Roberts was a Pitcher for the Ages and Briefly, for the Cubs
Hall of Fame pitcher Robin Roberts died Thursday at the age of 83.
I have always thought of Roberts as the quintessential Phillie just as I have always thought of Bob Gibson as the quintessential Cardinal. Same for Brooks Robinson as an Oriole.
Unlike Gibson and Robinson, however, Roberts was not a one-team player. After 14 years in Philadelphia, Roberts played in Baltimore, Houston, and finally, as a 39-year-old pitcher/coach and certain future Hall of Famer, in Wrigley Field.
From a story that appeared in the Chicago Tribune on July 14, 1966, the day the Cubs and their first-year manager, Leo Durocher, signed him:
Roberts…may do more pitching than coaching during the 79 games remaining of the Cubs’ disastrous season. Fred Fitzsimmons, long-time associate of Leo Durocher, is the current teacher of the inept Cub staff. Fitz, a great knuckleballer with the Giants and Dodgers, is 65. Roberts may be his successor next year.
Roberts’s one season as a Cub was predictably forgettable. Many years beyond his best seasons, Roberts appeared in 11 games, starting 9, and went 2-3, 6.14. His best game as a Cub was probably his first one, a complete-game victory over the Pirates, the day after he was signed.
At the end of the season, it was not Roberts but Joe Becker, who had worked with Durocher with the Dodgers, who was selected as the Cubs new pitching coach.
Roberts retired with 286 victories and in his post-playing days, he worked as an investment executive, coached baseball at the Univeristy of South Florida in Tampa, and served as a minor league instructor for the Phils.
According to Roberts’s obituary in the New York Times, the Phillies chose to honor the pitcher by hanging a number 36 jersey in the dugout during their game Thursday with the Cardinals. The team plans to continue doing so for the remainder of the season.
