in 2003. Zernial, a favorite among A’s Society members and frequent guest at many of the group’s events over the years, died in January 2011.
After his year with the A’s, Robinson was traded to the New York Yankees, where he played for three seasons, two of which — 1955 and 1956 — resulted in American League championships. The Yankees lost the World Series to the Brooklyn Dodgers in 1955, the Brooklyn franchise’s only championship before moving to Los Angeles, but came back to beat the Dodgers in a rematch for the title the next year.
“Playing for the Yankees was very special,” said Robinson. “The players, they all knew how to win. Every time we took the field we thought we were going to win. It’s something that a team earns, that respect, that feeling of having a good team.
“I hadn’t experienced that, even in Cleveland when we won in 1948. We had a lot of togetherness, but we’d never won and we didn’t know what it was like to win. When you went with the Yankees, you just expected to win. There’s a pretty good difference there,” he said.
After his playing days ended in 1957, Robinson coached and scouted for the Baltimore Orioles. When his mentor, Paul Richards, was hired as the new general manager of the new Houston Colt 45s National League franchise, he hired Robinson as assistant general manager.
Robinson eventually ended up with Charlie Finley’s Kansas City Athletics as assistant general manager, and then moved on as farm director for the Atlanta Braves.
By the 1977 season, Robinson returned to his home state of Texas to be general manager of the Texas Rangers from 1977 through 1983. After that, he was a scout for the next 20 years or so retiring in 2004.
Robinson had contemplated writing a book for many years. He had dictated a lot of his memories, but never got serious about writing a book until he was approached by C. Paul Rogers III, dean of the law school at Southern Methodist University. Rogers had authored “The Whiz Kids and the 1950 Pennant” with Hall of Famer Phillies pitcher Robin Roberts.
“Paul called me one day and said, ‘Why don’t we try to write a book together?’ And I said, ‘You know, I’d like to do that.’ And it took seven years,” said Robinson.
These days, Robinson plays golf three times a week during the winter and two times a week during the summer months in Texas.
“It’s kind of hot down here in the summer,” he said.
And he still shoots his age.
He’s also got something he’d like to give the A’s Historical Society — the original cap he wore the with 1953 A’s.
“It’s in good shape and I’m going to give it to the society,” he said. “They can auction it off or they can keep it as a memento. That’s the least I can do.”
For more information, go to the A’s society website at www.philadelphiaathletics.org or visit the museum and gift shop at 6 York Road, Hatboro.

Mike Morsch is executive editor of Montgomery Newspapers in Fort Washington, PA, and a commissioner for the Philadelphia Athletics Historic Society. He can be reached at 215-542-0200, ext. 415 or by email at mmorsch@montgomerynews.com

THE EDDIE ROBINSON "SIGNED" HARTLAND FIGURINE

This Hartland Figurine Special Limited Edition of only 100 of former Indians & Yankees great, Eddie Robinson measures nine inches high and will be made available in August 27, 2011. We are accepting advanced orders now for these certain to be scarce autographed figurines at a pre show price. Certain to be one of the rarest Hartland Figurines ever offered.

CLICK HERE TO ORDER

EDDIE ROBINSON ARTWORK

by RONNIE JOYNER

Click here to order now.

Lot# 35 Mitchell & Ness replica 1949 Philadelphia Athletics warm up jacket size Extra Large made especially for Eddie Joost

Lot # 50 Brad Lidge Phillies Home Majestic Replica Shirt #54

Lot # 3: Bradford Exchange ceramic plates The 500 Home Run Club: Williams, Mays, Ruth, Mantle with holders

Lot # 4: Brsdford Exchange Triple Crown ceramic plate Mickey Mantle

Lot # 5: Lou Gehrig plate

Lots 8, 9 & 10: Sports Impressions ceramic numbered plate Mickey Mantle

LOT # 47 Derek Jeter Majestic Authentic shirt # 2 size 14/16

Lot # 48 ARods # 13 Majestic Authentic shirt

Lot 49 Jackie Robinson tribute shirt # 42 size Ex Large with 2009 WS sleeve patch