Valentin, Vaughn, Robinson, Biggio
“Where have you gone Mr. Robinson?”, to paraphrase the famous Simon & Garfunkel song. It’s funny how my path happened to cross that of Marteese Robinson as I traversed through the Arizona Fall League. More importantly is what I’ve discovered about the man after returning to Chicago. I first noticed Mr. Robinson sitting behind the plate in Scottsdale, studying the action. I pulled a chair up in the next section over and we settled in to watch the action. Marteese had a huge NL Championship ring on his finger, to go along with a huge scar on his right elbow. Turns out the scar is a souvenir from his days at Seton Hall, when SS John Valentin’s throw drew firstbaseman Marteese into the path of the baserunner. Robinson’s arm snapped backward, but he chuckles, “I didn’t get knocked down and I didn’t cry”. While at Seton Hall he was the best hitter in a lineup that consisted of John Valentin, Mo Vaughn, & future Hall of Famer Craig Biggio. Although Martese Robinson never made it to the Big Leagues as a player, he’s soon going to have his BIG ring replaced with an even BIGGER one as he’s the Professional Scouting Director for the St. Louis Cardinals, the 2006 World Champion St. Louis Cardinals. He’s as nice a guy as a day is long. I congratulated him on winning the World Series and he kidded me about my not being able to get an accurate reading for him from a malfuntioning radar gun.
SO HERE’S TO YOU, MR. ROBINSON!!!