June 3, 1955: At age 18, Brooks Robinson makes professional baseball debut at second base

With four home runs, 11 extra-base hits, and an argument that delayed the game for 15 minutes, the June 3, 1955, matchup between the Class B York (Pennsylvania) White Roses and the Lynchburg (Virginia) Cardinals was packed with events to remember.

The game’s real significance, though, didn’t become fully apparent until years later. In the fifth inning, York manager George Staller inserted an 18-year-old prospect from Little Rock, Arkansas, at second base to replace an injured starter. This substitute appearance marked the first professional game for Brooks Robinson, who earned numerous honors and established himself among the finest third basemen of all time during a 23-season Hall of Fame career with York’s parent club, the Baltimore Orioles.

Robinson didn’t contribute offensively to York’s 14-5 win in his debut. But he was praised for a good defensive play – foreshadowing, perhaps, for the man who later earned 16 Gold Gloves and the nickname “the Human Vacuum Cleaner.”1

Most of the eight teams in the Piedmont League were tightly bunched as play began on June 3. The White Roses occupied fourth place with an 18-16 record but were just 1½ games behind the first-place Lancaster Red Roses, a Kansas City Athletics farm team. Lynchburg, a St. Louis Cardinals affiliate, held seventh place with a 15-18 record, but was just four games out of first.2

Class B, at the time, was the fourth lowest of six minor-league classifications.3 The Cardinals’ sprawling 19-team minor-league system included two Class A teams, two B teams, and three C teams, so prospects were widely spread. None of the players who appeared for Lynchburg in 1955 reached the majors.4

Lynchburg’s manager, George Kissell, had reportedly turned down a call to the big leagues as an infielder in 1950 so he could continue managing the Cardinals’ Winston-Salem farm club. After many years as a minor-league manager and roving instructor, he eventually reached the Cardinals as a coach from 1969 through 1975. All told, he was part of the Cardinals organization from 1941 until his death in 2008.5

York manager Staller had a similar career in pro ball. He reached the big leagues as a player for 21 games with the 1943 Philadelphia Athletics but made more of an impact behind the scenes as a coach, minor-league skipper, and scout. Staller’s path later crossed Robinson’s in Baltimore, where Staller coached for nine seasons (1962 and 1968-75).

Eight players who appeared for the 1955 White Roses had either been to the majors already or were bound there.6 Only one started on June 3. Lefty-swinging first baseman Bob Hale, 21 years old, was hitting .366; he lit up Piedmont League pitching for a .355 average, 8 homers and 65 RBIs in 61 games before getting his first major-league call to Baltimore in early July. Hale went on to play parts of seven seasons with the Orioles, Cleveland Indians, and New York Yankees.

As for York’s new infielder from Little Rock, he’d arrived just that day under special notice. The parent Orioles had sent him to York subject to 24-hour recall, a specification the club did not commonly make for farmhands.7

Baltimore manager Paul Richards was reportedly “much impressed with the youngster,” labeling him “future major league material.”8 But as the hype built, a few wires had apparently gotten crossed, as the York Dispatch newspaper repeatedly referred to the recruit as “Bob Robinson.”9 The Baltimore Sun got the youngster’s name right, although it quoted Richards as saying that fellow teenage infielder Wayne Causey might be even more promising than Robinson.10 The Sun also noted that Robinson, while primarily a third baseman, had also caught and played second base in American Legion baseball.11

Robinson was seated on the bench as the Cardinals leapt out to a first-inning lead against York starter Paul Kelecava, a 24-year-old left-hander in his fourth of six minor-league seasons. He entered with a 5-1 record.12

After two strikeouts to open the game, Kelecava gave up a single to second baseman Jack Siemer and a two-run homer to right fielder Gene Davis, the Cardinals’ full-season RBI leader with 84. First baseman Bill Hopkins followed with a double and left fielder John Slachta added an RBI single for a 3-0 lead.13

