In the Cleveland Indians' first win of the 1975 season, the new manager Frank Robinson achieved the distinction of entering his own name in the lineup and hitting a home run. A standout ballplayer for over two decades, Robinson was perhaps just as well known for being major league baseball's first black manager. As the only major leaguer to have won the Most Valuable Player Award in each league (1961 and 1966), Robinson was one of those rare players to combine power, an excellent batting average, base-stealing ability, and solid defense. When he retired in 1976 with 586 home runs, only three other men had ever hit more. Although his managerial career was somewhat less successful, his style nevertheless reflected the same kind of intensity he had brought to the game as a player.

Robinson was signed by the Cincinnati Reds out of McClymond's High in Oakland in 1953. Three...