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Bill Robinson found dead in hotel room

Frayed Knot Jul 29 2007 09:49 PM

[url=http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/wire?section=mlb&id=2954047]Cause of death unknown[/url] at this time. He was 64 - and had been working as a minor league hitting instructor for the Dodgers.

DocTee Jul 29 2007 10:01 PM

Rest in Peace

Edgy DC Jul 29 2007 10:15 PM

Lousy.

Edgy DC Jul 30 2007 06:33 AM

One thing I noticed this year is the two-finger-slap greeting that Bill used to congratulate Mets who reached first was re-introduced by Howard Johnson this year. I haven't noticed if it has continued in Rickey's era.

Kid Carsey Jul 30 2007 06:44 AM

One of my best friends and I haven't shook hands in twenty years, we've been doing the two finger thing since it's inception. (I'll have to call him this morning)

Edgy DC Jul 30 2007 07:06 AM

Martin (also one of my best friends) had one of his proudest moments doing the Robinson two-finger slap with Jam Master Jay (also deceased) in the bathroom of the Palladium.

Johnny Dickshot Jul 30 2007 07:23 AM

He also had a 4-finger slap he'd break out now and again

Edgy DC Jul 30 2007 07:32 AM

Hugged, but wasn't gay.

metirish Jul 30 2007 07:43 AM

Rest In Peace. Ashamed to say I had no idea he was a coach on the 1986 team.

Johnny Dickshot Jul 30 2007 07:49 AM

Prolly inappropriate here but I came across (not literally) a funny fan memory on UMD about Ed Lynch: ]First time he finished a game with Carter behind the plate, Carter came out to hug him and Lynch says, "I'm a man. You shake my hand."

Benjamin Grimm Jul 30 2007 01:10 PM

I remember how Robinson's desire to be a major league manager was an ongoing story. Sad that he never got the chance. Also, it wouldn't surprise me at all if Steve Rogers posted a 3,000 word essay about Bill Robinson in the "thread of silence."

G-Fafif Jul 30 2007 01:13 PM

Respectfully passing along this note from a friend: Have the police interrogated Rick Rhoden?? Bad day all around: Bill Robinson, Tom Snyder, Bill Walsh, Ingmar Bergman and one of the fathers of the Pepsi Generation Alan Pottasch all passing away.

SteveJRogers Jul 30 2007 01:45 PM

Yancy Street Gang wrote: I remember how Robinson's desire to be a major league manager was an ongoing story. Sad that he never got the chance. Also, it wouldn't surprise me at all if Steve Rogers posted a 3,000 word essay about Bill Robinson in the "thread of silence."

cleonjones11 Jul 30 2007 06:33 PM

I saw Bill Robinson play for the MFY's at MFY stadium..He was supposed to be a late sixties savior to them

SteveJRogers Jul 30 2007 06:46 PM

cleonjones11 wrote: I saw Bill Robinson play for the MFY's at MFY stadium..He was supposed to be a late sixties savior to them One of many "Next Mantles" through the years.

Edgy DC Jul 31 2007 01:02 PM

In the bottom of the second inning in a scoreless contest, Bill Robinson ... was sitting by himself at the end of the Mets' bench, slowly making his way through a bag of sunflower seeds. With the blessing of his teammates (but without [manager] Davey Johnson's knowledge, McDowell climbed under the bench and on elbows and knees crawled the 20 feet to Robinson's dangling cleats. In one fist, McDowell held a single Marlboro cigarette and a roll of gaffer's tape. In the other, he had a fully loaded book of matches. Exercising the dexterity of Spider-Man, McDowell, lying at Robinson's feet, removed the staple from the matchbook, wrapped the book around the cigarette, and taped the two together. Then softly and gently he stuck the device on Robinson's left cleat. As soon as the inning ended, McDowell lit the cigarette and crawled back to the other end of the dugout. "There are a lot of complications," McDowell says. "You have to time the cigarette, and you also have to make sure there's enough air between the match and the cigarette so it doesn't die out. It's pretty intense." Usually, when a hotfoot ignites, it takes anywhere from 20 to 30 seconds, and the result is a burning sensation and a small, manageable flame. This was no ordinary hotfoot. Robinson left the bench, took his post next to first base, watched the pitcher warm up, traded a few words with a fan, and clapped and yelled encouragement to Darryl Strawberry. As Gary Carter, the next hitter, stepped into the box, Reds manager Pete Rose noticed the smoke oozing from Robinson's foot. Unable to contain his laughter, he called his entire bench to join him at the end of the dugout. On the Mets' side, McDowell told Bill Welch, the director of WWOR's televised broadcast, to keep a camera on first base. The count was one ball, one strike on Carter. Suddenly, whoooooosh! An inferno exploded and flames shot up Robinson's leg as if he were the guest of honour at a Hawaiian pig roast. Robinson began jumping up and down, screaming in pain. For McDowell, it was perfection. "It was like NASA just launched something," he says. "The greatest hotfoot ever. And Bill, to his credit, never got mad. He just said, 'You won't get me anymore. I'm done with that.' To me that was like when you're a kid and someone says, 'Don't call me that!' What are you supposed to do?" The answer was obvious. McDowell, along with partner and technical adviser Howard Johnson, lit Robinson's shoe no fewer than 15 more times that season, including seven or eight in August and September alone. At season's end Jay Horwitz, the Mets PR whiz, incorporated a section on hotfoots into the team highlight video, including McDowell and HoJo demonstrating their step-by-step approach. Before a game against the [St. Louis] Cardinals August 17, Robinson was sleeping on a couch in the Shea Stadium clubhouse when he felt yet another burning sensation. This time Johnson and McDowell were especially ambitious—both of Robinson's shoes were ablaze. "I grabbed the shoes to get 'em off me," says Robinson, "and the plastic from the laces burned the shit out of my hand." Robinson took his ashen right shoe and flung it at McDowell's head, missing by a couple of inches. — Jeff Pearlman, in "Hot Stuff," from The Bad Guys Won. (New York: HarperCollins, 2004.)

