Frank Robinson, who grew up in Oakland, enjoyed a Hall of Fame career playing baseball and became the game’s first African American manager, died Thursday. He was 83.

Robinson died in Los Angeles after a bout with bone cancer. He was surrounded by family and friends at his home, according to Major League Baseball.

After breaking baseball’s color barrier for a manager with the 1975 Cleveland Indians, Robinson became the first African American to manage in the National League when he took over the scuffling Giants in 1981. He guided them into playoff contention in 1982.

As a player, Robinson was a clubhouse leader and intensely competitive, sliding hard into bases and leaning over the plate, daring pitchers to hit him. When he retired, he ranked fourth all-time with 586 home runs. He’s now 10th.

When honored at AT&T Park in September 2017, Robinson reflected on his introductory news conference as the Indians’ manager.

“I’m sorry that Jackie Robinson couldn’t be there,” Robinson said of the man who broke the color barrier as a player with the 1947 Brooklyn Dodgers. “He passed away a couple of years earlier.”

Robinson managed four seasons in San Francisco and 16 overall, winning 1,065 games and losing 1,176. He also worked in the Orioles’ front office and later for MLB, including as vice president of on-field operations, a role in which he doled out punishments for on-field fighting.

A highlight of Robinson’s time as Giants manager came Oct. 3, 1982, when second baseman Joe Morgan’s game-deciding home run eliminated the Dodgers from playoff contention on the final day of the season. The Giants’ postseason hopes had been dashed by the Dodgers the previous day, and they finished in third place, two games behind Atlanta.

Like Morgan, Robinson grew up in Oakland with baseball legends. Robinson went to McClymonds High School, as did major league All-Stars Vada Pinson and Curt Flood. Morgan graduated from Castlemont.

“Frank will be missed,” said Morgan, a longtime friend who kept in contact with Robinson through the years, most recently this week. “He was a lot different than people thought. They saw the rough exterior, but on the inside and every place else, he was just a great human being.”

The Giants and their fans have experienced a rough few months with the deaths of broadcaster Hank Greenwald (Oct. 22), Hall of Famer Willie McCovey (Oct. 31), third baseman Al Gallagher (Dec. 6), and owner Peter Magowan (Jan. 27).

“He was tough and hard-nosed, but he made you better,” said Giants broadcaster Mike Krukow, who pitched under Robinson. “When I got there in 1983, he was not happy with the trade at all. He didn’t like it. One of the most rewarding things that ever happened during my time with him is when he was let go in Atlanta (in 1984) and walked out the door, he came over to me and said thank you.

“That meant the world to me because I admired the guy so much.”

Krukow’s broadcast partner, Duane Kuiper, played for Robinson in both Cleveland and San Francisco and had heard his old manager was in failing health.

“In some ways I’m not shocked. In other ways, because he was kind of a giant to me, I am shocked,” Kuiper said, “because there are people you run into in life you just think are invincible, and I thought he was one of the invincible ones. I thought that just because he was tough.

“He had a real softness quality about him once you got to know him, and once you knew that he liked you, then there was a softness about him. But you had to get to that point, and I don’t think he allowed many people to get to that point.”

Robinson was born in Beaumont, Texas, on Aug. 31, 1935, the youngest of Ruth Shaw’s 10 children. A few years later, his mother moved with her youngest kids to the East Bay. They were poor, but he managed to keep his focus on playing sports.

At 14, Robinson began playing for prominent Oakland coach George Powles and quickly found himself on a national championship American Legion team, and the Reds signed him out of McClymonds in 1953 for a $3,500 bonus.

Robinson dealt with racism in the minor leagues, especially in his first pro season at Ogden, Utah, where the 17-year-old was a target of taunts and denied at restaurants and movie theaters.

In his 1988 book, “Extra Innings,” Robinson wrote, “Ogden was in a Mormon state, and though I didn’t know it, at that time the Mormon religion insisted that Negroes were inferior beings. I got my first taste of racial bigotry in Ogden.”

Robinson broke into the majors as the 1956 Rookie of the Year and played a decade in Cincinnati, including eight years as Pinson’s teammate. In 1961, Robinson won the MVP award.

“I was with Cincinnati for 10 years, and the owner, Bill DeWitt Sr., said I was ‘an old 30,’ so he traded me to Baltimore,” Robinson said during his 2017 visit to San Francisco.

