Robin Roberts was a master at completing what he started.
During his Hall of Fame career, the right-hander started 609 games and completed 305. He led the National League in complete games for five consecutive seasons, from 1952 to 1956, and that includes an amazing streak of 28 consecutive complete games that spanned parts of the 1952 and 1953 seasons with the Philadelphia Phillies. He had excellent control and was blessed with a hard fastball and sharp curve.
According to Baseball-Reference.com, the current active career leader in complete games is Justin Verlander with 26. Roberts topped that number in three different seasons — 1952 (30), 1953 (33) and 1954 (29). He had 26 complete games in 1955.
Roberts’ streak began on Aug. 28, 1952, with a 10-6 victory at St. Louis. His final consecutive complete game was July 5, 1953 — a 2-0, 10-inning win against the Pittsburgh Pirates in the first game of a doubleheader. During those two years, Roberts started 78 games and completed 63.
Since then, only Oakland’s Rick Langford has approached Roberts’ record, with 22 straight complete games during the 1980 season.
Here is a look at the career and cards of one of baseball’s most durable pitchers during the second half of the 20th century. Roberts, who was elected to the Hall of Fame in 1976, won 286 games during his career (1948 to 1966) with four teams.
Had there been a Cy Young Award during the early 1950s, it is a safe bet that Roberts would have won several. And had he played for a team that was more competitive than the Phillies (except early in his career), he easily could have topped 300 victories. During his 14 seasons in Philadelphia, the Phillies had 10 losing seasons.
Here is a look at Roberts’ career and some key cards.
1949 Bowman (No. 46) Rookie Card
Roberts gave an inkling of what was to come when he fashioned a 15-15 record in 1949. In 1948 he won his first major league game in his second start, a 3-2, complete-game victory against the Cincinnati Reds at Shibe Park. By June 17 he was 8-3 with a 2.46 ERA, but went 7-12 the rest of the way.
Roberts’ first card was with Bowman, and the card back details his journey through the minor leagues and his eventual landing in Philadelphia.
Of the 875 submissions to PSA, only one of Roberts’ rookie cards graded gem mint. Fifteen have rated PSA 9s.
1951 Topps Major League All-Stars
Roberts was coming off his first 20-game season and the “Whiz Kids” Phillies won the N.L. pennant in 1950 — their first flag in 35 seasons. Roberts started three games in five days at the end of the 1950 season, winning a 10-inning thriller on Oct. 1 in Brooklyn that put the Phillies into the World Series.
Roberts would win 21 games in 1951 and lead the majors with 39 starts and 315 innings pitched.
He was part of Topps’ quirky 1951 Major League All-Stars set, which consisted of 11 cards. Only eight were released in gum packs, with Roberts, fellow teammate Jim Konstanty and New York Giants second baseman Eddie Stanky left out and only a few copies of each have surfaced. PSA has graded only two.
1952 Topps (No. 59)
Roberts was a seven-time All-Star with the Phillies from 1950 to 1956. He won 20 or more games for six consecutive seasons (1950 to 1955) and won 19 in 1956. Working in pitcher-friendly Connie Mack Stadium (previously known as Shibe Park), Roberts started 472 games and completed 272 of them.
During 1952, Roberts led the N.L. in victories, starts (37), complete games (30), innings pitched (330) and finished second in the league’s MVP race to Hank Sauer.
Roberts won his last eight starts in 1952 to cap a 28-7 season. That included a 17-inning, 7-6 victory at Shibe Park against the Boston Braves during the first game of a doubleheader on Sept. 6. Philadelphia had scored four runs in the bottom of the eighth to tie the game, and won it when Del Ennis led off the 17th with a home run.
More than 850 of Roberts’ 1952 Topps cards have been graded by PSA but only one has reached as high as Mint 9. There are 25 cards that earned a PSA 8 grade.
You can own a very respectable copy for around 50 bucks.
1953 Bowman Color (No. 65)
For the second consecutive season, Roberts led the majors in victories, posting a 23-16 mark. He was the leader in starts (41), complete games (33), innings pitched (346.2) and strikeouts (198)
Roberts opened with a 13-6 record.
A highlight came on May 15 against the Cubs at Wrigley Field. The Phillies took a 1-0 victory, scoring the game’s only run in the ninth inning when Granny Hamner singled home Earl Torgeson, who had connected for a one-out double.
In the bottom of the ninth, Roberts ran into trouble when Frank Baumholtz led off with a triple. Dee Fondy followed with a fly out to short right field, but Baumholtz was thrown out at the plate by Johnny Wyrostek. Preston Ward followed with a double, but Roberts nailed down the victory when he induced Gene Hermanski to ground out. It was Roberts’ first shutout win since a two-hitter against the Cubs at Shibe Park on June 24, 1952.
Roberts lost a tough 2-1 decision to the Reds on June 14 but pitched all nine innings. Both teams scored a run in the first innings, and Cincinnati scored the game-winner in the ninth inning on Jim Greengrass’ two-out, RBI double at Shibe Park.
His shutout victory against the Pirates on July 5 snapped a two-game losing streak.
In his next start on July 9, Roberts went 7.1 innings against Brooklyn before he left the game trailing 5-4. Bob Miller came in and would pick up the victory as the Phillies scored two runs in the bottom of the eighth to take a 6-5 victory.
