Before making a return to his home state of Maryland, Errol Robinson — a former Ole Miss shortstop who came back to Oxford to help the baseball team last fall — stopped to reflect on his run with Ole Miss and the chance he has had to leave a lasting impact.
Robinson served as shortstop on the Rebels baseball team from 2014 to 2016. He was the first true freshman to start at shortstop for Ole Miss since Zack Cozart in 2005 and helped get the Rebels to the College World Series for the first time in 42 years.
Robinson was drafted by the Los Angeles Dodgers in the sixth round of the 2016 MLB Draft. He spent the first four years of his career in the Dodgers organization and got as high as AAA. He went through the Cincinnati Reds and St. Louis Cardinals before signing with the Orioles in January 2024, but he was released in July.
He returned to the program last fall as a “student assistant” for a semester. Robinson noted that his role was more an adviser with professional experience.
“It was more just to give some advice to the infielders as someone who has been through the college ranks,” Robinson said. “It was just a good opportunity to give back to the program that blessed me with an opportunity years back.”
In his freshman season at Ole Miss, Robinson hit .294 with seven doubles and a fielding percentage of .938. Robinson was named an All-SEC Freshman selection by the league’s coaches. The Rebels made their first College World Series appearance since 1972 during Robinson’s freshman season.
“2014 was definitely an exciting year. It was very cool to be given such a great opportunity to start and excel in that position,” Robinson said. “Getting to the College World Series was great, and once we got there, we started to prove to ourselves that we deserved to be there.”
Ole Miss reached the Semifinals of the College World Series but ultimately fell to Virginia 4-1 to end the Rebels historic postseason run.
Despite the success Robinson and Ole Miss enjoyed, he said that he was warned about the challenges he might face as a Black man in the South prior to coming to the school.
“Truthfully, before signing and even before I earned the spot, I was warned by a lot of people. And it wasn’t even about playing at Ole Miss but more so playing on the road,” Robinson said. “Before going on the road and playing conference ball, they just told me that it’s a little bit of a different culture.”
Despite this, Robinson said he will always remember feeling the love and warmth from the fanbase.
“It was exciting. It was a great learning experience playing against the best competition in the country,” Robinson said. “I had a great time here. I loved putting on the colors every game and loved the fans we have here and the atmosphere was incredible.”
After leaving Ole Miss, Robinson got married and became a father. He shared the support his wife has given throughout his professional baseball career.
“My son’s been here a year and a half. It’s been cool to have my wife. … And it’s cool to have a support system,” Robinson said.
Although he returned to Ole Miss in an advisory role and received valuable coaching experience, he is far from hanging up the cleats with a return to his native state Maryland on the horizon.
“We’ll be gone around mid-March I’d say,” Robinson said. “I signed to play with an independent ball team in the Atlantic League back home, so I’ll be heading back pretty soon.”
Additionally, Robinson saw this as a precursor to life after retiring from professional baseball. He spoke about his potential plans when his playing days are over.
“As I’ve gotten older, I’ve matured into more of a leadership role and setting an example for some younger guys trying to make it to the majors,” Robinson said. “In the coming years, when I take the cleats off and get into coaching, being able to do stuff like this will help with that transition.”
