Check out this fantastic hand-written letter by retired Brooklyn Robins/Dodgers manager Wilbert "Uncle Robbie" Robinson to old friend Casey Stengel that is currently on auction at Heritage (link here). Dated March 6, 1934, the letter expresses great fondness and admiration for Stengel -- adding that he's happy to know that he will be managing his old club.
As you may know, Uncle Robbie headed the Brooklyn ballclub from 1914 to 1931, and coached Casey when he was just a lad with the team from Flatbush. Below is an what's written (unfortunately, Robinson's handwriting is a little difficult to decipher, so it might not be entirely accurate). It says:
Dear Friend Casey:
I am sure pleased you have the position as Manager of The Brooklyn Club. I know you will do well in fact better than any one I know of with the material you have. Mrs. Robinson joins me in wishing you success and good luck.
I am glad you kept Otto. He is one hundred percent man at all times. I owe him a letter and will write him soon.
I expect to drive down to some of the training camps the last of this month and if I do I will stop and see you in Orlando.
Give them hell old boy and make a good showing.
Yours As Ever,
Wilbert RobinsonI believe Otto is in reference to Otto Miller -- who caught for Robinson for much of his time in Brooklyn and would later on become a coach.
BTW, Uncle Robbie would not survive the year. In August of 1934 he would fall and hit his head, while also breaking his arm in a hotel accident. He would soon utter these words,
"Don't worry about it, fellas. I'm an old Oriole. I'm too tough to die."A few days later he would die of a brain hemorrhage -- just months after a Baltimore Orioles teammate and fellow legendary manager John McGraw passed away.
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