The game at Brooklyn in 1953 was the first time Roberts had been knocked out of the box since an 8-7 victory at Forbes Field against the Pirates on July 16, 1952. Roberts was holding an 8-5 lead heading into the ninth inning against Pittsburgh but allowed a two-run homer to George “Catfish” Metkovich with one out. He was relieved by Andy Hansen, who allowed two hits and had the tying run at third base before finally securing the third out and giving Roberts his 13th win of the season.
Roberts might have had other things on his mind that day. His wife, Mary, had given birth to their second son on July 7, according to The Philadelphia Inquirer.
Roberts, who started the 1953 All-Star Game at Cincinnati’s Crosley Field, ended his streak with a 2.57 ERA, 257.1 innings pitched and 131 strikeouts.
Roberts’ 1953 Bowman color card shows an intense shot of the pitcher, apparently looking to receive a signal from his catcher.
This card is difficult to find in a high grade. Of the more than 650 cards submitted, there are no gem-mint examples and only four PSA 9s.
There are a lot of lower grade copies out there, but a crease free copy typically costs $50 and up.
1954 Red Man Tobacco (No. 18N)
In 1954, Roberts led the majors for the third straight year in victories (23), starts (38) and complete games (29). He also led the majors in strikeouts for the second consecutive season, fanning 185.
One of his victories was a 15-inning, 3-2 complete-game win against the St. Louis Cardinals
Red Man Tobacco included cards on the packs of tobacco packs from 1952-1955. They had tabs at the bottom of the card, and fully intact cards are worth far more than those with detached tabs. The half-inch tabs were part of a promotion for free baseball caps.
The oversized, square shaped cards featured a colorful artistic likeness of the player. White boxes on the front included vital statistics and a short bio.
Finding this card in top condition is difficult. Only 87 cards (with tabs) have been submitted to PSA with nothing over a 9 being awarded to date. Only four cards without tabs have been submitted.
1961 Nu-Card Baseball Scoops (No. 444)
Roberts appeared in the 1960 and ’61 versions of this set. Both cards touted his 28-victory effort in 1952.
The 1961 card was issued during Roberts’ worst season as a pro. He went 1-10 with a 5.85 ERA. The Phillies were an awful team that season, finishing 47-107-1 and losing 23 straight games at one point.
Roberts’ only victory in 1961 came on June 5 at Candlestick Park, as he pitched a complete game in a 3-2 victory against the San Francisco Giants. His only mistake was a two-run homer he allowed to Chuck Hiller in the second inning. The Phillies would score three runs in the top of the third and held on for the victory.
The Baseball Scoops set used a newspaper format for both years, with a large photo and a lengthy description of the player’s feats.
There have been 127 cards submitted to PSA, with five earning gem-mint status. Ungraded cards are easy to acquire and very inexpensive.
1962 Topps (No. 243)
After his debacle with the Phillies in 1961, Roberts was sold to the New York Yankees and although he was on the roster as late as May, he never pitched for them during the regular season. Topps had already included him on its third series checklist as a member of the Yanks.
He turned down a low-ball offer from Cincinnati before signing with Baltimore for $35,000 in May of 1962, where he stayed for the next three years.
He was productive for the Orioles, winning 10, 14 and 13 games, respectively. He started 31 games in 1964, completing eight of them and tossing four shutouts. The 37-year-old pitched 204 innings and his ERA was a respectable 2.91 — tops among the Orioles’ starting rotation.
Roberts won his last two starts of the ’64 season, spinning a 4-0 shutout at Cleveland on Sept. 27 and then going five innings in the season finale. Roberts was the winning pitcher in Baltimore’s 10-4 victory as the Orioles finished the season in third place, three games behind the pennant-winning Yankees.
Even with more than 500 submissions to PSA, the company has yet to grade this card in a 10. There are 43 cards graded 9.
1966 Topps (No. 530)
Topps’ final regular-season issue of Roberts shows the veteran with the Houston Astros, although was released on July 4 and finished his career with the Chicago Cubs. Fun fact: Roberts is the only pitcher in history who notched wins against the Braves when the franchise was located in Boston, Milwaukee and Atlanta. He faced the Braves twice in 1966, pitching the final two frames of a 14-inning contest on Aug. 2 and getting the win when the Cubs pulled out a 4-2 victory in Atlanta on Aug. 29.
It was Roberts’ final MLB victory, as he was knocked around for four runs against Pittsburgh in the eighth inning of a 9-1 loss on Sept. 3. The key blow was a three-run homer by Willie Stargell. Roberts ended his career with a 2-3 record and a 6.14 ERA in 1966. The last batter he faced was Gene Alley, who grounded into an inning-ending double play.
For his final card, Roberts was part of the tough seventh series of 1966 Topps. It was not a short-printed card, but remains difficult to find. There are four Gem Mint 10s and 64 have reached PSA 9 status.
Roberts opted to hang around baseball in 1967 and showed he could still pitch. The 40-year-old hurler went 5-3 with a 2.48 ERA for the Double-A Reading Phillies.
“I never asked the manager to take me out or leave me in,” Roberts once said, reflecting on his career. “I just took the ball.”
“You can’t hit him when it counts,” Jackie Robinson said. “There isn’t a tougher competitor in the business.”
Roberts would be inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1976, receiving 337 of a possible 388 votes in his sixth year of eligibility. That same year he would become the coach at the University of South Florida in Tampa, a post he held until 1985. Roberts compiled a 262-240-2 record, won a pair of Sun Belt Conference titles and was named the league’s coach of the year four times.
He died on May 6, 2010, in Temple Terrace, Florida.
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