Editing Frank Robinson (section)

====Cincinnati Redlegs / Reds (1956–1965)====
Robinson made his major league debut on April 17, [[1956 Cincinnati Reds season|1956]] at the age of 20.<ref name="bbref">{{cite web |title=Frank Robinson Career Statistics |url=https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/r/robinfr02.shtml |access-date=October 12, 2023 |website=[[Baseball Reference]]}}</ref> After posting 11 consecutive losing seasons, the Reds surprised their opposition by jumping to first place at the mid-point of the 1956 season. Robinson led the team with 18 home runs at mid-season, earning him the role as starting left fielder for the National League in the [[1956 Major League Baseball All-Star Game|1956 All-Star Game]].<ref name=sabr/><ref>{{cite web |title=Frank Robinson 1956 Batting Game Logs |url=https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/gl.fcgi?id=robinfr02&t=b&year=1956 |access-date=October 10, 2023 |website=[[Baseball Reference]] |publisher=[[Sports Reference]]}}</ref> The Reds stayed in the pennant race until the last day of the season, ending up with a 91–63 record, two games behind the [[1956 Brooklyn Dodgers season|Brooklyn Dodgers]].<ref>{{cite web |title=1956 Cincinnati Redlegs Schedule, Box Scores and Splits |url=https://www.baseball-reference.com/teams/CIN/1956-schedule-scores.shtml |access-date=June 29, 2011 |website=[[Baseball Reference]] |publisher=[[Sports Reference]]}}</ref>

Robinson ended the 1956 season with a .290 [[Batting average (baseball)|batting average]] and 83 RBI, and his 38 home runs tied the Major League Baseball record for home runs hit by a Rookie player previously set by [[Wally Berger]] in {{mlby|1930}}.<ref name="bbref"/><ref name="Most Home Runs by a Rookie Player">{{cite web |title=Most Home Runs by a Rookie Player |url=https://www.statmuse.com/mlb/ask?q=all-time+most+home+runs+by+a+rookie |access-date=October 14, 2023 |website=[[StatMuse]]}}</ref> His rookie home run record stood for 31 years when it was broken by [[Mark McGwire]]'s 49 home runs in {{mlby|1987}}.<ref name="Most Home Runs by a Rookie Player"/> His impressive power hitting display earned him the {{mlby|1956}} National League [[MLB Rookie of the Year Award|Rookie of the Year Award]].<ref>{{cite web |title=1956 Rookie of the Year voting |url=https://www.baseball-reference.com/awards/awards_1956.shtml#all_NL_ROY_voting |access-date=October 14, 2023 |website=[[Baseball Reference]] |publisher=[[Sports Reference]]}}</ref>

In [[1957 Cincinnati Reds season|1957]], the Reds were once again in first place at mid-season when, Robinson and six of his Redleg teammates—[[Ed Bailey]], [[Johnny Temple]], [[Don Hoak]], [[Gus Bell]], [[Wally Post]] and [[Roy McMillan]]—were voted into the National League starting lineup for the [[1957 Major League Baseball All-Star Game|1957 All-Star Game]]. An investigation launched by [[Commissioner of Baseball|Commissioner]] [[Ford C. Frick]] found that the majority of the ballots cast had come from Cincinnati as the result of a [[ballot stuffing]] campaign by Reds fans.<ref name="The stuff of legends: In 1957, Cincinnati fans stacked the All-Star team too">{{cite web |last=Wulf |first=Steve |date=June 29, 2015 |title=The stuff of legends: In 1957, Cincinnati fans stacked the All-Star team too |url=https://www.espn.com/mlb/story/_/id/13168334/1957-cincinnati-fans-stacked-all-star-team-too |website=[[ESPN]]}}</ref>

Frick allowed Robinson to remain on the team while Bell and Post were replaced on the NL starting roster by outfielders [[Hank Aaron]] and [[Willie Mays]].<ref name="The stuff of legends: In 1957, Cincinnati fans stacked the All-Star team too"/> Bell remained as a reserve player, but Post was removed from the roster altogether.<ref name="The stuff of legends: In 1957, Cincinnati fans stacked the All-Star team too"/> Subsequently, Frick suspended fans' All-Star game voting rights until they were eventually restored in [[1970 in baseball|1970]].<ref name="The stuff of legends: In 1957, Cincinnati fans stacked the All-Star team too"/> The Reds faltered after the All-Star break and dropped to fourth place in the season final standings.