soupcan Jul 31 2007 01:52 PM

This is sad news. I've shared my memories of Bill Robinson here and they are also on the UMDB. I have the ball he threw to me in '86 right here in my office and I still have Dave Parker's bat in my bedroom closet.

Edgy DC Jul 31 2007 02:01 PM

I got that above excerpt off of a blog that also borrowed this bit from Pearlman, recounting the Pittsburgh fight. (Kevin) Mitchell considered it his duty to look out for the first base coach. Thus, Mitchell blindsided (Sammy) Khalifa with a clothesline to the head, dropping the Pirate to the ground with an awesome thud. Mitchell proceeded to wrap his arm around Khalifa's throat and drag him facedown across the stadium's Astroturf surface. "White meat," says Mitchell, smiling. For the next 10 seconds, Mitchell held Khalifa in a headlock. As his face went from white to a purplish blue, Khalifa gasped for air, his arms waving wildly. "I can't breathe! I can't breathe!" Finally, at the urging of several Mets, Mitchell let go. Khalifa crumpled. "I would have killed him," says Mitchell. "It's the lion's den, and I was pissed because he was going at Uncle Bill from behind. If you're gonna do something like that, be a man and come from the front. — Pearlman, in "The Kid and the Black Hats," The Bad Guys Won. Mental note, go at guys head-on if Kevin Mitchell is around. Better yet, go at guys head-on always just in case Kevin Mitchell is around.

Edgy DC Aug 04 2007 10:55 PM

Notes: Randolph reflects on Robinson Manager was close friends with late former Mets coach By Marty Noble / MLB.com CHICAGO -- Willie Randolph always remembers his baseball roots and often stays in touch with those who helped him take his baby steps. The late Bill Robinson was one who helped, so it wasn't surprising that Robinson's initials appeared on Randolph's cap on Saturday, the day his friend, mentor, "brother" and former teammates was buried. Because the Mets played on Saturday, Randolph didn't attend the funeral in Washington Township, N.J., but his wife Gretchen did, as did Buddy Harrelson and his wife and Darryl Strawberry. Robinson, a Mets coach from 1984-1989, died in Las Vegas on Monday at age 64. "He was like a brother to me," Randolph said. "He meant a lot to me. He took me under his wing." Randolph made his big-league debut with the Pirates in 1975, the first of Robinson's eight seasons with the team. He had spoken with Robinson twice this summer -- once to see if he could gather some insight into Carlos Delgado's woes, and once to see if Robinson might be available to coach the Mets hitters. Robinson, was working for the Dodgers when he died, had been the Marlins' batting instructor during Delgado's one season with the team. And Randolph acknowledged he had spoken with Robinson when he took the job as manager in November 2004 and again after the Mets decided to dismiss Rick Down at the All-Star break. But the Mets already had decided to hire Rickey Henderson and reassign Howard Johnson.

G-Fafif Aug 05 2007 12:58 AM

="Edgy DC"]"He was like a brother to me," Randolph said. "He meant a lot to me. He took me under his wing." Randolph made his big-league debut with the Pirates in 1975, the first of Robinson's eight seasons with the team. That's a touching story, but it seems like the third or fourth time somebody's name has come up in the last couple of years in which there's a Willie Randolph-Pittsburgh connection, majors or minors. Happens a lot considering he was a Buc for 30 games. Then again, I suppose a lot of paths cross in baseball. ETA: Eight 1975 Pirates have Met links. Bill Robinson, Willie Randolph, Duffy Dyer, John Candelaria, Dock Ellis, Art Howe, Frank Taveras and the immortal Richie Hebner.

Frayed Knot Aug 05 2007 05:26 AM

Willie got pretty emotional while talking about Robinson during his little pre-game radio stint.

Edgy DC Aug 06 2007 09:21 PM

So, Vern Hoescheit went in June and Billy Robinson in July and, sure, Vern was old, but suddenly 1986ers are mortal, and I'm not feeling so young.

cleonjones11 Aug 07 2007 08:50 PM

Edgy DC wrote: So, Vern Hoescheit went in June and Billy Robinson in July and, sure, Vern was old, but suddenly 1986ers are mortal, and I'm not feeling so young. How bout 66ers..I should be sizing up a box with 4 Mr.Met baseballs on the corners..