Inexplicably, ‘Rube’ outsmarted them

LITTLE ROCK — In 1929, a left-handed pitcher called Rube Robinson quietly concluded a remarkable career by going 2-2 in eight games for the Atlanta Crackers in the Southern Association. Now, 83 years later (47 years after his death), he is soon to be inducted by the Texas League Hall of Fame.

The Class AA Texas League recently selected seven former TL stars. Robinson was the only honoree with a distinct connection to Arkansas. Informed by the Texas League office last week, Arkansas Travelers General Manager Pete Laven expressed interest in staging the Robinson ceremony in Dickey-Stephens Park in North Little Rock sometime this season, in conjunction with a playing date.

Robinson worked 11 full seasons and parts of two others for the Little Rock Travelers between 1916 and 1928, and won 26 games for them twice - in 1920 (26-12, a rare pennant season) and 1922 (26-11). He was the only Southern Association pitcher to twice win 25 games or more.

Late in his career, if someone asked about his stock in trade, he’d likely give the questioner half a wink and murmur: “I pulled the string on ’em.”

Meaning he threw slow, slower and still slower.

Not always. In his youth, he could throw hard. In 1911, his fourth year as a pro, he had a stunning 28-7 season for Fort Worth in the Texas League, with 243 strikeouts and 61 walks in 300 innings. That won him a job with the Pittsburgh Pirates the next spring.

He was born Aug. 16, 1889, at Floyd, near Searcy in White County. His real name was John Henry Roberson. A Pittsburgh sportswriter renamed him Rube Robinson for reasons that were never made clear. Robinson never seemed to mind either the nickname or the misspelling.

In five big-league seasons with Pittsburgh, the St. Louis Cardinals nd New York Yankees, Robinson went 41-37, peaking with 12-7 and 14-9 records for the Pirates in 1912-1913. Sold to the Cardinals in 1914, he discovered he couldn’t abide Manager Miller Huggins. After two seasons (6-8, 7-8), he asked to be sold to the Travelers.

Nowadays, such a request would be absurd. In Robinson’s playing time, there was no major-league pension plan to be concerned with and many players found that a star in the high minors could make almost as much money as a fringe man in the majors. One assumes Robinson picked Little Rock because it was handy to his White County territory.

He went 11-1 and 21-17 for the Travs in 1916-1917, and was sold to the New York Yankees for a trial in the spring of 1918. To his dismay, Miller Huggins was the Yankees’ manager by then. Robinson went 2-4 in in 11 games before being returned to Little Rock.

“My grandfather was matched up against Babe Ruth while he was with the Yankees,” said Fred Roberson, his grandson, in a recent interview. “Ruth was still with the Boston Red Sox, and still a pitcher instead of an outfielder. My grandfather beat him 2-1.”

For 22 seasons, minor and major combined, Robinson went 304-222. He won more games (208) and worked more innings (3,128) than any other pitcher in the 61-year history of the Southern Association. His 13 seasons with the Travs were both a club record and a Southern league record.

In 1960, when Robinson was 71, Orville Henry wrote, after an interview: “It’s almost as if there’s another season coming up, and he’s got a few tricks he’d rather not let the hitters know about.’’

After baseball retirement, Robinson settled in North Little Rock and worked for the Missouri Pacific Lines and the highway department.The Arkansas Sports Hall of Fame inducted him in 1960, during that organization’s second installation banquet. He died in 1965.

“Rube was incredible,” Texas League vice president Bill Valentine said after the seven TL honorees were announced.

“He had to pitch for six consecutive last-place Traveler teams [1923-1928], and he still won more games in the Southern league than any other pitcher. And in my whole life, I never met a nicer gentleman.”