Frank Robinson, Hall of Famer and first black big league manager, dies at 83

LOS ANGELES - Hall of Fame outfielder Frank Robinson, the only major leaguer to be named most valuable player in both the National and American leagues and the first African-American to manage in the big leagues, died Thursday in Los Angeles after a long illness, according to Major League Baseball. He was 83.

Robinson rose from the sandlots of Oakland to become one of baseball's most feared sluggers - his 586 home runs rank 10th on baseball's all-time list.

"Frank Robinson's resume in our game is without parallel, a trailblazer in every sense, whose impact spanned generations," Commissioner Rob Manfred said in a statement. "He was one of the greatest players in the history of our game, but that was just the beginning of a multifaceted baseball career."

Robinson, who was inducted into baseball's Hall of Fame in 1982, spent more than 60 years in baseball, 21 as a big league player from 1956 to 1976, 16 as a manager for four franchises, and more than a dozen in a variety of executive roles, most recently as a special adviser to Manfred and honorary