Lynchburg starter Fred Huthmaker, a 22-year-old righty in his last of four minor-league campaigns, fared worse in the bottom half. He lasted just one-third of an inning, surrendering a walk, a double to shortstop Curly Holtzapple, and singles to Hale, third baseman Bernie Prais, and right fielder Charlie Ferrante. The game was tied, 3-3.14

Shortstop Bill Kunkle, who led the 1955 Lynchburg team with 17 home runs, redirected a Kelecava pitch deep over the right-field fence in the second inning to give the Cardinals a 4-3 lead. Right-hander Vernon Cray, who also led the Cards in wins (14) and pitching appearances (62) for the season, had replaced Huthmaker in the first and continued in the second. Holtzapple laced a triple,15 and second baseman Gene Oden hit an inside-the-park home run. A single by Hale and another triple by Ferrante completed the inning’s scoring, and York held a 6-4 lead after only two frames.

Kelecava found a groove from there, pitching shutout ball from the third through the seventh. Lynchburg righties John Perry, who replaced Cray in the second, and Chick McCombie combined to take a pasting in the bottom of the third as York put six more runs on the board. The sequence included an error that allowed catcher Braxton Naill to reach, a double by Kelecava, a walk to center fielder Julio “Chico” Rodríguez, a single by Oden, an intentional walk to Hale, and a three-run shot by Ferrante.16 The Roses now led 12-4.

The fourth inning through the sixth brought no more scoring, but two notable game events. In the top of the fourth, Kissell sent backup catcher Bill Stark to hit for starter Clair Troxell. Stark argued a ball-and-strike call with home-plate umpire Earl Mohr17 and was ejected – leaving the Cardinals with no catchers. Mohr refused to either reconsider the ejection or allow Troxell to return. Under threat of forfeit, Kissell brought right fielder Davis in to catch and sent pitcher John Knight to right field.

One inning later, Rodriguez fouled a ball off his foot and had to leave the game. Staller moved second baseman Oden to center field to replace him and sent newcomer Robinson out to play second base. Robinson went hitless in his only official at-bat, which was not described in game roundups, and was also hit by a pitch from McCombie. In the field, the York Dispatch noted that Robinson “beautifully helped execute a double play” by feeding shortstop Holtzapple, who fired to Hale at first.18

The Cardinals mustered a final run in the eighth inning on an error by Hale. But York’s fence-busters struck twice more off McCombie in the bottom half. Ferrante singled, and left fielder Alex Dobzanski and Naill hit back-to-back triples.

The game ended at 14-5, no doubt to the delight of the 939 fans who turned out. Kelecava went all the way for the win, yielding six hits and five walks while striking out nine. Cray, who’d been victimized by the Roses’ hot bats in the bottom of the second, took the loss to fall to 4-3. York and Lynchburg ended the season in third and fifth place, respectively; the White Roses qualified for the four-team playoffs but lost to eventual champion Lancaster in the first round.19

Robinson proved himself quickly in York, hitting .331 with 11 homers and 67 RBIs in 95 games. The Orioles gave him a late-season call-up, and he hit .091 in six games there. Robinson played his first full big-league season in 1958 and firmly established himself as a star in 1960, when, at age 23, he placed third in Most Valuable Player voting and earned his first Gold Glove and his first two of 18 All-Star Game appearances.20

Acknowledgments

This story was fact-checked by Andrew Harner and copy-edited by Len Levin.

Sources and photo credit

In addition to the sources credited in the Notes, the author consulted Baseball-Reference and Retrosheet for team, season, and other information.

Baseball-Reference and Retrosheet do not offer box scores for minor-league games, but the June 4, 1955, editions of the York (Pennsylvania) Dispatch and the Lynchburg (Virginia) News and Daily Advance printed box scores.

Image of 1958 Topps card #307 downloaded from the Trading Card Database.

Notes

1 Robinson’s SABR biography, written by Maxwell Kates, credits the Cincinnati Reds’ Lee May with coining the “vacuum cleaner” nickname after Robinson’s outstanding defensive play in the 1970 World Series, in which the Orioles defeated the Reds. Robinson also batted .429 with two home runs and 6 RBIs in the five-game Series and was named its Most Valuable Player.

