Aaron Robinson Aaron Andrew Robinson ( June 23 , 1915 in Lancaster , South Carolina – March 9 , 1966 in Lancaster , South Carolina ) , was an American professional baseball player . He played in Major League Baseball as a catcher from to for the Chicago White Sox , the Detroit Tigers , the New York Yankees , and the Boston Red Sox . Robinson ' s tenure with the Yankees spanned the gap between the careers of Yankee Hall of Fame catchers Bill Dickey ( 1928 – 1946 ) and Yogi Berra ( 1946 – 1963 ) . Major League career . Robinson made his major league debut for the New York Yankees on May 6 , 1943 , playing in only one game before leaving to serve in the United States Coast Guard for the remainder of World War II . When the war ended in 1945 , Robinson returned to the Yankees , appearing in 50 games . He took over as the Yankees ' starting catcher in 1946 with promising results , posting a . 297 batting average along with 16 home runs and 64 runs batted in . He also finished third among American League catchers with 25 baserunners caught stealing , and fourth in assists with 50 . Robinson finished 16th in the American League Most Valuable Player Award voting . Robinson began the 1947 season as the Yankees starting catcher , and was named as a reserve player for the American League in the 1947 All - Star Game . However , as the season progressed , Yogi Berra began to take over as the starting catcher . Robinson ended the year with a . 270 batting average in 82 games , with 5 home runs and 36 runs batted in , as the Yankees went on to win the American League pennant . In the 1947 World Series , Robinson appeared in three games and started in Games 5 and 7 , getting 2 hits in 10 at - bats , as the Yankees defeated the Brooklyn Dodgers in a seven - game series . Having a surplus of catchers in 1948 with Berra , Sherm Lollar and Gus Niarhos , the Yankees decided to trade Robinson along with Fred Bradley and Bill Wight to the Chicago White Sox for Eddie Lopat in February of that year . He played in 98 games for the White Sox , but his offensive statistics continued to decline , hitting for a . 252 batting average . After only one season with the White Sox , Robinson was traded to the Detroit Tigers for Billy Pierce in November 1948 . Robinson became the Tigers starting catcher in 1949 and 1950 , providing solid defense , however his batting continued to decline . During a pennant race late in the season , Robinson was involved in a critical play during a game against the Cleveland Indians on September 24 . The Tigers had been in first place for most of the season and , had just fallen to second place behind the Yankees with one week left in the season . Heavy smoke from a Canadian forest fire forced the Tigers to turn on the lights in Tiger Stadium in a Sunday afternoon game . With the score tied 1 - 1 , Bob Lemon opened the tenth inning with a triple , and two intentional walk s followed . With the bases loaded and one out , Luke Easter grounded out to Tigers ' first baseman Don Kolloway , who then tagged first base . Because of the haze , Robinson did not see Kolloway remove the force after fielding the ball . Thinking he only had to step on home plate to force out Lemon , he failed to apply a tag , thus allowing Lemon to score the winning . The Tigers fell two and a half games behind the Yankees in the standings with one week left in the season , and weren ' t able to recover before the season ended . By the time Robinson was acquired by the Boston Red Sox in 1951 , he was hitting for just a . 207 batting average . Robinson retired at the end of the season . Career statistics . In an 8 - year career , Robinson played in 610 games , accumulating 478 hits in 1839 at bats for a . 260 career batting average along with 61 home runs and 272 runs batted in . Robinson was a fine defensive catcher , ending his career with a . 990 fielding percentage . In only , the ' Aaron Robinson , MacGregor G176 ' catcher ' s mitt was produced . The trade between the Detroit Tigers and the Chicago White Sox involving Robinson and Pierce has been cited as one of the more lopsided trades in baseball history , as Robinson had retired from baseball by 1951 , whereas Pierce had a lengthy , productive career with the White Sox . Managing career . After retiring as a player , Robinson became a manager in the minor leagues , managing the Fayetteville Highlanders to the Carolina League championship . He later managed the Winston - Salem Twins and , won another title with the Shelby Colonels , winning the Western Carolina League championship despite having a losing record . Robinson died at age 50 , a victim of testicular cancer .