Baseball Hall of Famer and Baltimore Orioles all-time great Brooks Robinson died earlier this week at the age of 86. As I grew up and followed baseball in the 1960's, it was accepted fact that Brooks Robinson was the best, the VERY best, third baseman in all of baseball. Of course growing up in a National League city in a time when there was no interleague play and baseball games from all over were not available on multiple televised platforms (did the concept of "multiple televised platforms" even exist in the 1960's?), I only got to see Robinson play in the All-Star game every year, so you had to take people's word for it that he was the best at his craft.
Like a lot of people, I suppose that the first time I ever REALLY got to see Brooks Robinson over an extended period of time was in the 1970 World Series, won by the Orioles over the Reds in five games. Brooks hit .429 with 2 HR and 6 RBI in that series, but it was his play at the hot corner that really earned him Series MVP honors. The plays that he made time after time in that series were beyond my ability to describe. Go to YouTube and look them up, kids. They still make my jaw drop fifty-three years later.
Check out the lead sentence on his Hall of Fame plaque: "Established modern standard of excellence for third baseman." Yep.
Robinson played for 23 seasons, all with the Orioles. He was an eighteen time all-star, a sixteen time Gold Glove winner, an American League MVP (1964) and a World Series MVP (1970). His Orioles played in four Fall Classics, winning two of them. In the O's losing Series against the Pirates in 1971, Robinson hit .318. As one of the Pirates heroes of that Series, Steve Blass, noted upon his passing "It was an honor to compete against him."
Yet in reading his obituaries and hearing the appreciations for him, Robinson was far more than just a great ball player in Baltimore. He was a sports hero, a vital member of the community - he remained in Baltimore after his career ended - and just an all around Good Guy, and that is the guy who'll be missed in Baltimore far more than the ball player. It made me think of the outpourings of tributes that were bestowed upon Franco Harris here in Pittsburgh upon his death last year.
The best story I read was THIS ONE from Washington Post sports writer Dave Shenin, which talks about, among other things, just how many people named "Brooks" live in the Baltimore area. "In New York, they name candy bars after you", the article posits, "in Baltimore, we name our children after you." It also includes this great story that tells you much about the man:
Letters addressed to Robinson would frequently arrive at Memorial Stadium, trumpeting the arrival of another newborn Brooks, and Robinson would send an autographed picture to each return address, invariably inscribed: “Brooks, I’m honored you have my name. I hope to say hello to you some day.”
RIP Brooks Robinson
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