Frank Robison

Frank DeHass Robison (1852 – September 25, 1908) was an American businessman, best known as a <a href="/facts/Baseball/42bEQy1Y">baseball</a> executive. He was the organizer of the <a href="/facts/Cleveland_Spiders/9tfrwdoa">Cleveland Spiders</a> franchise, and owned or part-owned the club throughout its existence, from its founding in <a href="/facts/1887_in_baseball/cc4Hs1fq">1887</a> as the Cleveland Blues until <a href="/facts/1899_in_baseball/n4bB4E6C">1899</a>. Along with his brother, <a href="/facts/Stanley_Robison/hD0PJC1C">Stanley Robison</a>, he was also co-owner of the <a href="/facts/St._Louis_Cardinals/rPQxQGwq">St. Louis Perfectos/Cardinals</a> baseball team of the <a href="/facts/National_League_(baseball)/xTHwLBAD">National League</a> from <a href="/facts/1899_in_baseball/n4bB4E6C">1899</a> through <a href="/facts/1911_in_baseball/QWpk4oq5">1911</a>.
After briefly attending <a href="/facts/Delaware_College/qhyh9tc3">Delaware College</a> (now University of Delaware), Robison went into business with his father-in-law, Charles Hathaway, operating streetcars in <a href="/facts/Cleveland,_Ohio/rQb7qveu">Cleveland, Ohio</a>. 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 <a href="/facts/League_Park/uyoPMJYj">League Park</a> in 1889, and the formation of the Cleveland City Railway Company in 1893.
In 1899, the Robison brothers were responsible for the worst <a href="/facts/Major_League_Baseball/4WW9yef3">Major League Baseball</a> team in history, the <a href="/facts/1899_Cleveland_Spiders_season/gn6aeqps">1899 Cleveland Spiders</a>. Before the season, the Robisons purchased the bankrupt <a href="/facts/St._Louis_Browns_(NL)/rPQxQGwq">St. Louis Browns</a> from <a href="/facts/Chris_von_der_Ahe/a3zl4Ieu">Chris von der Ahe</a> 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 <a href="/facts/Baltimore_Orioles_(19th_century)/8AxDgF10">Baltimore Orioles</a> and <a href="/facts/Brooklyn_Superbas/1W4JPs4e">Brooklyn Superbas</a>), 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 <a href="/facts/Bratenahl,_Ohio/I5I0L9GA">Bratenahl, Ohio</a> in 1911, when the franchise was bequeathed to Frank's daughter (and Stanley's niece) <a href="/facts/Helene_Hathaway_Britton/gbc9shtK">Helene Hathaway Britton</a>.

Frank Robison open-in-new

Frank Robison