Eddie Robinson, a dependable Chicago White Sox first baseman with a terrific eye for the strike zone, appeared in 155 games in the 1952 baseball season. This is remarkable, not because of the durability needed to play every game, but rather because the team was scheduled to play 154 games in their 81-73 season. He didn’t gather an extra game from a mid-season trade. He didn’t get the benefit of a one game playoff to break a tie at season end. So how did he manage to get into 155 games?
Looking at Robinson’s 1952 game log I noticed a pair of odd final scores. On two separate occaisions Robinson’s White Sox played a game that was declared final without a winner. On June 29 darkness ended an extra innings game against Cleveland with a 7-7 score (and a 2 for 4 showing from Robinson). Rain washed out a scoreless affair with the Washington Senators on August 3. Both games were a bit odd, producing a final record of 81-73-2 for the season. However, none of these games were replayed, making no difference in the team’s official 154 game schedule and doing nothing to give Robinson an extra appearance.
These weren’t the only games that were suspended, and it is the other suspended contests that expand the size of Chicago’s season. An April 27 game against the Browns was suspended and successfully resumed on July 3 with a 6-3 Sox victory. Robinson played in both ends of the partial game, getting credit for both.
The Browns and White Sox had suspended another game exactly one week earlier on April 20. Robinson was 1 for 5 in a 10-2 drubbing of St. Louis when the game was paused in the eighth inning. Play resumed on May 26 with the White Sox largely fielding backup players. Robinson rested and prepared himself for another game that would be played the same afternoon. Sitting out the second portion of this game left Robinson as an active player in 155 of 156 White Sox games that year.
Robinson looks like a manager on his 1952 Topps card, and one that was recently signed by a new team given the fact that a White Sox uniform has been painted over a Cleveland one in the photo. While he never managed in the big leagues, he did serve as a coach for the Baltimore Orioles in the early 1960s. My card looks pretty nice, slotting in somewhere around VG in terms of condition due to the top two corners being fairly banged up. The back notes that Robinson isn’t your average package of offensive skills as he was coming off third place finishes in HRs and RBIs in 1951.
