Jeff Robinson
Encyclopedia
Jeffrey Daniel Robinson (born December 13, 1960) is a former right-handed pitcher
in Major League Baseball
who played nine seasons for the San Francisco Giants
, Pittsburgh Pirates
, New York Yankees
, California Angels
and Chicago Cubs
.
, was originally selected by the Detroit Tigers
in the fourteenth round of the 1982 amateur draft. He did not sign with the team and was sent back into the draft pool. A year later, in the 1983 amateur draft, he was selected by the San Francisco Giants
in the second round. He was originally a starting pitcher
, making his major league debut on April 7, against the St. Louis Cardinals
at Candlestick Park. He pitched six scoreless innings
, allowing four hits
, and struck out
four batters and walked
three in an 11-0 victory. He started 33 games for the Giants during the 1984 season, going 7-15 with an earned run average
of 4.56 in 34 appearances.
Robinson only played in eight games the following season. His ERA shot up to 5.11 in 12⅓ innings. In 1986, he played full-time as a reliever, starting only one game for the Giants. He went 6-3 with an ERA of 3.36 and 90 strikeouts. But he also led the team in wild pitch
es with eleven. He saw the same amount of time in with the Giants, but on August 21 he was traded with Scott Medvin
to the Pittsburgh Pirates
for Rick Reuschel
.
Robinson finished the season with a 2-1 record and a 3.04 ERA in eighteen relief appearances for the Pirates. In the seventh inning of the September 7 game against the Chicago Cubs
at Wrigley Field
, he struck out Leon Durham
, Andre Dawson
and Rafael Palmeiro
, the number three, four and five hitters, each on three pitches to become the thirteenth National League
pitcher to strike out three batters on nine pitches, the twenty-first such occurrence in major league history. Two days later, Robinson won a game with his bat when he hit an unlikely home run
, his first in the majors, off of ace closer
Lee Smith
to break a tie with two outs in the ninth inning.
Over the course of the whole 1987 season, he went 8-9 with an ERA of 2.85 – the lowest average of his career – in 81 relief appearances. He had one of his best seasons in 1988 as he went 11-5 with an ERA of 3.03, appearing in a team-high 75 games. In 1989, he started nineteen games and went 7-13 in 50 total appearances with an ERA of 4.58, which wasn't good enough to keep him in Pittsburgh. Following the season, he was traded with Willie Smith
to the New York Yankees
for catcher Don Slaught
.
He started seeing less time in New York, pitching in about half the innings he did in his final season in Pittsburgh. He went 3-6 in 54 appearances with a 3.45 ERA. After the season, he was on the move once more. He was granted free agency by the Yankees and signed with the California Angels
. With the Angels, he had perhaps his worst season; he failed to win a game and had his highest career ERA, at 5.37. The Angels released him following the season, and he signed a one-year contract with the Cubs.
In his final season in 1992, he went 4-3 with a 3.00 ERA. After his contract expired, he was granted free agency by the Cubs. A couple months later, he signed with the Cubs once more, but he never played another major league game, and his career eventually came to a close.
Pitcher
In baseball, the pitcher is the player who throwsthe baseball from the pitcher's mound toward the catcher to begin each play, with the goal of retiring a batter, who attempts to either make contact with the pitched ball or draw a walk. In the numbering system used to record defensive plays, the...
in Major League Baseball
Major League Baseball
Major League Baseball is the highest level of professional baseball in the United States and Canada, consisting of teams that play in the National League and the American League...
who played nine seasons for the San Francisco Giants
San Francisco Giants
The San Francisco Giants are a Major League Baseball team based in San Francisco, California, playing in the National League West Division....
, Pittsburgh Pirates
Pittsburgh Pirates
The Pittsburgh Pirates are a Major League Baseball club based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. They play in the Central Division of the National League, and are five-time World Series Champions...
, New York Yankees
New York Yankees
The New York Yankees are a professional baseball team based in the The Bronx, New York. They compete in Major League Baseball in the American League's East Division...
, California Angels
Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim
The Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim are a professional baseball team based in Anaheim, California, United States. The Angels are a member of the Western Division of Major League Baseball's American League. The "Angels" name originates from the city in which the team started, Los Angeles...
and Chicago Cubs
Chicago Cubs
The Chicago Cubs are a professional baseball team located in Chicago, Illinois. They are members of the Central Division of Major League Baseball's National League. They are one of two Major League clubs based in Chicago . The Cubs are also one of the two remaining charter members of the National...
