Robinson, Wilbert

Robinson, Wilbert

(1863–1934) baseball manager; born in Bolton, Mass. He had a 17-year major league career (1886–1902), mostly as a star catcher with the Baltimore Orioles (1892–99), then went on to manage and coach minor league teams. To demonstrate his catching prowess, he once caught a grapefruit dropped 400 feet from an airplane. As manager of the Brooklyn Dodgers from 1914 to 1931, he was so popular that the Dodgers were sometimes called the "Robins" in his honor. Nicknamed "Uncle Robbie," he was elected to baseball's Hall of Fame in 1945.