Quotes by Frank Robinson

• Managers don't have as much leverage as they used to have. We can't really be the boss.
• No, I don't think my presence will cause an increase in black attendance at Cleveland.
• No. 1, these guys out here on this field. They keep my energy level up. They try hard, they don't complain about things - and I'd just like to be with them when things are good, and hopefully we can win a pennant together.
• People come out to see the players. When do you see a manager anyway? When he's out on the field arguing with the umpires, making a fool of himself and you know you can't win, and when he brings out the line-up card.
• You have to have a short memory as a closer.
• Pitchers did me a favor when they knocked me down. It made me more determined. I wouldn't let that pitcher get me out. They say you can't hit if you're on your back, but I didn't hit on my back. I got up.
• But I'm not going to walk Barry Bonds, like some teams do, in the first inning with nobody on.
• The way we're going... if I called up another pitcher, he'd just hang up the phone on me.
• It's nice to come into a town and be referred to as the manager of the Cleveland Indians instead of as the first black manager.
• The fan is the one who suffers. He cheers a guy to a .350 season then watches that player sign with another team. When you destroy fan loyalties, you destroy everything.
• If he can hit, he can hit. I don't care if he came from Class Z league.
• I know a lot of people on the field - players, coaches, managers - are glad that I'm gone.
• I just didn't have anything to say, so I said nothing.
• I haven't seen a player in this game, as long as I've been in it, that can't be pitched to... Barry is an outstanding ballplayer. I respect him an awful lot. I also have confidence in my pitchers that they can pitch to Barry Bonds and get him out.
• Close don't count in baseball. Close only counts in horseshoes and grenades.
• At least when it's in French, I won't know what the heck they're saying.
• All in all, I wouldn't call it a bad outing. It was a short outing.
• If the guys on the bench were as good as the guys you have out there, they'd be out there in first place.
• I always tried to do the best. I knew I couldn't always be the best, but I tried to be.