Frank Robinson (1935 – 2019) and a glove signed at the 1988 Orioles-Red Wings exhibition game

Posted by [email protected] | Feb 8, 2019 | Sports | 0 |

From On a Cal Ripken signed 1989 glove, prized possessions, and the Rundel Library. The glove was actually signed in 1988.

In Frank Robinson, MLB’s first black manager who briefly led Red Wings, dead at 83 (2/8/19), the Democrat and Chronicle reviews the tenure of Frank Robinson (1935 – 2019) as the manager of the Rochester Red Wings, including a memorable 1978 home run hitting contest between Robinson and Willie Mays at Silver Stadium.

Frank Robinson smiles from the Rochester Red Wings dugout during the 1978 season (D & C file photo)

Rochester Democrat and Chronicle, 8/25/78 Willie Mays didn’t hit a home run in his pre-game contest with Rochester Red Wings’ Manager Frank Robinson, but he made a hit with the fans at Silver Stadium.

Over the years, Robinson was not infrequently in Rochester, including for the Orioles-Red Wings exhibition games when Robinson managed Baltimore from 1988 – 1991.

As seen in On a Cal Ripken signed 1989 glove, prized possessions, and the Rundel Library, at the 1988 game Robinson autographed a glove — as did Cal Ripken Jr. — for a young Red Wing fan. (Originally, I thought the date was 1989 but further research shows it was July 25th, 1988; the 1989 game was rained out.)

Rochester Democrat and Chronicle, Jul 26, 1988

Orioles shortstop Cal Ripken accommodating autograph-seeking fans before the game against his previous club. Rochester Democrat and Chronicle, Jul 26, 1988

Oriole’s Rene Gonzalez signing autographs yesterday atop the visitor’s dugout before the exhibition game with the Red Wings. The Orioles won the annual contest, 10-8, in front of 5,363 fans. Rochester Democrat and Chronicle, Jul 26, 1988

That fan was not me, but I did acquire the glove, later displayed from May 1 – June 14th, 2013 at the Central Library of Rochester in the Pride & Passion: The African-American Baseball Experience traveling exhibition that also included Rochester Baseball Memorabilia.

Exhibit note: This glove was signed at the 1989 Redwings [sic] vs. Orioles exhibition game. It is signed by Cal Ripken Jr., Frank Robinson, and Coach Curt Motton. Donated for exhibit by David Kramer. [The correct date is 1988] From On a Cal Ripken signed 1989 glove, prized possessions, and the Rundel Library

Without seeming morbid, I wondered how much a Frank Robinson autographed glove is worth. A vintage version is quite valuable.

Rare 1960’s Frank Robinson Signed Game Model Baseball Glove PSA DNA COA $1,532.48 (sportsmemorabilia.com)

I was definitely there in 1977 at Silver Stadium when Hall of Famer Bob Feller signed by baseball.

I was definitely there in 1977 at Silver Stadium when Hall of Famer Bob Feller signed my baseball.

SEE ALSO

On a Cal Ripken signed 1989 glove, prized possessions, and the Rundel Library

Street & Smith’s now defunct. Here is Kramer & Kramer’s Official 2016 Yearbook

48 years ago when Rochester saw its first “Designated Pinch Hitter”

When the P.A. announcer told us Nixon had resigned. On the passing of Anna Silver and a most memorable Silver Stadium game

Very first pitch on Opening Day. And Knot Holes

70 years ago today when Jackie Robinson broke the color line at Red Wings Stadium

About The Author

[email protected]

Welcome to Talker of the Town! My name is David Kramer. I have a Ph.D in English and teach at Keuka College. I am a former and still active Fellow at the Nazareth College Center for Public History and a Storyteller in Residence at the SmallMatters Institute. Over the years, I have taught at Monroe Community College, the Rochester Institute of Technology and St. John Fisher College. I have published numerous Guest Essays, Letters, Book Reviews and Opinion pieces in The New York Times, Rochester Democrat and Chronicle, the Buffalo News, the Rochester Patriot, the Providence Journal, the Providence Business News, the Brown Alumni Magazine, the New London Day, the Boston Herald, the Messenger Post Newspapers, the Wedge, the Empty Closet, the CITY, Lake Affect Magazine and Brighton Connections. My poetry appears in The Criterion: An International Journal in English and Rundenalia and my academic writing in War, Literature and the Arts and Twentieth Century Literary Criticism. Starting in February 2013, I wrote for three Democratic and Chronicle blogs, "Make City Schools Better," "Unite Rochester," and the "Editorial Board." When my tenure at the D & C ended, I wanted to continue conversations first begun there. And start new ones. So we created this new space, Talker of the Town, where all are invited to join. I don’t like to say these posts are “mine.” Very few of them are the sole product of my sometimes overheated imagination. Instead, I call them partnerships and collaborations. Or as they say in education, “peer group work.” Talker of the Town might better be Talkers of the Town. The blog won’t thrive without your leads, text, pictures, ideas, facebook shares, tweets, comments and criticisms.