Frank DeHass Robison (1852 – September 25, 1908) was an American businessman, best known as a

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each, taking turns batting and fielding. The game occurs over the course of several plays, with each play generally beginning when a player on the fielding ...

executive. He was the organizer of the

Cleveland Spiders The Cleveland Spiders were an American professional baseball team based in Cleveland, Ohio. The team competed at the major league level from 1887 to 1899, first for two seasons as a member of the now-defunct American Association (AA), followed ...

franchise, and owned or part-owned the club throughout its existence, from its founding in as the Cleveland Blues until . Along with his brother, Stanley Robison, he was also co-owner of the St. Louis Perfectos/Cardinals baseball team of the

National League The National League of Professional Baseball Clubs, known simply as the National League (NL), is the older of two leagues constituting Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States and Canada, and the world's oldest extant professional team ...

from through . After briefly attending Delaware University, Robison went into business with his father-in-law, Charles Hathaway, operating streetcars in Cleveland, Ohio. In 1887, he used funds from this business to start up a baseball team, the Cleveland Blues (called the ''Forest Citys'' in some sources). He continued to operate in both areas for the next two decades, including financing the construction of

League Park League Park was a baseball park located in Cleveland, Ohio, United States. It was situated at the northeast corner of Dunham Street (now known as East 66th Street) and Lexington Avenue in the Hough neighborhood. It was built in 1891 as a wood ...

in 1889, and the formation of the Cleveland City Railway Company in 1893. In 1899, the Robison brothers were responsible for the worst

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball organization and the oldest major professional sports league in the world. MLB is composed of 30 total teams, divided equally between the National League (NL) and the American League (AL) ...

team in history, the

1899 Cleveland Spiders The 1899 Cleveland Spiders season was the team's 13th and final season in Major League Baseball (MLB), and their 11th season in the National League (NL). The Spiders' team owners, the Robison family, also owned the St. Louis Perfectos. To st ...

. Before the season, the Robisons purchased the bankrupt St. Louis Browns from Chris von der Ahe and renamed them the Perfectos. During the single season in which they owned both the Spiders and Perfectos, the brothers transferred the best players of both franchises to St. Louis, leaving the Spiders with a team that finished with a record of 20-134, the worst full-season record ever for a major league baseball team. Following this debacle (and a similar one involving the

Baltimore Orioles The Baltimore Orioles are an American professional baseball team based in Baltimore. The Orioles compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East division. As one of the American League's eight charter ...

and

Brooklyn Superbas The Brooklyn Dodgers were a Major League Baseball team founded in 1884 as a member of the American Association before joining the National League in 1890. They remained in Brooklyn until 1957, after which the club moved to Los Angeles, Californ ...

), the practice of allowing the same owners to run multiple teams was outlawed. Robison died of heart failure on September 25, 1908. Following his death, Stanley Robison became sole owner of the Cardinals until his death at his home in Bratenahl, Ohio in 1911, when the franchise was bequeathed to Frank's daughter (and Stanley's niece)

Helene Hathaway Britton Helene Hathaway Britton (née Robison; January 30, 1879 – January 8, 1950) was an American baseball executive. She owned the St. Louis Cardinals of the National League, and was the first woman to own a Major League Baseball franchise. Bri ...

References

External links

St. Louis Cardinals timeline
{{DEFAULTSORT:Robison, Frank St. Louis Cardinals executives Major League Baseball executives St. Louis Cardinals owners Cleveland Spiders 1852 births 1908 deaths Sportspeople from Cleveland People from Bratenahl, Ohio 19th-century American businesspeople