Here’s to you, Mr. Robinson
CLEVELAND — Baseball has changed in many ways since Eddie Robinson and the 1948 Cleveland Indians won the World Series, but according to the 95-year-old, the biggest difference might be the way teams celebrate after clinching a championship.
“We didn’t celebrate like they do today,” Robinson said before the Indians hosted the Cubs in Game 6. “After we won, we went in and changed and got on a train. But once we got on the train, we had a dining car and a club car. That’s when the party started.
“The next day, the champagne was dripping from the ceiling. I think Bill Veeck, that cost him a few thousand dollars to put those cars back in shape.”
One thing that was in style 68 years ago, however, was the championship parade.
“From the train station we went to Euclid Avenue, and every player got in a convertible, and we went down Euclid and it was marvelous,” Robinson said. “Looked like everybody in Cleveland had turned out.”
Robinson is the last living member of the Indians’ most recent title team, hoping to see Cleveland celebrate its second major championship in the span of five months. He’s a Texas Rangers fan — he lives in Fort Worth — but keeps a watchful eye on his former team in Cleveland.
Asked about the similarities between this year’s Tribe team and the one he won with nearly seven decades ago, Robinson noted the “great pitching” both clubs had. But the 1948 club had a half-dozen Hall-of-Fame players — Lou Boudreau, Larry Doby, Bob Feller, Joe Gordon, Bob Lemon and Satchel Paige — while this year’s roster is filled with young players still making names for themselves.
“This team is comprised of a bunch of players that they’re kind of no-name players,” Robinson said. “I went to see Cleveland play when they came to Texas this year, and I told my wife Betty, I said, ‘They have a good team, but AP I never heard of any anybody.’ ”
The only familiar name was Mike Napoli, who had played with the Rangers in 2011-12.
“I’d been a Napoli fan for a long time,” Robinson said. “Good player. Good teammate.”
Robinson’s lone RBI in the 1948 World Series came in the eighth inning of Game 6 against Warren Spahn, ultimately proving to be the game-winner in Cleveland’s clincher. He remained in touch with teammates including Lemon, Al Rosen and Dale Mitchell, though now he’s the last living member of the franchise’s last title team.
Robinson, who played first base for the Indians, Senators, White Sox, Athletics, Yankees and Tigers during his 13 seasons in the majors, was asked if he would be ready to pinch-hit if Terry Francona needed him.
“They’d rather have Tito than me, I think,” Robinson said.