Robin Roberts – 1950’s King of the Hill

By way of introduction to this post, I was born in 1947 – which means my formative years, as a baseball fan, were the 1950’s. I went to my first minor-league game in 1951, my first major-league game in 1953 (when the Braves moved to my home town of Milwaukee) and my first World Series game in 1957.  I played my first Little League game in 1955.

It wasn’t a bad time to start a life of fandom. There were players who debuted early in the decade and made their mark quickly – like Whitey Ford (MLB debut in 1950); Willie Mays (1951); Mickey Mantle and Eddie Mathews (1952); Ernie Banks (1953); Hank Aaron and Harmon Killebrew (1954); and Roberto Clemente (1955).  There also were more established stars like Stan Musial, Warren Spahn, Ted Williams, Duke Snider and Ralph Kiner.  (Not to mention the underrated Richie Ashburn.  Oh, I guess I did mention him. ) And, for a kid whose last name ended in “ski,” the likes of Ted Kluszewski and Bill Mazeroski.

Ralph Kiner won the NL home run crown as a rookie in 1946 and went on to lead the league in homers for each of the next six seasons.

I would like to dedicate this post to one of the hardball heroes of my youth – Robin Roberts, who was clearly one of the  (if not the) Kings of the Hill in the 1950’s.

Multi-Sport Athlete

Robin Roberts not only starred on the Michigan State University baseball team (tossing six shutouts in 1946), he was also a basketball standout was captain and leading scorer for the Michigan State basketball squad.

Photo: Bowman, Public domain via WikiCommons

While attending Michigan State, Roberts also pitched for the Twin City Trojans (Montpelier, Vermont) in the summer semi-pro Northern League. His performance at MSU and in the Northern League (he was 18-3 for the semi-pro squad in 1947) led to a contract with the Philllies’ organization and – after putting up a 9-1 record in 11 games for the  B-Level  Wilmington Blue Rocks – Roberts made his MLB debut, as a 21-year-old, on June 18, 1948.  In that game, he went eight strong innings (five hits and two earned runs) in a 2-0 loss to the Pirates. Over the 1948-49 seasons, he went 22-24, 3.50 (with 20 complete games in 51 starts).  Then, in 1950, it all fell into place, as Roberts put up a 20-11, 3.02 season, with 21 complete games in 39 starts and a league-leading five shutouts. It would start a string of six straight seasons of 20 or more wins – during which he would lead the league in wins four times, starts six times, complete games four times, innings pitched five times and strikeouts twice.

A Working Man’s Game

From 1950 through 1955, Robin Roberts recorded six consecutive seasons of more than 300 innings pitched.

How good was Robin Roberts in the 1950’s?  In the ten seasons from 1950 through 1959, Roberts:

• Averaged just over 300 innings pitched per season (3011 2/3 innings pitched with six seasons over 300); (check)
• Pitched 1,013 1/3 innings in the three seasons from 1952 through 1954;
• Was second only to Warren Spahn in victories – 199 to Spahn’s 202;
• Was second only to Early Wynn in strikeouts (1,516 to Wynn’s 1,544);
• Led all MLB pitchers in complete games (237);
• Had the lowest Walk + Hits Per Innings Pitched (WHIP) of all pitchers with at least 1,000 innings pitched (1.129);
• Was a six-time 20-game winner and a seven-time All Star;
• Led the league in wins four straight season (1952-55);
• Led the league in games started six straight seasons (1950-55);
• Led the league in complete games five straight seasons (1952-56);
• Over the ten seasons, averaged 7.96 innings per start;
• Over the ten seasons, had a .571 winning percentage, while the Phillies had a .496 winning percentage;
• In 1952, averaged 8.8 innings per start.

In 1952, Robing\ Roberts went 28-7, with a 2.59 earned run average. In 37 starts he threw 30 complete games and threw less than eight innings in just four contests.

• In 370 starts over the 1950’s, went at least seven innings in 301;
• Completed 28 consecutive starts from August 28, 1952 through July 5, 1953 (with one relief appearance interrupting the string);
• For those into the new stats, had the highest Win Above Replacement (WAR) among pitchers (for the decade) at 60.5.

Pitch Count.  We don’t Need NO Stinkin’ Pitch Count

On September 6, 1952, Robin Roberts threw a 17-inning complete game in a 7-6 win over the Boston Braves in Philadelphia (holding the Braves scoreless over the final nine frames). How did all that work affect his arm?  Five days later, he threw a complete game in a 3-2 win over the Cardinals.  In fact, in the 22 days after that 17-inning outing, Roberts threw five complete-games (all wins); giving up 12 earned runs over the 54 innings (2.40 earned run average).

Hall of Famer Roberts pitched 19 seasons in the major leagues (1948-66 … Phillies, Orioles, Astros, Cubs), going 286-245, 3.41. He threw 305 complete games in 609 starts. (50.8%). Over his career he averaged 7.5 innings per start.

Side note:  An argument can be made that the heavy workload in the first half of the 1950s eventually took a toll on Robert’s right arm. But you can also look at the fact that from 1956-66, he still pitched to a 3.78 earned run average.

How the Game Has Changed

The AL and NL 2012 Cy Young Award Winners (Robbie Ray and Corbin Burnes) made a combined 60 starts, with zero complete games.

Now to close, here’s a look at some of the category leaders from the years during which I formed my attachment to the National pastime.

Primary Resources: Baseball-Reference.com; The Baseball Maniac’s Almanac, Edited by Bert Randolph Sugar, with Ken Samuelson (Skyhorse Publishing); Spartan Legend Robin Roberts Passes Away, May 6, 2010, MSUSpartans.com.

Baseball Roundtable … blogging baseball since 2012. 

Baseball Roundtable is on the Feedspot list of the Top 100 Baseball Blogs.  To see the full list, click here.

I tweet (on X) baseball @DavidBaseballRT

Follow Baseball Roundtable’s Facebook Page here.  More baseball commentary; blog post notifications.

Member: Society for American Baseball Research (SABR); The Baseball Reliquary; The Negro Leagues Baseball Museum.