Rabbit Robinson

William Clyde Robinson

• Bats Right, Throws Right
• Height 5' 6", Weight 148 lb.

• Debut April 22, 1903
• Final Game June 9, 1910
• Born March 5, 1882 in Wellsburg, WV USA
• Died April 9, 1915 in Waterbury, CT USA

BR page

Biographical Information

Rabbit Robinson, who played three years in the majors, is the earliest major league player remembered with the first name "Rabbit". He made his major league debut in 1903, a year before Rabbit Nill and several years before Rabbit Maranville, among several other Rabbits who made the majors.

Robinson may have acquired the name because he stole some bases but was only 5 ' 6 " tall and 148 lbs.

He was born in Wellsburg, WV and played minor league ball for Columbus at age 18. He spent 1901-02 with Kansas City of the Western League and then came to the majors in 1903.

Rabbit is not listed as a regular for the 1903 Washington Senators even though he got into 103 games and had over 400 plate appearances. That's because he split his time among several positions on the field: he was in 45 games at second base, 30 in the outfield, 24 at shortstop and 5 at third base.

The next year he moved to the 1904 Detroit Tigers, a team where he also appeared on the field frequently but isn't listed as a regular. He was in 30 games at shortstop, 26 at third base, 20 in the outfield and 19 at second base. His batting improved as he hit .241 on a team that hit .231 (even Sam Crawford hit only .254 on this dead-ball era team).

Robinson went back to the minors after 1904, playing mostly for Milwaukee. He came back briefly to the majors with the 1910 Cincinnati Reds for two games. His last minor league season was 1914, and he died in 1915.