In
1976 Robin Roberts was inducted to the Baseball Hall of Fame on his
fourth try, which is absurd in my book considering some of the lame
honorees voted in just before and after him. This guy should have been
in on his first try.
Take a look at my card before we get into it all...
Roberts was a freaking machine during the 1950’s pitching for the
Philadelphia Phillies, posting six 20-win seasons with a 19 and 17 win
season thrown in as well.
He led the league in wins four times with a high of 28 in 1952, while
also leading the National league in strikeouts twice, complete games
five times, innings pitched five times and shutouts once.
By the time he retired after the 1966 season, he finished with 286 wins
and a 3.41 earned run average, with 45 shutouts and 2357 strikeouts over
676 games and 4688.2 innings pitched.
Between 1950 and 1956 he was named to the all-star team each year, while also garnering MVP attention every season.
To be honest how he didn’t win the MVP in 1952 is beyond me, as the award went to Chicago Cubs slugger Hank Sauer.
Granted the Phillies finished in fourth place with an 87-67 record, 9.5 games behind the Dodgers.
But the Cubs finished in fifth place, with a 77-77 record.
So what went on there is something worth looking into considering all
Roberts did was go 28-7 with a 2.59 ERA, three shutouts, 148 strikeouts
and 30 complete games out of his 37 starts!
What does a guy have to do!?