.
Professional career
Robinson, a , 200 lb (90.7 kg) relief pitcherRelief pitcher
A relief pitcher or reliever is a baseball or softball pitcher who enters the game after the starting pitcher is removed due to injury, ineffectiveness, fatigue, ejection, or for other strategic reasons, such as being substituted by a pinch hitter...
, was originally selected by the Detroit Tigers
Detroit Tigers
The Detroit Tigers are a Major League Baseball team located in Detroit, Michigan. One of the American League's eight charter franchises, the club was founded in Detroit in as part of the Western League. The Tigers have won four World Series championships and have won the American League pennant...
in the fourteenth round of the 1982 amateur draft. He did not sign with the team and was sent back into the draft pool. A year later, in the 1983 amateur draft, he was selected by the San Francisco Giants
San Francisco Giants
The San Francisco Giants are a Major League Baseball team based in San Francisco, California, playing in the National League West Division....
in the second round. He was originally a starting pitcher
Starting pitcher
In baseball or softball, a starting pitcher is the pitcher who delivers the first pitch to the first batter of a game. A pitcher who enters the game after the first pitch of the game is a relief pitcher....
, making his major league debut on April 7, against the St. Louis Cardinals
St. Louis Cardinals
The St. Louis Cardinals are a professional baseball team based in St. Louis, Missouri. They are members of the Central Division in the National League of Major League Baseball. The Cardinals have won eleven World Series championships, the most of any National League team, and second overall only to...
at Candlestick Park. He pitched six scoreless innings
Innings pitched
In baseball, innings pitched are the number of innings a pitcher has completed, measured by the number of batters and baserunners that are put out while the pitcher on the pitching mound in a game. Three outs made is equal to one inning pitched. One out counts as one-third of an inning, and two...
, allowing four hits
Hit (baseball)
In baseball statistics, a hit , also called a base hit, is credited to a batter when the batter safely reaches first base after hitting the ball into fair territory, without the benefit of an error or a fielder's choice....
, and struck out
Strikeout
In baseball or softball, a strikeout or strike-out occurs when a batter receives three strikes during his time at bat. A strikeout is a statistic recorded for both pitchers and batters....
four batters and walked
Base on balls
A base on balls is credited to a batter and against a pitcher in baseball statistics when a batter receives four pitches that the umpire calls balls. It is better known as a walk. The base on balls is defined in Section 2.00 of baseball's Official Rules, and further detail is given in 6.08...
three in an 11-0 victory. He started 33 games for the Giants during the 1984 season, going 7-15 with an earned run average
Earned run average
In baseball statistics, earned run average is the mean of earned runs given up by a pitcher per nine innings pitched. It is determined by dividing the number of earned runs allowed by the number of innings pitched and multiplying by nine...
of 4.56 in 34 appearances.
Robinson only played in eight games the following season. His ERA shot up to 5.11 in 12⅓ innings. In 1986, he played full-time as a reliever, starting only one game for the Giants. He went 6-3 with an ERA of 3.36 and 90 strikeouts. But he also led the team in wild pitch
Wild pitch
In baseball, a wild pitch is charged against a pitcher when his pitch is too high, too short, or too wide of home plate for the catcher to control with ordinary effort, thereby allowing a baserunner, perhaps even the batter-runner on strike three or ball four, to advance.A wild pitch usually...
es with eleven. He saw the same amount of time in with the Giants, but on August 21 he was traded with Scott Medvin
Scott Medvin
Scott Howard Medvin is a former professional baseball pitcher. He played parts of three seasons in Major League Baseball for the Pittsburgh Pirates and Seattle Mariners .-External links:...
to the Pittsburgh Pirates
Pittsburgh Pirates
The Pittsburgh Pirates are a Major League Baseball club based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. They play in the Central Division of the National League, and are five-time World Series Champions...
for Rick Reuschel
Rick Reuschel
Rickey Eugene Reuschel is a former professional baseball pitcher from the early 1970s into the early 1990s. His nickname was "Big Daddy" because of his portly physique...
.
