Shane Robinson has returned to Major League Baseball with the San Francisco Giants, where one of the most rewarding parts of the journey has been reconnecting with former Florida State teammate Buster Posey nearly 20 years after they first met in Tallahassee.
While much of the baseball world views Posey as a future Hall of Famer and the Giants’ president of baseball operations, Robinson’s perspective remains rooted in their days at FSU.
“I still think of him as like Buster, the freshman when we were there (at FSU),” Robinson told the Tallahassee Democrat. “There’s like an aura around him based on what he’s done as a big league player and just the type of guy you don’t see very often at the big league level, and the respect he has from everyone in this organization.
“It’s pretty neat to see.”
Robinson, 41, is in his first season on a major league coaching staff as the Giants’ first-base coach under new manager Tony Vitello after serving as San Francisco’s minor league outfield and base running coordinator in 2025.
The reunion with Robinson has been meaningful for Posey, too, as he recalls their days together in Garnet and Gold in 2006 under legendary coach Mike Martin.
“When Shane and I played together at FSU, early on it was apparent how prepared and focused he was every day,” Posey told the Democrat. “He brings that same focus and intent each day as a coach.”
FSU’s Shane Robinson transitions to coaching after playing career
Prior to joining San Francisco, Robinson – a former All-American center fielder at FSU (2004-06) and nine-year player in the big leagues – spent two seasons in a similar capacity with the New York Mets. He served as their minor league outfield coordinator in 2024 and their outfield and base running coordinator in 2023. In 2022, Robinson was also the bench coach at Double-A San Antonio in the Padres system.
Robinson, who lives in Atlanta with his wife and their two daughters in the offseason, has enjoyed his return to MLB and embraced the anticipated learning curve.
The transition from player to coach, Robinson said, has been rewarding because it centers less on personal performance and more on helping others succeed.
“It’s a lot different than being a player,” Robinson said.
“As a player, if you’re not an everyday big leaguer making a ton of money, you’re constantly worried about performance and whether this is your last day here. In the coaching world, you’re trying to help guys navigate the same problems that you went through. It’s navigating personalities, understanding people and gaining trust. It’s more people skills than just the fundamentals of the game.”
As a player, Robinson appeared in 461 career MLB games for St. Louis (2009, 2011-2014), Minnesota (2015), Los Angeles-AL (2016-2017) and New York-AL (2018). He played in a career-best 102 games in 2012 for St. Louis and hit .253.
The coaching role has given Robinson a new appreciation for the challenges facing today’s players, many of whom are dealing with the same uncertainty and pressure he experienced during his own career. He also still enjoys the parts of baseball he missed most after retirement — the daily clubhouse relationships and camaraderie that defined his playing days.
“It’s been fun,” Robinson said. “You’re living that big-league life, but not having to go out there and perform every day. But it’s rewarding helping players get where they want to go.”
Shane Robinson believes in Giants’ potential under manager Tony Vitello
Even while the Giants have struggled through a difficult 2006 season – they were 42-59 and in fourth place in the National League West on July 22 – Robinson feels good about the team’s path forward. The Giants and Posey made a bold move when they hired Vitello from the University of Tennessee, making him the first manager to jump straight from college to an MLB dugout without any professional coaching experience.
Robinson said Vitello’s leadership style differs from many managers he encountered during his playing and coaching career.
“It has been a different experience with Tony because usually a lot of the managers I’ve been a part of, the relationship with players is different,” Robinson said. “Where it’s more of the like of an authority figure.”
Instead, Robinson said Vitello has built a culture that is unusually inclusive.
“Tony engages with everybody and it’s just a different vibe here than what I’ve seen or been a part of or used to,” Robinson said. “There have been some learning moments because college baseball is so much different from the big leagues. And Tony does a good job of bouncing ideas off everyone and asking questions of all the staff members. It has been a learning curve for everyone; I am still learning as well, because once you think you have it all figured out, the game humbles you. But it has been a good environment to work in and I’ve enjoyed being back in the game and in the clubhouse and being on the (front) lines with the guys.”
Robinson has also thoroughly enjoyed his reunion with Posey.
“I don’t treat him differently than what I’ve always known him to be and it’s kind of a cool relationship in that sense,” Robinson said. “He this kind of epic figure with the Giants, he’s the president, but can lean on me with questions and opinions. It’s kind of a cool relationship when you step back and look at it in my shoes. To be around somebody like that who has that kind of presence and baseball smarts. … that’s been really cool.”
This article originally appeared on Tallahassee Democrat: Exclusive: How an FSU friendship led Shane Robinson back to MLB
Reporting by Jim Henry, Tallahassee Democrat / Tallahassee Democrat
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
By Jim Henry, Tallahassee Democrat | USA TODAY Network
