Former Azusa Pacific two-sport standout and Major League Baseball pitcher Jeff Robinson passed away in his home in Overland Park, Kan., Sunday (Oct. 26) afternoon. Robinson, who was 52, died from liver and kidney complications.

The 6-foot-6 Robinson, who excelled in both baseball and basketball during his three years (1980-83) at Azusa Pacific, played with four different teams during a six-year MLB career in which he fashioned a 47-40 record with a 4.79 ERA.

“I’m deeply saddened by Jeff’s passing,” said Azusa Pacific Director of Athletics Gary Pine, who was a classmate and friend of Robinson at Azusa Pacific. “In today’s day of specialization, Jeff was a true throwback, excelling as one of Azusa Pacific’s best-ever two-sport athletes. Yet for those of us who knew him well, our greatest memories are of his youthful enthusiasm, ability to have fun, and make people laugh no matter the situation.”

Robinson’s best MLB season came in 1988 when he emerged as one of Sparky Anderson’s top pitchers for the Detroit Tigers, putting together a 13-6 record with a 2.79 ERA, striking out 114 batters in 172 innings of work. However, an injury to his right pitching hand in mid-August not only ended Robinson’s season, but it played a key role in the then first-place Tigers losing their lead down the stretch and missing the playoffs.

Robinson was taken by the Tigers in the third round of the 1983 MLB Draft, then the highest pick ever for an Azusa Pacific player. He spent three seasons in the minor leagues before making his Major League debut April 12, 1987. He went 9-6 as a Tiger rookie, starting 21 of 29 games on the mound, and came out of the bullpen for a brief appearance in Game 5 of the Tigers’ American League Championship Series against the eventual World Series champion Minnesota Twins.

“Jeff led Azusa Pacific basketball and baseball programs to some of their finest years,” added Pine, “but we knew baseball was his future, and it was with great pride that we eagerly followed his career through professional baseball.”

Following the 1990 season, the Tigers traded Robinson to the Baltimore Orioles. He split the 1992 campaign between the Texas Rangers and Pittsburgh Pirates before closing his professional baseball career back in the Tigers organization after Detroit signed him as a free agent in 1992. He subsequently retired and moved to the Kansas City area.

Robinson came to Azusa Pacific as a freshman in the fall of 1980. Out of Christian High in El Cajon, Calif., he was drafted by the San Diego Padres and was offered several NCAA Division I scholarships to play baseball, both of which he turned down to attend Azusa Pacific because the Cougars allowed him to play both baseball and basketball.

He was a three-year starting forward in the Cougar basketball program, playing for NAIA Hall of Fame basketball coach Cliff Hamlow. He scored 1,193 points and grabbed 549 rebounds in his 87-game career, leading the Cougars to 20-win campaigns in 1981 and 1982. As a junior in 1982-83, he was the team’s leading rebounder, averaging 7.1 per game, and second-leading scorer with a 20.0 scoring average.

“Jeff was one of the most talented athletes that we have had at Azusa Pacific,” said Hamlow. “Much was expected of him and he rose to the occasion in each sport. Jeff was a strong-willed competitor that always kept you in the game. He was a pleasure to coach and have in the program and it is a sad day to know that his life has been cut short.”

His commitment to basketball didn’t allow him to join the Cougar baseball program until mid- to late-March each year, and yet every season he proved to be one of top pitchers in the NAIA. He was a key figure in the Cougars’ third-place finishes in the 1981 and 1982 NAIA World Series, and in 1983 he teamed with Randy Robinson (no relation) and Greg Swain to form arguably the best starting pitching staff in Cougar baseball history.

Throughout his Major League career he was often referred to as Jeffrey M. Robinson to differentiate himself from Jeffrey D. Robinson, a pitcher with the San Francisco Giants. Ironically, the two Robinsons faced each other once in college when Azusa Pacific squared off with Cal State Fullerton in 1983.

Robinson is survived by his wife, Meredith, and three children.