2 Piedmont League standings as presented in the Lancaster (Pennsylvania) Daily Intelligencer Journal, June 3, 1955: 40.

3 The minor-league rankings in 1955, from highest to lowest, were Triple A, Double A, Single A, B, C, and D. The Pacific Coast League operated independently.

4 The Cardinals’ other Class B team in 1955, in Peoria, Illinois, boasted four future major leaguers.

5 Warren Corbett, “George Kissell,” SABR Biography Project, accessed May 2024. According to this biography, Kissell turned down an opportunity to spend additional time in the majors coaching under Sparky Anderson at Cincinnati because he was loyal to the Cardinals.

6 In addition to Bob Hale and Brooks Robinson, the 1955 White Roses players who reached the majors were Jim Archer, Alton Brown, George Estock, Ken Raffensberger, Gordie Sundin, and manager Staller, who made a single (presumably emergency) pitching appearance.

7 “Orioles’ Prize Rookie to Join White Roses at Stadium Tonight,” York (Pennsylvania) Dispatch, June 3, 1955: 19.

8 “Baltimore to Send 2nd Baseman Here on 24-Hour Recall,” York Dispatch, June 2, 1955: 35.

9 “Orioles’ Prize Rookie to Join White Roses at Stadium Tonight”; “Baltimore to Send 2nd Baseman Here on 24-Hour Recall.” Robinson’s full name was Brooks Calbert Robinson.

10 Bob Maisel, “Dee Pillette to Hurl Soon,” Baltimore Sun, June 2, 1955: 19. Causey got a quicker ride to the majors than Robinson, playing 68 games with Baltimore in 1955 as an 18-year-old. He didn’t become a star, but played in parts of 11 major-league seasons, including several as the starting shortstop of the Kansas City Athletics; he led the Athletics in hits in 1964 with 170.

11 Bob Maisel, “Orioles Sign Two Infielders,” Baltimore Sun, May 29, 1955: 16.

12 Kelecava missed the 1952 and 1953 seasons while in military service. Lloyd Grimstead, “Former Oceana Navy Pitcher Will Report to Norfolk Club,” Norfolk (Virginia) Ledger-Dispatch, February 17, 1954: 25.

13 All play-by-play information in this article is taken from Associated Press, “York Pounds Out Victory Over Cards,” Lynchburg (Virginia) Daily Advance, June 4, 1955: 9; and “Roses Fence-Busters in High Gear; Meet ‘Macs,’” York Dispatch, June 4, 1955: 9. Another Lynchburg newspaper, the News, printed the same Associated Press story as the Daily Advance.

14 “York Pounds Out Victory Over Cards” describes the events of the bottom of the first more clearly than the story in the York Dispatch.

15 “York Pounds Out Victory Over Cards” has Holtzapple hitting a double in the second inning. However, the box scores in all papers credit Holtzapple with one double and one triple in the game, and game accounts agree that he doubled in the first inning. Thus, it seems most likely that he tripled in the second inning.

16 “Roses Fence-Busters in High Gear; Meet ‘Macs.’” Game stories and box scores do not specify exactly how many runs were charged to each pitcher.

17 The York Dispatch called him “Karl Mohr,” but the umpire’s name is given on his Sporting News umpire card as Earl Mohr. “TSN Umpire Card for Earl Mohr,” Retrosheet.org, https://retrosheet.org/TSNUmpireCards/Mohr-Earl.jpg, accessed April 2025. Neither Mohr nor umping partner Jack Wagner reached the majors.

18 “Roses Fence-Busters in High Gear; Meet ‘Macs.’” The game story does not specify in which inning the double play occurred.

19 Lynchburg narrowly missed the playoffs, finishing one game behind York and a half-game out of fourth place.

20 Robinson hit .294 with 14 home runs and 88 RBIs in 1960. The major leagues played two All-Star Games per season between 1959 and 1962.