Curt Roberts

[GeoPoto]

Roberts was considered by critics to be an excellent fielder. By 1960, Roberts was considered to be one of the best second baseman in the minor leagues, primary because he was a "slick fielder". Former teammate Nellie King called Roberts the best handler of "chopper[s]" (a slang for a ground out) he had ever seen. According to King, the main reason why Roberts had a short career in the Majors is that the Pirates "didn't give him enough time" to develop his skills.

Roberts could not hit with enough proficiency to remain in the Major Leagues. He had a reputation of not "hitting the big-league curve". In his three seasons with the Pirates, Roberts had a career .223 batting average (128-for-575) with one home run, forty runs batted in, 54 runs scored, and an on-base percentage of .299. In his 164 appearances at second base, he handled 856 out of 883 total chances successfully for a fielding percentage of .969, a little lower than the league average during his era.

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[jingram058]

I think the 1954 Topps set is gorgeous, personally, probably my favorite 1950s Topps set. The Curt Roberts card is a fine example. In what little I can find, he was a very nice fellow, very well liked by teammates and fans alike. Just awful what happened to him; eerily similar to Ed Brandt.

[GeoPoto]

Roberts was traded to the Kansas City Athletics with pitcher Jack McMahan for Spook Jacobs and $5,000 cash. He never played a game with the Athletics, who soon sent him to the Columbus Jets of the International League in late June 1956. Neither Jacobs nor McMahan lasted beyond the 1956 season in the Majors. After being traded to the Athletics, Pittsburgh's main black newspaper, the Pittsburgh Courier, protested that Roberts never had a real chance in the Majors. However, Pirates general manager Joe L. Brown replied that Roberts was a "fine young man, but a marginal Major Leaguer," whose weak hitting was compounded by a lack of versatility: "He was really a one-position player. He didn't have the arm to play shortstop."

On August 27, as Columbus hosted the Havana Sugar Kings, Roberts became only the fifth player in International League history to hit four home runs in a game (and the first since Newark's Bob Seeds in 1938). It was also the first 4-home-run game in franchise history, as well as the first time a player on any team had performed the feat in Columbus. Roberts had struck only four home runs in 69 previous games with the Jets. Prior to the 1957 season, Roberts was traded to the New York Yankees as the player to be named later in a trade that sent former American League Most Valuable Player Bobby Shantz to the Yankees. In 1957 Roberts played with the New York Yankees minor league affiliate in Denver. At the end of the season, Roberts received several votes in the final tally for Most Valuable Player of the American Association, finishing behind Carl Willey of the Wichita Braves. Roberts never again reached the Majors, becoming a journeyman in the minor leagues and at one point played baseball in Nicaragua.

Roberts played with the Montreal Royals of the International League in 1959, where he led the league in fielding percentage with .987 and was named the Royals Most Valuable Player. He was also selected to the International League All-Star game that season. In 1960, Roberts was acquired by the Spokane Indians, a Dodger affiliate after he was made expandable by the Royals when they acquired Chico Carrasquel. He was selected to the Pacific Coast League All-Star squad in 1961. One week later Roberts suffered a broken leg after colliding with teammate Duke Carmel on the field during a game, practically ending his career. He played two more seasons in the minors, but his playing ability was diminished by the injury and Roberts retired from baseball after the 1963 season.

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[GeoPoto]

Roberts was married with six children. When his baseball career ended, he worked as a security guard for the University of California, Berkeley. He died at the age of 40 in Oakland, California when he was hit by a drunk driver while changing a flat tire on his car. A major piece written by Pittsburgh Post-Gazette journalist Ed Bouchette discussed Roberts' career and struggles, calling him a "forgotten pioneer". Prior to the piece, most of Roberts' old teammates were unaware that he had died nearly 20 years earlier. His son Curt Roberts Jr. supposedly was working on a book about his father's life in 1987.

Despite Roberts' short major league career, he paved the way for other black players to debut for the Pirates, the most notable of whom was future Baseball Hall of Famer Roberto Clemente. He befriended Clemente, teaching him how to handle the racial abuse and the huge pressure that Roberts had suffered with the Pirates. That helped Clemente ease his transition from the Dodgers minor league system, in which they had a decent number of black and Hispanic players, to the main roster of the Pittsburgh Pirates, in which only he, Roberts and third baseman Gene Baker were black. Journalist Tom Singer of MLB.com mentioned that Roberts' legacy arose mainly from his unsuccessful career with the Pirates. Singer claimed because Roberts was a "flop", it showed that the public perception of black players having to be a "superstar" to be a member of a Major League club was incorrect, thus making the integration process more "humanized" and easier for black players. With the eight previous players who broke the color barrier for their respective teams, four were later elected to the Hall of Fame, and the other four were stars in their own right.

In 1997, 28 years after his death, the Pittsburgh Pirates honored Roberts as part of the festivities for Jackie Robinson Day. Roberts was honored again in 2006 for the opening of the Pirates Highmark Legacy Square Negro League exhibit in PNC Park. The families of several Negro league players, including Roberts attended the ceremony. A park in his hometown of Pineland, Texas was dedicated in his honor in 2007.

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[ValKehl]

George, thanks for your interesting write ups about Curt Roberts. I have learned much from them. And, nice Darigold Farms card of Roberts, which I've never seen before.

[Mountaineer1999]

Thanks for the writeup! Here is my 1953 Denver Bears signed ball with a Curt Roberts signature.

[GeoPoto]

My pleasure, Val, and thanks for reading. Donnie: very cool 1953 Denver Bears team-signed baseball. Can't be many of those.