Headline: Frank Robinson, barrier-breaking Hall of Fame baseball player and manager, dies at 83

This article from the Washington Post was published as an obituary for Major League Baseball player Frank Robinson. Robinson was the first African America manager for a major league team. Robinson died on February 7, 2019, at the age of 83.

I found this article interesting for a couple of reasons. I thought that the article’s structure was interesting for an obituary. I expected the article to follow a chronological order as that reflects the progression of life. Yet, I found that the article does anything but that.

The story itself starts with his death, as many obituaries do. Then the article begins to chronicle his professional baseball career after the first two paragraphs. As it continues throughout his time as a player, the story switches after the year 1975 when he became a manager. The story then launches further back into the past as it goes into his childhood. After mentioning his family and his childhood, the author of the article blends survivor’s information seamlessly into the article. The article then travels forward again as it details his character throughout his time managing.

I think an aspect of the article that the author handles well is in dealing with his race. I found myself playing a guessing game one night, and my group of friends asked ourselves why it is that when African American people do great things the fact that they are African American becomes intrinsically linked to the things that they are doing. For example, we were trying to guess the name Tiger Woods. People said things like “famous black golfer.” I find that people in everyday life use it as a descriptor. If the card had said Arnold Palmer, I do not believe people would have said “famous white golfer.”

I believe that the author does a good job of highlighting the importance of the fact that Robinson was the first African American Major League Baseball manager while explaining that his race held no weight on how he conducted himself as a manager. He was a great member of the Major League Baseball franchise because he was the only man to win rookie of the year, MVP and manager of the year. He was the only man to win both an American League MVP and a National League MVP. He was one of the few to win a baseball triple crown.

One thing I would have liked to see in the article is more first-hand sources. The sources in the article came from historians or baseball experts with some from a book that he wrote. I would have liked to hear about Robinson as a human outside of baseball. I would have liked to have a quote from someone who knew him or had met him.