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| Sherry Robertson | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Utility player | |
| Born:(1919-01-01)January 1, 1919 Montreal,Quebec,Canada | |
| Died: October 23, 1970(1970-10-23) (aged 51) Houghton, South Dakota, U.S. | |
Batted: Left Threw: Right | |
| MLB debut | |
| September 8, 1940, for the Washington Senators | |
| Last MLB appearance | |
| September 21, 1952, for the Philadelphia Athletics | |
| MLB statistics | |
| Batting average | .230 |
| Home runs | 26 |
| Runs batted in | 151 |
Stats atBaseball Reference  | |
| Teams | |
| |
| Member of the Canadian | |
 Baseball Hall of Fame | |
| Induction | 2007 |
Sherrard Alexander Robertson (January 1, 1919 – October 23, 1970) was aCanadian-Americanutility player, front office executive, andcoach inMajor League Baseball (MLB). He played three outfield and three infield positions over his MLB career for theWashington Senators andPhiladelphia Athletics, including 109games as asecond baseman, 104 as aright fielder and 98 as athird baseman.[1][2]
The nephew ofBaseball Hall of Famepitcher,manager and club ownerClark Griffith, Robertson was part of an extended family that operated theWashington Senators/Minnesota Twins franchise of theAmerican League for 72 years. Robertson was a native ofMontreal,Quebec, the son of aminor league player; his father was Griffith's brother-in-law. Robertson moved to theWashington, D.C., area with his widowed mother and six siblings when he was a child. He attended theUniversity of Maryland.
Robertson's brotherCalvin was raised by Clark Griffith, took his uncle's last name and succeeded him as the Senators' president. Calvin Griffith controlled 52 percent of the team's stock (his 26 percent share in addition to sisterThelma Griffith Haynes' equal stake) and operated the Senators as majority owner from 1955 to 1960. He then moved the club toMinneapolis–St. Paul after the1960 season, and led the renamed Twins until he sold them inAugust 1984.
Sherry Robertson was the longtime director of the team'sfarm system,[3] while Thelma and two other brothers, Jimmy and Billy Robertson, were also club executives. In addition, brother-in-lawJoe Haynes, a former Washingtonpitcher, was an executive vice president of the Senators and Twins; another brother-in-law,Joe Cronin, was a Hall of Fameshortstop who was player-manager of the Senators in 1933–34 (leading them to the1933 AL pennant), manager and thengeneral manager of theBoston Red Sox (1935–58), and president of the American League (1959–73); and at least two nephews, Clark Griffith II and Bruce Haynes, took active roles in managing the Twins' affairs.
Robertson battedleft-handed, threwright-handed, and was listed as 6 feet (1.8 m) tall 180 pounds (82 kg). His playing career extended from 1939 to 1952, with time out for service in theUnited States Navy Reserve during World War II.[4] He played for his brother Calvin with the Class BCharlotte Hornets in both 1939 and 1940 during Griffith's apprenticeship as a minor league manager.
Robertson saw MLB action with the Senators (1940–41, 1943 and 1946–52) andPhiladelphia Athletics (1952). His contract was sold by theSenators to theAthletics on May 13, 1952.[5] In ten seasons he played in 597 games and had 1,507at bats, scored 200runs, and compiled 346hits, 55doubles, 18triples, 26home runs, 151runs batted in, 32stolen bases, 202walks, with a .230batting average, .323on-base percentage, .342slugging percentage, 515total bases and 14sacrifice hits.
Robertson succeededOssie Bluege as the Senators' farm system director in 1958, then moved to Minnesota along with the franchise after the 1960 season. In his dozen years in that role, the organization produced four Hall of Famers: second baseman and seven-timebatting championRod Carew, outfielder and three-time batting champTony Oliva, southpaw pitcherJim Kaat, who won 283 games over his 25-yearMLB career, and right-handerBert Blyleven, whose 287-win, 22-year career (1970–90, 1992) began in Robertson's minor league system in 1969. The organization also developed1965American League Most Valuable PlayerZoilo Versalles,1959Rookie of the YearBob Allison, and other players who turned the Twins intopennant contenders for much of the 1960s. In 1970, Robertson returned to uniform asbench coach for Twins' managerBill Rigney as the team won theAmerican League West Division championship. Robertson was killed from multiple skull fractures in a single-vehicle accident on October 23, 1970 when his car left the roadway on Highway 10 and struck a tree inHoughton, South Dakota.[6]
He was elected to theCanadian Baseball Hall of Fame in the Class of 2007.
Robertson was the first Major League Baseball player to inadvertently kill a spectator at a baseball game, and the only one ever to do so with a thrown ball. During a 1943 game atGriffith Stadium against theCleveland Indians, Robertson fielded a grounder hit byKen Keltner. His throw to first basemanMickey Vernon was high, and went into the front row of the stands, where it struck 32-year-old Clarence Stagemyer, who, after shaking his head a few times, said he was all right. Nevertheless, the Senators' team doctor looked him over and told him to go to the hospital. Stagemyer did, and died there the following day ofconcussion and askull fracture.[7]
Robertson joined theNavy Reserve in 1944. On October 25, 1944, he reported aboard theNaval Air Station Kaneohe Bay, Hawaii as a Specialist (Physical Training Instructor) 1st Class Petty Officer.[8] He played baseball for the NAS Kaneohe Bay Klippers and the Navy All-Stars in 1945.
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