Trayvon Robinson was never supposed to play baseball in Lancaster.

In 2016, the Southern California native was playing with the Atlantic League’s Somerset Patriots when he was told he was being released.

Robinson, a former Major League player, considered hanging up his cleats. That was until an old friend got him a roster spot with the then-Barnstormers.

Josh Bell, an ex-big leaguer in his own right, managed to convince Butch Hobson, then the Barnstormers’ manager, to give the outfielder a chance.

Robinson took his opportunity and never looked back. An instant fan favorite, he played parts of seven seasons in Lancaster and now serves as the team’s hitting coach.

“He gave me a second wind,” Robinson said of Hobson, who most recently managed the Chicago Dogs of the American Association. “It would have been easy to just walk away from the game.”

Robinson was drafted out of high school by his hometown Los Angeles Dodgers in the 10th round of the 2005 draft. After a trade to the Seattle Mariners, he made his MLB debut on Aug. 5, 2011, recording a hit and robbing a home run in an extra-inning loss to to the Los Angeles Angels.

He played 90 games across two seasons for the Mariners before a demotion and a trade to the Baltimore Orioles ended his MLB service.

Robinson was in left field for Felix Hernandez’s perfect game in 2012. His name will never be erased from baseball’s record books.

After his last MLB appearance, he played 11 seasons of minor and independent league baseball before transitioning into a player-coach role with the Stormers in 2024. He is the team’s full-time hitting coach this season.

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“I’ve learned to give a lot of grace to myself,” Robinson said of his transition to coaching. “I’m trying to implement the way I play the game onto somebody else.”

“Trayvon is one of the nicest human beings you’ll meet in your life,” added Stormers general manager and president Mike Reynolds. “He’s an amazing mentor for the young athletes that we have in the clubhouse.”

In 2019, Robinson was picked up the Pittsburgh Pirates to play for the organization’s Triple-A team in Indianapolis.

He played incredibly well in that stint, hitting .297 across 92 games with 36 RBIs. Robinson thought his play would earn him a call back to the major leagues — but the call never came.

“I was praying and hoping,” he said. “I thought at one point they were going to. But they liked their youth.”

Robinson mentored plenty of future big-leaguers during his stint with the Pirates. Names like Bryan Reynolds, Ke’Bryan Hayes, Cole Tucker and Kevin Newman all learned under the switch hitter.

“They were all big young kids at that time,” he said. “A couple of them made themselves into established baseball players, so I’m a little proud of that.”

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After the lost pandemic season, Robinson was looking for another opportunity in either affiliated ball or in Mexico.

Nevertheless, he found himself back in Lancaster in 2021. There was only one place that Robinson was going to retire.

“I knew that I just always wanted to be here,” he said. “I always wanted to come back here and retire.”

Robinson now lives in Lancaster. He has a standing offer to coach in the Dodgers system, but he’s locked in with the Stormers for now. One of his former Lancaster teammates, Blake Gailen, is the hitting coach for the Tulsa Drillers, the Double-A affiliate of the Dodgers.

“He’s done a phenomenal job,” Stormers manager Ross Peeples said of Robinson. “He’s always where he needs to be. He’s not scared to put the work in.”

Baseball has taken Robinson all over the world — Seattle, Florida and Venezuela, just to name a few. But none have felt like home as much as Lancaster has.

“The front office, the city, the environment, it’s just everything,” he said. “Everything is so welcoming here.”