Bill Robinson, the Dodgers’ roving minor league hitting coordinator for the past two seasons, passed away on Sunday at the age of 64. No details are known at this time, but I’m working on it. He was a really, really nice guy and a credit to the organization. He also had a major hand in the development of guys like James Loney and Matt Kemp, and he will be missed. It was only a few weeks ago that we were all speculating on whether he would be the guy to replace Eddie Murray as the big-league hitting coach when Murray inevitably got fired, which he did on June 14. The club went with Bill Mueller instead, and it turned out to be the right move as the offense instantly turned things around, but Robinson was the big-league hitting coach for two World Series-winning teams, the 1986 Mets and the 2003 Marlins. A sad day in the organization.