Robinson finished the season with a 2-1 record and a 3.04 ERA in eighteen relief appearances for the Pirates. In the seventh inning of the September 7 game against the Chicago Cubs
Chicago Cubs
The Chicago Cubs are a professional baseball team located in Chicago, Illinois. They are members of the Central Division of Major League Baseball's National League. They are one of two Major League clubs based in Chicago . The Cubs are also one of the two remaining charter members of the National...
at Wrigley Field
Wrigley Field
Wrigley Field is a baseball stadium in Chicago, Illinois, United States that has served as the home ballpark of the Chicago Cubs since 1916. It was built in 1914 as Weeghman Park for the Chicago Federal League baseball team, the Chicago Whales...
, he struck out Leon Durham
Leon Durham
Leon "Bull" Durham is a former first baseman and outfielder in Major League Baseball who played for 10 seasons. Durham played with the St. Louis Cardinals , Chicago Cubs , and Cincinnati Reds...
, Andre Dawson
Andre Dawson
Andre Nolan Dawson , nicknamed "The Hawk", is an American former center fielder and right fielder. During a 21-year baseball career, he played for four different teams, spending most of his career with the Montreal Expos and Chicago Cubs .An 8-time National League All-Star, he was named the...
and Rafael Palmeiro
Rafael Palmeiro
Rafael Palmeiro Corrales is a former Major League Baseball first baseman and left fielder. Palmeiro was an All-American at Mississippi State University before being drafted by the Chicago Cubs in 1985...
, the number three, four and five hitters, each on three pitches to become the thirteenth National League
National League
The National League of Professional Baseball Clubs, known simply as the National League , is the older of two leagues constituting Major League Baseball, and the world's oldest extant professional team sports league. Founded on February 2, 1876, to replace the National Association of Professional...
pitcher to strike out three batters on nine pitches, the twenty-first such occurrence in major league history. Two days later, Robinson won a game with his bat when he hit an unlikely home run
Home run
In baseball, a home run is scored when the ball is hit in such a way that the batter is able to reach home safely in one play without any errors being committed by the defensive team in the process...
, his first in the majors, off of ace closer
Closer (baseball)
In baseball, a closing pitcher, more frequently referred to as a closer , is a relief pitcher who specializes in closing out games, i.e., getting the final outs in a close game. Closers often appear when the score is close, and the role is often assigned to a team's best reliever. A small number of...
Lee Smith
Lee Smith (baseball)
Lee Arthur Smith is an American right-handed former baseball pitcher who played 18 years in Major League Baseball for eight teams. Pitching primarily for the Chicago Cubs, with whom he spent his first eight seasons, Lee served mostly as a relief pitcher during his career...
to break a tie with two outs in the ninth inning.
Over the course of the whole 1987 season, he went 8-9 with an ERA of 2.85 – the lowest average of his career – in 81 relief appearances. He had one of his best seasons in 1988 as he went 11-5 with an ERA of 3.03, appearing in a team-high 75 games. In 1989, he started nineteen games and went 7-13 in 50 total appearances with an ERA of 4.58, which wasn't good enough to keep him in Pittsburgh. Following the season, he was traded with Willie Smith
Willie Smith (pitcher)
Willie Everett Smith is a former professional baseball pitcher. He played in eight games for the St. Louis Cardinals in .-External links:*...
to the New York Yankees
New York Yankees
The New York Yankees are a professional baseball team based in the The Bronx, New York. They compete in Major League Baseball in the American League's East Division...
for catcher Don Slaught
Don Slaught
Donald Martin Slaught is a former catcher in Major League Baseball who had a 16-year career from to...
.
He started seeing less time in New York, pitching in about half the innings he did in his final season in Pittsburgh. He went 3-6 in 54 appearances with a 3.45 ERA. After the season, he was on the move once more. He was granted free agency by the Yankees and signed with the California Angels
Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim
The Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim are a professional baseball team based in Anaheim, California, United States. The Angels are a member of the Western Division of Major League Baseball's American League. The "Angels" name originates from the city in which the team started, Los Angeles...
. With the Angels, he had perhaps his worst season; he failed to win a game and had his highest career ERA, at 5.37. The Angels released him following the season, and he signed a one-year contract with the Cubs.
In his final season in 1992, he went 4-3 with a 3.00 ERA. After his contract expired, he was granted free agency by the Cubs. A couple months later, he signed with the Cubs once more, but he never played another major league game, and his career eventually came to a close.