WASHINGTON -- Manager Frank Robinson showed his emotions when the Nationals paid tribute to the Hall of Famer before Sunday's season finale against the Mets. The special event came a day after Robinson and general manager Jim Bowden announced that Robinson would not be back as Washington's manager in 2007.

The tears started to flow on Robinson's face during the "Star Spangled Banner." Once the anthem ended, the fans cheered loudly for Robinson, who acknowledged the greeting.

Starting at 1 p.m. ET, with Charlie Slowes as the master of ceremonies, the Nationals honored Robinson with a video montage of his entire 51 years in baseball, which included 21 years as a Major League player, 16 as a manager and 14 more as a coach and executive. At first, Robinson was standing alone near the on-deck circle during the tribute, but then he spotted his wife, Barbara, and daughter, Nichelle, in the dugout and watched the rest of the video with them.

Once the tribute was over, the Robinson family walked to near home plate and Robinson gave a speech that lasted 10 minutes. Robinson broke down at least three times as he told the fans how much he enjoyed his 51 years in baseball and his two years in Washington.

"Fifty-one years. The number is hard to come out of my mouth," Robinson said. "I would have felt lucky when I started this game just to put one year in at this level."

Robinson insisted that he is not retiring from baseball, but he said that he will not manage another game. He wants to spend the time helping minorities get placed in certain positions in baseball.

"I've had my time as a manager, but there are other things to do," Robinson said. "I feel like I'm the one who should carry that burden and that load away from the field. There are others who are going to come after me. There are a lot of other things in baseball I think could be done much more politically correct. I'm looking for opportunities for people that are qualified to fill positions in different organizations in baseball. I have a lot of work to do."

Robinson ended the speech by thanking Barbara and Nichelle, saying that he would not have been in the game as long as he has been without them, and he also said an emotional goodbye to the fans.

"I have never had [to do] anything harder than I have to do right now, and that's to say goodbye," Robinson said.

The Commodores song "Still" was playing when the entire Mets team came to home plate to give their best wishes to Robinson and his family. During his 51 years in the game, he has never seen an opposing team wish someone from the opposition luck before.

"I can't remember the entire team," Robinson said. "I might have the coaching staff, a couple of players wishing someone luck -- I'm sure it has been done. It was very nice gesture on their part. It really was."

The Nationals then went to home plate and gave Robinson a celebratory group bounce.

Unlike the previous few days, some of the players got emotional during the ceremony.

"It was sad," Nationals closer Chad Cordero said. "It's hard to see him go. He has been behind us for five years. To have him leaving us, it's a tough thing. I got choked up a little bit when he was giving the speech."

Said catcher Brian Schneider: "It was hard listening to Frank talk. I know how he loves the game of baseball. We hate to have him go. I have been with him for so much. It was hard before the game. He had some built up emotions. It really stunk. It really did."

The Nationals ended up losing the game to the Mets, 6-2, but Robinson said the loss doesn't take anything away from what occurred before the game.

"About 10, 15, 20 years from now, nobody will remember the game," he said. "In my memory, we win the game anyway."