Earl Robinson

Earl Robinson

Nov. 3, 1936 - July 4, 2014

Earl Robinson, one of the most versatile athletes in University of California history, but a man who valued friendships over his sports accomplishments, died after a long illness on the Fourth of July in Fountain Valley, CA. He was 77.
Robinson, a Cal basketball and baseball standout in the 1950s, was inducted in the school's Athletic Hall of Fame in 1988 and the Pacific-10 Conference Hall of Honor in 2012.
His proudest achievements, however, occurred off the playing field.
"What brings me the greatest joy," he said in his final weeks as he battled a heart condition, "is my ability to relate to people. That's important to me, because we're connected. Friendships don't leave me in space. People connections, that's the bottom line."
Thus when his good friend, and end-of-life care center facilitator, Pete Domoto asked him what he would like written on his tombstone, Robinson didn't hesitate before replying: "A man who loved life and loved the people around him."
And Robinson led an extraordinary life. A three-sport star at Berkeley High School, and called "The Earl of Berkeley," he then attended Cal, where he was an All-America shortstop, batting .352, on the 1957 Cal team that won the NCAA baseball championship.
In basketball, Robinson, a team captain, was a three-time all-conference and all-coast selection while playing on three conference championship teams between 1956 and 1958. His 882 points placed him among Cal's top five all-time scorers at that juncture.
And during the football season, Robinson performed as a yell leader.
The Los Angeles Dodgers signed him to a contract in 1958, including a $81,500 bonus, a record amount for an African American prospect at that time. He moved to the outfield and played for the Dodgers and Baltimore Orioles from 1958 to 1964, finishing with a .268 batting average.
He returned to his alma mater twice as an assistant basketball coach in the 1960s, when he also became the first African American head basketball coach in the California junior college system at Merritt and Laney Colleges in Oakland.
Robinson worked for the Oakland A's in special projects, served on the boards of the Oakland Zoo and California Alumni Association, and taught English at Castlemont High School in Oakland.
Earning a doctorate in education, Robinson taught speech and communication classes at Laney, where he helped Rickey Henderson shape his well-received 2010 Baseball Hall of Fame induction speech.
"He was a strong, courageous man," said Domoto, a starting guard on Cal's last Rose Bowl team in 1958. "Up until the end, his nature was giving. His typical greeting was "How are you doing, baby?" And he meant it. He always had that loving nature. He was a lover and a fighter."
Robinson is survived by his fifth wife, Wilhelmina Cuenco Robinson, daughters Michele, Monica and Mia Robinson, stepdaughters Itosha, Khristina, Khristie and Erika, and grandchildren Raymond Robinson and Lidya Biniyam Robinson.
A memorial service will be held Friday, July 25 at 11 a.m. at the Cal Alumni House, across from Haas Pavilion, on the Cal campus. Interment will be Saturday, July 26 at 11 a.m. at Rolling Hills Memorial Park, 4100 Hilltop Drive, in Richmond. Robinson will be buried next to his mother.
A fund has been set up to defray Robinson's medical expenses, coordinated through Cal basketball teammate Dennis Fitzpatrick, 1689 Comstock Ave. Los Angeles, CA 90024.