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Error, Cleveland: Eddie Robinson, member of Indians' last Series champion, not invited to former team's party

Just when it seemed the Indians had forgotten their history, a club official called Eddie Robinson late last week to rectify the fact that they'd ignored the last link to Cleveland's '48 World Series champs.

And it was a good apology, too, Robinson said. Except it lacked an important element:

An invitation.

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If the Indians make it back to Cleveland for Game 6, Robinson, the former Rangers executive and Paris, Texas, native, won't be on hand for the welcome. Won't throw out the first pitch.

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Won't get his curtain call.

"I'm disappointed," Robinson, 95, said Friday.

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No reasons were given for the lack of an invitation, and Robinson didn't ask. The club didn't return an inquiry from yours truly.

The Indians missed out on a good story, to say the least. When they won it all in '48, Robinson was in only his second big league season. The big first baseman had hit 16 homers with 83 RBIs in the regular season, then .300 in the Series against the Braves. He drove in what proved to be the winning run in the Game 6 clincher: a single off Hall of Famer Warren Spahn.

The Indians conducted themselves like gentlemen on the Braves' home field afterward. The decorum lasted until they boarded the train Bill Veeck chartered for the trip back to Cleveland.

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What kind of night was it?

"Champagne was still dripping from the ceiling in the dining car," Robinson recalled, "when we went in the next morning for breakfast."

Once home, the players rode in style down Euclid Avenue, or "Millionaires' Row." Every man rode in the back seat of a convertible, and it was a tight fit.

"There was just enough room on the street for the cars to pass," Robinson said. "It looked like everyone in Cleveland was out there."

Believe it or not, Robinson has ties to the current Indians. In 1957, his last big league season, he played with Terry Francona's father, Tito.

If you've read Robinson's book with Paul Rogers, Lucky Me: My Sixty-Five Years in Baseball, you know that besides playing with seven teams over a 13-year big league career, making four All-Star teams, Robinson also holds the titles of oldest living former Detroit Tiger, Washington Senator and New York Yankee.

He lives with his wife, Betty, in Fort Worth. Still plays golf once a week. At least for now.

"I hope to play more," he said.

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A trip to Cleveland would have upset his schedule, but he would have made do if the Indians had done the right thing.

Asked if he considered going without an invitation, Robinson said, "Hell, no."

Can't blame him for that. The Indians may regret it, though. Any team that's spent 68 years trying to break a jinx needs all the good vibes it can get.

Twitter: @KSherringtonDMN

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