July 3, 1952: Eddie Robinson knocks in seven for White Sox

On the evening of July 1, 1952, the Chicago White Sox were in a three-way tie for second place with the season almost half over. They did win the last game of a three-game series in Detroit on the 2nd. And after two victories over the St. Louis Browns in a pair of games on July 3, they were in second place. A big part of the two wins was a pair of three-run home runs by Eddie Robinson in the first game and an RBI single in the second.1

William Edward Robinson, better known as Eddie Robinson, was a four-time All-Star first baseman who is not remembered by many baseball fans today, although he was involved in professional baseball for 65 years, most of them at the major-league level. His 29 home runs in 1951 tied him with Gus Zernial for the Chicago White Sox’ single-season home-run record, which stood until Bill Melton hit 33 in 1970.

The White Sox won the first of the two games, 6-3, and the second one, 12-3. This was not a doubleheader sweep. The first game was actually the resumption of the second game of an April 27 twin bill that had been suspended after five innings because of darkness with the White Sox leading the Browns 3-1, after the teams went 19 innings in the first game.2 The gap of over two months had given rise to the possibility of players on each team having played on both sides of this game. While it did not happen, it easily could have occurred. Leo Thomas had started the suspended game as the Browns’ third baseman but was traded to the White Sox with Tom Wright on June 15 for Al Zarilla and Willie Miranda. However, White Sox manager Paul Richards did not use Thomas when the game resumed on July 3.

After the White Sox won the suspended game, they quickly found themselves behind 1-0 in the third inning of the scheduled contest after a single by Browns second baseman Bob Young and a triple by future White Sox fan favorite Jim Rivera. Robinson had grounded out to second baseman Bob Young in the first inning. After Nellie Fox opened the bottom of the third inning with a rare strikeout, St. Louis pitcher Earl Harrist hit Minnie Minoso with a pitch. Bud Stewart singled to right field, sending Minoso speeding to third base. Eddie Robinson, the next batter, hit a home run that “hit the upper balustrade of the right field stands.”3 Now the White Sox had a 3-1 lead. After Sam Mele flied out, Hector “The Line Drive Collector” Rodriguez singled, and Sherman Lollar followed with another single, the Browns’ player-manager, Marty Marion, replaced Harrist with Dave Madison, who got Willie Miranda to ground out to first base.

In the fourth the Browns got a walk and two singles off White Sox starter Marv Grissom, but thanks to a double play from Fox to Miranda to Robinson, there was no scoring. However, after Grissom grounded out to start the bottom half of the inning, Nellie Fox doubled and Minnie Minoso walked. Bud Stewart singled Fox home as Minoso took third. Then Robinson faced Madison and lined another home run to right, this time into the seventh row of the seats in the upper deck of the right-field stands. This again drove in Minoso and Stewart for a 7-1 White Sox lead.

In the sixth inning, Robinson grounded to first baseman Gordon Goldsberry, who threw to pitcher Tommy Byrne at first to retire him.

A single by Byrne, two walks, and a groundout by Al Zarilla gave the Browns another run in the seventh inning. In the eighth, a singles by Minnie Minoso and Ray Coleman put Robinson at the plate again. This time he “merely” singled Minoso home for his seventh RBI of the game. A wild pitch followed by a groundout by Tom Wright and a single by Rodriguez gave the White Sox two more runs. A home run by Lollar increased the lead to 12-2. An error by Rodriguez in the ninth allowed the Browns a meaningless final run and the game ended as a 12-3 victory for the Sox.

The seven RBIs by Robinson did not set a White Sox record. Carl Reynolds had eight against the New York Yankees on July 2, 1930. Despite multiple publications stating the contrary, Joe Jackson never had eight RBIs in a game in 1920 or in any other season for the White Sox.

The next day, the Fourth of July, the White Sox again defeated the Browns twice, 3-1 and 2-0. Eddie Robinson went only 1-for-6 in the two games. Since the 6-3 victory of July 3 was officially part of the White Sox’ April 27 suspended game, the team had only a four-game winning streak (one game July 2 against Detroit, the regularly scheduled July 3 game, and both July 4 games), not five. The team finished in third place, behind the Yankees and Cleveland Indians, that year, for the first time they finished that high since 1941.

Despite Eddie Robinson’s 22 home runs, 104 RBIs, 70 walks (including a league-leading 16 intentional walks), only 49 strikeouts, a .296 batting average and being the starting first baseman for the American League All-Star team, he was traded after the season to the Philadelphia Athletics with Joe DeMaestri for Ferris Fain and minor leaguer Bobby Wilson. While Fain had won the American League batting titles in 1951 and 1952, he had hit only two home runs and driven in a mere 59 runs in 1952. Getting rid of their only power hitter (Minnie Minoso was a distant second with 61 RBIs) had White Sox fans questioning this decision.9

Sources

In addition to the sources listed below, the author also consulted Baseball-Reference.com, Retrosheet.org, and The Sporting News.

Notes

1 Edward Burns, “Sox Whip Browns, 6-3, 12-3; Regain 2D,” Chicago Tribune, July 4, 1952:  3, 1.

2 Edward Burns, “Sox Battle 19 Innings for 1 Victory, 7-6,” Chicago Tribune, April 28, 1952:  4, 1.

3 “Sox Whip Browns, 6-3, 12-3.”