The Orioles clearly won the trade after parting with Milt Pappas, Jack Baldschun and Dickie Simpson. In his first season in Baltimore, 1966, Robinson won a Triple Crown and another MVP award, becoming the only player with MVPs in both leagues.

The Orioles swept the Dodgers in the World Series, and Robinson was the World Series MVP.

“The papers (said) we didn’t have any business being on the field with the mighty Dodgers,” Robinson said. “We had no chance. The scouting reports talked about how good their pitching staff was.

“I talked a little bit to the club. I said, ‘I’ve been in the league; I’ve seen them. They are good. But I think our hitters can handle their pitchers, and I think our pitchers can handle their hitters.’”

After helping the Orioles win four pennants in six years, Robinson played a year for the Dodgers and nearly two for the Angels before being claimed by the Indians for the final weeks of the 1974 season.

General manager Phil Seghi asked him to become player-manager the following year, and Robinson was hesitant at first, though he had gained experience managing for several winters in Puerto Rico.

“I saw what it could be, and I saw how it might help African Americans as far as cracking the managerial circle,” Robinson said. “I thought about that and said, ‘Well, this is a good chance for me to do something, not only for myself and family, but for the good of African American players playing this game and the coaches who might want to manage one day.’

“So I went back in and said, ‘OK, Phil, I’ll take it. But how much are you going to pay me to manage this ballclub?’ He said, ‘$200,000.’ I said, ‘Well, wait a minute, Phil. I have a $180,000 contract for next year as a player. You mean to tell me you’re going to pay me only $20,000 to manage?’

“He said, ‘That’s right. Take it or leave it.’ So I took it, and I said, ‘I’m going to treat Frank Robinson the player just like anybody else would treat Frank Robinson as far as playing’s concerned.’”

Kuiper can relate.

“I’m in the on-deck circle. I’m going to hit next,” Kuiper said. “It’s late in the game, and I can hear him, ‘Kuip, Kuip, turn around.’ So I turn around, and he says, ‘I’m going to pinch hit for you.’ ‘Well, who are you going to pinch hit for me?’ And he goes ‘me.’ Well, all right, that’s a pretty good choice, I guess.”

A conversation Robinson had with Jackie Robinson stuck with him throughout his career.

“He emphasized that I conduct myself the right way, not only on the field but off the field, for the good of making progress with African Americans in the game and getting certain jobs, coaching jobs,” Robinson said.

Robinson returned to his Bay Area roots in 1981 when he accepted an offer to manage the Giants from owner Bob Lurie and helped turn them into a winner.

The Giants had losing records in six of eight seasons entering 1982 but added 37-year-old Reggie Smith to join Morgan, Darrell Evans, Jack Clark and rookie Chili Davis. Bill Laskey and Atlee Hammaker were new to the rotation, and closer Greg Minton anchored a solid bullpen.

The Giants were 14 games behind the Braves on July 30 but finished 39-23 including 20-7 in September, and Robinson was named UPI Manager of the Year. The Giants slipped below .500 in 1983, and Robinson was fired in August 1984.

“Frank was one of my favorite players growing up,” Giants manager Bruce Bochy said. “I was a big Reds fan. I really admired everything he meant and what he accomplished in baseball, and he was instrumental, after Jackie Robinson, to opening doors in baseball to African Americans and making this such a better game, getting the best athletes out here and making this a better product.”

Robinson was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2005 by President George W. Bush, six years before his McClymonds classmate Bill Russell received the award from President Barack Obama.

Statues were dedicated to Robinson outside Baltimore’s Camden Yards and Cincinnati’s Great American Ball Park.

“We are deeply saddened by this loss of our friend, colleague and legend who worked in our game for more than 60 years,” Commissioner Rob Manfred said. “On behalf of Major League Baseball, I send my deepest condolences to Frank’s wife Barbara, daughter Nichelle, their entire family and the countless fans who admired this great figure of our national pastime.”

Tony Clark, executive director of the players’ union, said, “The fraternity of players and the baseball family have lost a giant.”

The Robinson family asked that contributions in his memory be made to the National Civil Rights Museum in Memphis or the National Museum of African American History and Culture in Washington, D.C.

John Shea is The San Francisco Chronicle’s national baseball writer. Email: jshea@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @JohnSheaHey