Our Salute to Eddie Robinson, Last Surviving Member of the 1948 Cleveland Indians!

Eddie Robinson and the 1948 World Series Photo Gallery
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Our Salute to Eddie Robinson, Last Surviving Member of the 1948 World Series Champion Cleveland Indians!

I’m sure many of you watching Game Six of the World Series heard Joe Buck mention that Eddie Robinson, the last surviving member of the 1948 World Series Champion Cleveland Indians, was in attendance. Being a baseball history guy, that wonderful news immediately caught my attention! Eddie and his wife Bette had flown up from their home Texas to attend the game as guests of the Indians.

I think we were all very pleasantly surprised and to see Eddie looking so bright and sharp at age 95. Born on December 15, 1920, Eddie currently occupies the 10^th spot on the list of “Oldest Living Former Major Leaguers.” Hall-of-Famer Bobby Doerr, who turned 98 earlier this year, currently heads the list.

Old Time Baseball Photos would be very neglectful of our responsibility to baseball history if we failed to take notice of this wonderful occasion. So with that in mind, here’s a little information about the interesting career of Eddie Robinson.

Eddie made his debut on September 9, 1942 with the Indians as a left-handed hitting, right-handed throwing first-baseman. Over his 13-year career, he was on the roster of seven of the original eight American League teams: Indians (1942, 1946-’48, 1957), Senators (1949-’50), White Sox (1950-’52), Philadelphia Athletics (1953), Yankees (1954-’56), Kansas City Athletics (1956), Tigers (1957), Indians (1957), and Orioles (1957). He missed the 1943-‘45 seasons due to service in the Navy during World War II

In 1315 major league games, Eddie hit .268, with 172 home runs, 723 RBI, with a very respectable .353 on-base percentage. His most productive years were from 1949-’52 with the Senators and White Sox. His best individual season was probably 1952 with the White Sox when he hit .296, with 22 home runs, 104 RBIs, and .382 on-base percentage. Eddie was a four-time All-Star, including the starting first baseman in the 1949 and 1952 Mid-Summer Classics. He was a member of the 1948 World Series champion Cleveland Indians and the 1955 pennant-winning Yankees. In 10 World Series games, he hit .348. A highlight of his career was driving in the decisive run in the Indians’ clinching victory over the Boston Braves in Game Six of the 1948 Fall Classic.

In addition to being the last surviving member of the 1948 Indians, he is also ^]the oldest living player to have played on a World Series-winning team; and the oldest living member of the Tigers, Yankees, and Senators.

After he retired as a player, Eddie stayed in the game as a scout, coach, and front office executive, compiling an amazing 65 years in baseball. This included tenures as the GM of the Braves and Rangers. His last position was as a scout for the Red Sox in the 1980’s, the only team of the “original eight” American League clubs that he didn’t play for.

Eddie Robinson is the author of an autobiography, published in 2011, titled “Lucky Me: My Sixty-five Years in Baseball.”

Congratulations Eddie, great to see you looking so well! All of us at Old-Time Baseball Photos would like to wish you continued health and hope you’ll be around to see many more World Series!

-Gary Livacari

Photo Credits: All found in Google search

Information: Excerpts edited from the Eddie Robinson Wikipedia page: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eddie_Robinson_(baseball)

Statistics: from Baseball-Reference, Eddie Robinson page

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