Anchor ads are not supported on this page.

4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs

Baseball Opened Doors

Ex-Yankee Robinson finds himself in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame
Ex-Yankee Robinson finds himself in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame

“I’m just playing a gig,” says Bruce Robinson. But not just any gig — the singer/songwriter was invited to play the main stage at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland when the Indians host the Yankees August 24 and 25. Robinson, a former Yankee, was a major-league catcher during the late 1970s and early ’80s. “I always took a guitar with me on the road when I was playing baseball, but I never dreamed that one day I’d be writing music and performing.”

Sponsored
Sponsored

In 1975, Robinson, who was born and raised in La Jolla, was a first-round draft pick out of Stanford. His professional baseball career was derailed by injuries sustained when a drunk driver rear-ended his car. The final phase of Robinson’s baseball career saw him coaching on one of the A’s farm teams, where he mentored two young hitters — Mark McGwire and José Canseco.

After sports, Robinson, 58, who now splits his time between La Jolla and Idaho, turned his economics degree into a career that at various times encompassed land development, mortgage banking, and market intelligence. He still played guitar, but the composing didn’t start until recent days. “It was my fiancée that encouraged me to write songs. I’ve written 12 so far this year.”

How the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame gig came about: “Because I played in the big leagues, I got to meet a guy in the administration at the Baseball Hall of Fame. In fact, I even helped him correct some of the errors in their displays. Well, he got a job at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. We’ve stayed in touch...” Robinson has been there before, but as a visitor. He says connections got him a VIP insider’s tour. “I got to hold clothing the Beatles wore in Sgt. Pepper’s and Beatles song manuscripts. Things like that.”

Robinson says he will play an all-originals set on the stage inside the hall’s main rotunda. “I’ll probably go out for an hour, hour and a half. It’s going to be a mixture of country and blues and ballads. I wouldn’t call it rock and roll because it’s all acoustic. I play my Taylor guitar...and a ukulele.” What does the ex-jock sing about? “A lot of my songs are autobiographical, but I haven’t written a baseball song yet.”

Among the venues Robinson plays in San Diego are Le Papagayo in Leucadia and Jose’s Courtroom in La Jolla. “Baseball opened doors. I’m not the best musician or singer in the world, and I know that. But people seem to enjoy my music.”

The latest copy of the Reader

Please enjoy this clickable Reader flipbook. Linked text and ads are flash-highlighted in blue for your convenience. To enhance your viewing, please open full screen mode by clicking the icon on the far right of the black flipbook toolbar.

Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all
Previous article

Live Five: Sitting On Stacy, Matte Blvck, Think X, Hendrix Celebration, Coriander

Alt-ska, dark electro-pop, tributes, and coastal rock in Solana Beach, Little Italy, Pacific Beach
Ex-Yankee Robinson finds himself in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame
Ex-Yankee Robinson finds himself in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame

“I’m just playing a gig,” says Bruce Robinson. But not just any gig — the singer/songwriter was invited to play the main stage at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland when the Indians host the Yankees August 24 and 25. Robinson, a former Yankee, was a major-league catcher during the late 1970s and early ’80s. “I always took a guitar with me on the road when I was playing baseball, but I never dreamed that one day I’d be writing music and performing.”

Sponsored
Sponsored

In 1975, Robinson, who was born and raised in La Jolla, was a first-round draft pick out of Stanford. His professional baseball career was derailed by injuries sustained when a drunk driver rear-ended his car. The final phase of Robinson’s baseball career saw him coaching on one of the A’s farm teams, where he mentored two young hitters — Mark McGwire and José Canseco.

After sports, Robinson, 58, who now splits his time between La Jolla and Idaho, turned his economics degree into a career that at various times encompassed land development, mortgage banking, and market intelligence. He still played guitar, but the composing didn’t start until recent days. “It was my fiancée that encouraged me to write songs. I’ve written 12 so far this year.”

How the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame gig came about: “Because I played in the big leagues, I got to meet a guy in the administration at the Baseball Hall of Fame. In fact, I even helped him correct some of the errors in their displays. Well, he got a job at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. We’ve stayed in touch...” Robinson has been there before, but as a visitor. He says connections got him a VIP insider’s tour. “I got to hold clothing the Beatles wore in Sgt. Pepper’s and Beatles song manuscripts. Things like that.”

Robinson says he will play an all-originals set on the stage inside the hall’s main rotunda. “I’ll probably go out for an hour, hour and a half. It’s going to be a mixture of country and blues and ballads. I wouldn’t call it rock and roll because it’s all acoustic. I play my Taylor guitar...and a ukulele.” What does the ex-jock sing about? “A lot of my songs are autobiographical, but I haven’t written a baseball song yet.”

Among the venues Robinson plays in San Diego are Le Papagayo in Leucadia and Jose’s Courtroom in La Jolla. “Baseball opened doors. I’m not the best musician or singer in the world, and I know that. But people seem to enjoy my music.”

Comments
Sponsored

The latest copy of the Reader

Please enjoy this clickable Reader flipbook. Linked text and ads are flash-highlighted in blue for your convenience. To enhance your viewing, please open full screen mode by clicking the icon on the far right of the black flipbook toolbar.

Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all
Previous article

Syrian treat maker Hakmi Sweets makes Dubai chocolate bars

Look for the counter shop inside a Mediterranean grill in El Cajon
Next Article

NORTH COUNTY’S BEST PERSONAL TRAINER: NICOLE HANSULT HELPING YOU FEEL STRONG, CONFIDENT, AND VIBRANT AT ANY AGE

Comments
Ask a Hipster — Advice you didn't know you needed Big Screen — Movie commentary Blurt — Music's inside track Booze News — San Diego spirits Classical Music — Immortal beauty Classifieds — Free and easy Cover Stories — Front-page features Drinks All Around — Bartenders' drink recipes Excerpts — Literary and spiritual excerpts Feast! — Food & drink reviews Feature Stories — Local news & stories Fishing Report — What’s getting hooked from ship and shore From the Archives — Spotlight on the past Golden Dreams — Talk of the town The Gonzo Report — Making the musical scene, or at least reporting from it Letters — Our inbox Movies@Home — Local movie buffs share favorites Movie Reviews — Our critics' picks and pans Musician Interviews — Up close with local artists Neighborhood News from Stringers — Hyperlocal news News Ticker — News & politics Obermeyer — San Diego politics illustrated Outdoors — Weekly changes in flora and fauna Overheard in San Diego — Eavesdropping illustrated Poetry — The old and the new Reader Travel — Travel section built by travelers Reading — The hunt for intellectuals Roam-O-Rama — SoCal's best hiking/biking trails San Diego Beer — Inside San Diego suds SD on the QT — Almost factual news Sheep and Goats — Places of worship Special Issues — The best of Street Style — San Diego streets have style Surf Diego — Real stories from those braving the waves Theater — On stage in San Diego this week Tin Fork — Silver spoon alternative Under the Radar — Matt Potter's undercover work Unforgettable — Long-ago San Diego Unreal Estate — San Diego's priciest pads Your Week — Daily event picks
4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs
Close

Anchor ads are not supported on this page.

This Week’s Reader This Week’s Reader