Sherry Robertson
 | This article needs additional citations for verification. (May 2016) |
| Sherry Robertson | ||
|---|---|---|
Runs batted in | 151 | |
| Teams | ||
| ||
| Member of the Canadian | ||
 Baseball Hall of Fame | ||
| Induction | 2007 | |
Sherrard Alexander Robertson (January 1, 1919 – October 23, 1970) was a
Washington Senators and Philadelphia Athletics, including 109 games as a second baseman, 104 as a right fielder and 98 as a third baseman.[1][2]
Member of Griffith baseball dynasty
The nephew of
Baseball Hall of Fame pitcher, manager and club owner Clark Griffith, Robertson was part of an extended family that operated the Washington Senators/Minnesota Twins franchise of the American League for 72 years. Robertson was a native of Montreal, Quebec, the son of a minor league player; his father was Griffith's brother-in-law. Robertson moved to the Washington, D.C., area with his widowed mother and six siblings when he was a child. He attended the University of Maryland
.
Robertson's brother
St. Paul after the 1960 season, and led the renamed Twins until he sold them in August 1984
.
Sherry Robertson was the longtime director of the team's
farm system,[3] while Thelma and two other brothers, Jimmy and Billy Robertson, were also club executives. In addition, brother-in-law Joe Haynes, a former Washington pitcher, was an executive vice president of the Senators and Twins; another brother-in-law, Joe Cronin, was a Hall of Fame shortstop who was player-manager of the Senators in 1933–34 (leading them to the 1933 AL pennant), manager and then general manager of the Boston Red Sox
(1935–58), and president of the American League (1959–73); and at least two nephews, Clark Griffith II and Bruce Haynes, took active roles in managing the Twins' affairs.
Career
Robertson batted
right-handed, and was listed as 6 feet (1.8 m) tall 180 pounds (82 kg). His playing career extended from 1939 to 1952, with time out for service in the United States Navy Reserve during World War II.[4] He played for his brother Calvin with the Class B Charlotte Hornets
in both 1939 and 1940 during Griffith's apprenticeship as a minor league manager.
Robertson saw MLB action with the Senators (1940–41, 1943 and 1946–52) and
runs batted in, 32 stolen bases, 202 walks, with a .230 batting average, .323 on-base percentage, .342 slugging percentage, 515 total bases and 14 sacrifice hits
.
Robertson succeeded
American League West Division championship. After that season, on October 23, he died from injuries suffered in an automobile accident in Houghton, South Dakota, at the age of 51.[6]
He was elected to the Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame in the Class of 2007.
Robertson was the first Major League Baseball player to inadvertently kill a spectator at a baseball game, and the only one ever to do so with a thrown ball. During a 1943 game at
Cleveland Indians, Robertson fielded a grounder hit by Ken Keltner. His throw to first baseman Mickey Vernon was high, and went into the front row of the stands, where it struck 32-year-old Clarence Stagemyer, who, after shaking his head a few times, said he was all right. Nevertheless, the Senators' team doctor looked him over and told him to go to the hospital. Stagemyer did, and died there the following day of concussion and a skull fracture.[7]
Robertson joined the Navy Reserve in 1944. On October 25, 1944, he reported aboard the Naval Air Station Kaneohe Bay, Hawaii as a Specialist (Physical Training Instructor) 1st Class Petty Officer.[8] He played baseball for the NAS Kaneohe Bay Klippers and the Navy All-Stars in 1945.
References
- Baseball Reference
- ^ Information at Retrosheet
- ^ "Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame". Archived from the original on 2014-12-13. Retrieved 2015-05-28.
- ^ "Those Who Served A–Z", Baseball in Wartime.com
- ^ "Cards Trade Westlake to Reds for Stallcup, Sisler," The Associated Press (AP), Wednesday, May 14, 1952. Retrieved February 18, 2023.
- ^ Snyder, John, Twins Journal: Year-by-Year and Day-by-Day With the Minnesota Twins Since 1961. Clerisy Press, 2010, page 89
- ISBN 9780786479320. Retrieved March 15, 2019.
- ^ United States Navy. "Muster Roll of the Crew of the Naval Air Station, Kaneohe Bay for the quarter ending 31st March 1945", page 88. Note: Date first received on board was "10-25-44" and present rating was "Sp(A)1c(T)".
External links
- Career statistics and player information from Baseball Reference, or Baseball Reference (Minors)
- Sherry Robertson at Find a Grave
