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Robin Evan Roberts
Philadelphia Phillies
Pitcher
Born: September 30, 1926, Springfield, IL
Signed: Signed by the Philadelphia Phillies as an amateur free agent before 1948 season
Major League Teams: Philadelphia Phillies 1948-1961; Baltimore Orioles 1962-1965; Houston Astros 1965-1966; Chicago Cubs 1966
Hall of Fame Induction: 1976
Died: May 6, 2010, Temple Terrace, FL (age 83)
Hall of Famer Robin Roberts was one of the most dominant right-handed pitchers of the 1950s, leading the National League in wins for four straight seasons between 1952 and 1955 and earning seven straight All-Star Game appearances. A work horse for the Phillies, his 20-win season in 1950 led the Phillies to the World Series and made him the first pitcher to win at least 20 games for the club since Grover Cleveland Alexander did it in 1917. Straddling the 1952 and 1953 seasons, he pitched 28 complete games in a row with his appearance on September 6, 1952 lasting 17 innings. He led the league in strikeouts in 1953 and 1954, and was named The Sporting News pitcher of the year in both 1952 and 1955.
After departing the Phillies, Roberts bounced from the Yankees, Orioles, Astros and Cubs, pitching a total of 19 seasons and retiring at the age of 39. He finished with a career record of 286-245 with a 3.41 ERA and exactly half of his 609 starts resulted in complete games (305). His 609 games started currently rank 20th on the all-time list. He was the first Phillies player to have his number retired in 1962 and the first player inducted into the Phillies Wall of Fame in 1978.
Some text for this post originally appeared on my 1965 Topps blog.
Building the Set
Sometime in 1987, no record of purchase - Card #53
So this is a little embarrassing, and as diligent as I was in my record-keeping skills between 1987 and 2005, I have absolutely no record of how or when this card came into our collection. There are four such cards we added to our set without me writing down the date of purchase, and this card is by far the most egregious, given it's a high-profile Phillies Hall of Famer. What I have been able to piece together, based on our checklists from 1987 and 1988, is this card was likely added at some point in 1987, shortly after we officially decided to collect the set.
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| 2006 Toyota Phillies Wall of Fame Postcards |
Sometime in 1987, no record of purchase - Card #53
So this is a little embarrassing, and as diligent as I was in my record-keeping skills between 1987 and 2005, I have absolutely no record of how or when this card came into our collection. There are four such cards we added to our set without me writing down the date of purchase, and this card is by far the most egregious, given it's a high-profile Phillies Hall of Famer. What I have been able to piece together, based on our checklists from 1987 and 1988, is this card was likely added at some point in 1987, shortly after we officially decided to collect the set.
And it's somewhat fitting this card falls here in the history of this blog, as we're nearing the end of 2021 and I have no recollection of certain weeks/months from the past year. May? A complete blur. September? Maybe it happened, maybe it didn't. This card also holds the distinction of breaking this blog's streak of consecutive weekly posting, every Friday at 7am, since January 31, 2019. With the holiday hustle and bustle in full swing and a few unfortunate work-related events, I completed missed posting this past Friday. So here's to taking a deep breath, remembering to keep records of where and when you purchased your baseball cards (if you're into that sort of thing) and a healthy and hopefully more peaceful 2022.
The Card / Phillies Team Set
Roberts appeared in the iconic 1952 Topps set and then disappeared from the company's offerings until 1956. Exclusive to Bowman between 1953 and 1955, Roberts appeared in every Bowman set with the exception of their two black and white releases in 1948 and 1953. The first cartoon panel on the back contains an error as Roberts led the league in wins four seasons in a row between 1952 and 1955. The middle panel is accurate as Roberts' complete game totals topped the league between 1952 and 1955 and the mini cartoon actually looks impressively like the pitcher.
The Card / Phillies Team Set
Roberts appeared in the iconic 1952 Topps set and then disappeared from the company's offerings until 1956. Exclusive to Bowman between 1953 and 1955, Roberts appeared in every Bowman set with the exception of their two black and white releases in 1948 and 1953. The first cartoon panel on the back contains an error as Roberts led the league in wins four seasons in a row between 1952 and 1955. The middle panel is accurate as Roberts' complete game totals topped the league between 1952 and 1955 and the mini cartoon actually looks impressively like the pitcher.
This card marks the end of the set's second series, and series three begins with a card of Yankees' All-Star second baseman Billy Martin (#181). There were 100 cards in the set's first series, with 80 cards each following in the second, third and fourth series releases. I'll eventually have a summary of the set's second series along the index bar at the top of this blog, and the first series review can be found here.
1956 Season
This was to be the last of Roberts' seven consecutive seasons of making the N.L. All-Star team. He finished the year with a 19-18 record with a 4.45 ERA while leading the league with 22 complete games. Roberts struck out 157 over 297 1/3 innings pitched, just missing the 300 innings pitched plateau for the first time since 1949. He walked only 40 batters all season. According to his SABR biography, the Phillies and Cardinals seriously discussed a swap of Roberts for Stan Musial, but the deal never happened.
Phillies Career
Roberts signed with the Phillies as an amateur free agent before the 1948 season and he was sold to the Yankees on October 16, 1961. In the decade-plus in between, he established himself as the best right-handed pitcher in franchise history. He still ranks first in franchise history in games (529), complete games (272), and innings pitched (3,739 1/3), and is second only to Steve Carlton in games started (472), wins (234) and strikeouts (1,871).
Following his big league career, and after a partial season with the Reading Phillies in 1967 attempting a comeback, Roberts' later crossed paths with the Phillies when he served as a color commentary on Phillies broadcasts for games between 1974 and 1976. Along with his induction into the Phillies Wall of Fame in 1978, he was also named to their Centennial Team in 1983. His statute sits outside the first base gate of Citizens Bank Park, and when he passed away in 2010 the Phillies wore a black #36 patch on their uniforms and hung a Roberts jersey in their dugout during each game.
Other Notable Baseball Cards
First Mainstream Card: 1949 Bowman #46
Topps Flagship Set Appearances (12): 1952, 1956-1966
Most Recent Mainstream Card: 2021 Panini Mosaic Vintage #V6
522 - Roberts non-parallel baseball cards in the Beckett online database as of 12/22/21.
Sources:
1965 Topps Blog
1956 Season
Phillies Career
Roberts signed with the Phillies as an amateur free agent before the 1948 season and he was sold to the Yankees on October 16, 1961. In the decade-plus in between, he established himself as the best right-handed pitcher in franchise history. He still ranks first in franchise history in games (529), complete games (272), and innings pitched (3,739 1/3), and is second only to Steve Carlton in games started (472), wins (234) and strikeouts (1,871).
Following his big league career, and after a partial season with the Reading Phillies in 1967 attempting a comeback, Roberts' later crossed paths with the Phillies when he served as a color commentary on Phillies broadcasts for games between 1974 and 1976. Along with his induction into the Phillies Wall of Fame in 1978, he was also named to their Centennial Team in 1983. His statute sits outside the first base gate of Citizens Bank Park, and when he passed away in 2010 the Phillies wore a black #36 patch on their uniforms and hung a Roberts jersey in their dugout during each game.
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First Mainstream Card: 1949 Bowman #46
Topps Flagship Set Appearances (12): 1952, 1956-1966
Most Recent Mainstream Card: 2021 Panini Mosaic Vintage #V6
522 - Roberts non-parallel baseball cards in the Beckett online database as of 12/22/21.
Sources:
1965 Topps Blog
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