On this date in 1975, Frank Robinson became the first African-American to manage in the Major Leagues. Though he won the AL Manager of the Year Award in 1989, he never led a team to the playoffs and his final record as a manager was 1065-1176, though you can take that more as an indictment of the sorry teams he had to work with than a indicator of his knowledge.
He was certainly Old School, though. If you respected the game, he respected you and would be fiercely loyal. In 2006, he felt that he had to pull Matthew LeCroy in the middle of an inning. Frank was so upset after the game that he broke down in tears. No video of the news conference seems to exist, but I remember it well.
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