It only took one minor league start for Robin Roberts to demonstrate he was headed for greatness. Making his pro debut for the Wilmington Blue Rocks in the Inter State League, the 21-year-old right-hander struck out 17 in a five-hit, complete game victory. A 10-run second inning paved the way for an easy 19-1 win over the Harrisburg Senators before 2,989 fans who braved a damp and chilly season opener at Wilmington Park on April 27, 1948.

Of the first ten batters he faced, eight struck out. The strikeouts kept coming.

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In Robbie’s SABR bio written by C. Paul Rogers III, “He then struck out 14, 12, and 12 in his next three starts, all complete-game victories. On May 18, his fifth start, he pitched all 15 innings of a game that was called a 2-2 tie because of the league curfew, striking out 16. On June 5 he struck out 18 to tie the league record in a 4-1 win over Trenton. By the time he was called up by the Phillies on June 17, Roberts had recorded 121 strikeouts in 96 innings and compiled a 2.06 earned-run average.”

Yes, after a 9-1 record in 11 starts (10 complete games) in Class B, he was on his way to a major league career that would one day land him in the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, NY. Upon learning that he was headed for the big leagues, his Wilmington teammates gave him a going-away present, a pen and pencil set.

When he arrived in the Shibe Park clubhouse, #36 was hanging in his locker. Nick Strincevich, a 33-year-old righthanded pitcher, had worn that number until he was released the day before. As Robbie was getting dressed, Strincevich came up to him, “You Roberts? Good luck,” is the way Robbie told the story.

Twenty-four hours later he was on the Shibe Park mound facing the Pirates. Allowing single runs in the third and seventh innings, Roberts and the Phillies fell to the second-place Pirates, 2-0, on June 18, before 13,501 fans. His line: 8 innings, 5 hits, 2 runs, 2 walks, 2 strikeouts.

“I felt a bit nervous pitching to Stan Rojek in the first inning,” said Roberts in an Associated Press story. “I guess any fellow would feel that way pitching to his first hitter in the big leagues. But once I walked him on four pitches and struck out Frank Gustine [2nd hitter], I felt natural the rest of the way. As long as I can keep my fast ball alive and fool ’em with a curve once in a while, I’ll try to give ’em a battle all the way.”

Five days later, Roberts recorded the first of his 234 Phillies wins, 3-2, over the Cincinnati Reds at Shibe Park. It was the first of 272 complete games, a Phillies record that may never be broken.

Roberts went to spring training that year and roomed with another rookie, Richie Ashburn. They would become two of the greatest players in Phillies history. Each has had his uniform number retired and each is a member of the Toyota Phillies Wall of Fame and the National Baseball Hall of Fame.

Robbie’s last game in 19 major league seasons came on September 3, 1966, while pitching in relief for the Cubs against the Pirates in Forbes Field. He gave up four runs (3-run homer by Willie Stargell) in the bottom of the eighth in a 9-1 loss. Gene Alley was his final batter. He grounded into a 6-3 double play.