Robinson earned the 1957 ''[[Associated Press]]'' National League Sophomore-of-the-Year award by improving his batting average to .322, tying him with Hank Aaron for third place in the [[List of Major League Baseball batting champions|1957 NL batting championship]] race behind future Hall of Fame members [[Stan Musial]] (.366) and Willie Mays (.333).<ref name="Robinson Says Credit Of Honor Belongs To Tebbetts">{{cite news |last=Schechter |first=Mal |date=November 2, 1957 |title=Robinson Says Credit Of Honor Belongs To Tebbetts |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=XNwbAAAAIBAJ&pg=4969,59766&dq=birdie+tebbetts&hl=en |access-date=June 29, 2011 |work=[[The Dispatch]] |page=16 |via=[[Google News Archive]] |agency=[[Associated Press]]}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=1957 Batting Leaders |url=https://www.baseball-reference.com/leagues/NL/1957-batting-leaders.shtml |access-date=October 12, 2023 |website=[[Baseball Reference]]}}</ref> He credited manager, [[Birdie Tebbetts]] for his performance saying, "He kept after me all year and that's what a young ball player needs."<ref name="Robinson Says Credit Of Honor Belongs To Tebbetts"/> In [[1958 Cincinnati Reds season|1958]], Robinson would win the only [[Gold Glove Award]] of his career however, his batting average dropped to .269 as the Reds fell to last place in the National League, prompting Tebbetts to announce his resignation on August 14.<ref name="bbref"/><ref>{{cite web |title=1958 National League Gold Glove Award winners |url=https://www.baseball-reference.com/awards/gold_glove_nl.shtml#1958 |access-date=October 12, 2023 |website=[[Baseball Reference]]}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |date=August 15, 1958 |title=Birdie Tebbetts Quits As Cincinnati Manager |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=x1QuAAAAIBAJ&pg=500,2128191&dq=birdie+tebbetts&hl=en |access-date=October 12, 2023 |work=[[The Daily Gazette|Schenectady Gazette]] |page=26 |via=[[Google News Archive]] |agency=[[Associated Press]]}}</ref> In [[1959 Cincinnati Reds season|1959]], Robinson improved to a .311 batting average along with 36 home runs and 125 RBI in 146 games.<ref name="bbref"/> He also enjoyed a productive [[1960 Cincinnati Reds season|1960]], batting .297 with 31 home runs and 83 RBI in 139 games. That year, Robinson led the major leagues in [[slugging percentage]] (.595) and [[on-base plus slugging]] (1.002), and also ranked first in the NL in [[Hit by pitch|hit by pitches]] (nine).<ref name="bbref" />
[[File:Frank Robinson 1961.png|thumb|left|Robinson with the Reds in 1961]]
In [[1961 Cincinnati Reds season|1961]], Robinson moved to right field and produced another strong offensive season.<ref name=sabr/> In July he batted .409, hit 13 home runs, and drove in 34 runs to win [[Major League Baseball Player of the Month Award|NL Player of the Month]] Award, and finished the season with a .323 batting average with 37 home runs and 124 RBI in 153 games, helping to propel the Reds to the {{mlby|1961}} [[List of National League pennant winners|National League pennant]].<ref name="bbref"/><ref>{{cite web |title=MLB Major League Baseball Players of the Month |url=https://www.baseball-reference.com/awards/mlb-players-of-the-month.shtml |access-date=October 12, 2023 |website=[[Baseball Reference]]}}</ref> His performance earned him the 1961 National League [[Major League Baseball Most Valuable Player Award|Most Valuable Player Award]].<ref>{{cite web |title=1961 National League Most Valuable Player voting results |url=https://www.baseball-reference.com/awards/awards_1961.shtml#NL_MVP_voting |access-date=October 12, 2023 |website=[[Baseball Reference]]}}</ref> In the [[1961 World Series]] against the [[1961 New York Yankees season|New York Yankees]], Robinson had a lackluster performance, producing only three hits as the Reds fell to the Yankees in five games.<ref>{{cite web |title=Frank Robinson postseason batting statistics |url=https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/r/robinfr02.shtml#batting_postseason |access-date=October 12, 2023 |website=[[Baseball Reference]]}}</ref>

Robinson hit a career-high .342 in [[1962 Cincinnati Reds season|1962]], just four points behind the NL batting champion, [[Tommy Davis (outfielder)|Tommy Davis]].<ref name="1962 Batting Leaders">{{cite web |title=1962 Batting Leaders |url=https://www.baseball-reference.com/leagues/NL/1962-batting-leaders.shtml |access-date=October 12, 2023 |website=[[Baseball Reference]]}}</ref> He also led the league in [[Run (baseball)|runs scored]] (134), [[Double (baseball)|doubles]] (51), [[on-base percentage]] (.421), slugging percentage (.624) and on-base plus slugging (1.045).<ref name="1962 Batting Leaders"/> Robinson's season totals for runs scored, doubles, RBI (136) and on-base percentage were also career-highs.<ref name="bbref"/>

Robinson was noted as a fiercely aggressive player. He [[Cleat (shoe)|spiked]] [[Johnny Logan (baseball)|Johnny Logan]] in 1957, causing Logan to miss six weeks. In a game against the [[1960 Milwaukee Braves season|Milwaukee Braves]] on August 15, 1960, Robinson slid hard into third base, prompting a fistfight with Milwaukee's future Hall of Fame third baseman, [[Eddie Mathews]].<ref>{{cite news |last=Sharnik |first=Morton |date=June 17, 1963 |title=The Moody Tiger of the Reds |url=https://vault.si.com/vault/1963/06/17/the-moody-tiger-of-the-reds |access-date=February 7, 2019 |newspaper=[[Sports Illustrated]]}}</ref>