Thanks, Brooks On Brooks Robinsons 77th birthday, I just wanted to say a few words and share some quotes about the greatest third baseman to ever play the game, a true gentleman who has always respected the game while never elevating himself above it. Brooks retired in 1977 after a brilliant 23 year career, all spent with the Baltimore Orioles. I grew up as a kid watching the great Orioles teams of the mid-late sixties and seventies, with great players like Frank Robinson, Jim Palmer, Boog Powell, Paul Blair, and Brooks at every position. Still, as someone once said (I believe it was Thomas Boswell, but this is loosely paraphrased at best): even surrounded by great players, Brooks was so good with the glove that fans were forced to watch the game through him. And it was true; there was something about Brooks that made you watch the game by watching the third baseman. Some athletes have an intangible gravitas that seems to make other players around them better. Its impossible to quantify it, but if you watch sports long enough, you somehow know it when you see it. Larry Bird and Magic Johnson had that quality on the basketball court. Johnny Unitas and Peyton Manning come to mind in football. Baseball has more than its fair share as well, and Brooks was certainly one of them (as was his brother Frank, by the way). The beauty of baseball is that it is a game of individual statistics that can be compared across eras, with subtle adjustments for specific periods of time, such as the dead-ball era, and now the steroid era. Yet it is not possible for someone who has never seen Brooks Robinson play to appreciate his greatness merely by absorbing his career statistics. Brooks only hit .267 for his career (a very pedestrian figure for a position player in the Hall of Fame), had less than 3,000 hits, and less than 1,400 RBIs. Yet, he won every award imaginable at least once: he was the American League MVP in 1964, the World Series MVP in 1970, and the All Star Game MVP in 1966; won two World Series rings (1966 and 1970); played in 18 consecutive All-Star games; and won 16 straight Gold Gloves. Even with mediocre career statistics, Brooks was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1983 on the first ballot, with almost 92% of the vote, and was named to the MLB All-Century Team. The late American League umpire Ed Hurley provided perhaps the best quote about Brooks as a baseball player: He played third base like he came down from a higher league. Thomas Boswell also said it well (again, quoting loosely from memory): great shortstops steal singles; it seems that Brooks stole a thousand doubles. Anyone who saw the 1970 World Series would likely agree that Brookss MVP performance in that series is among the most memorable championship series that anyone has every played in any sport. But Brooks is more than just a Hall of Fame baseball player; he is a Hall of Fame gentleman. By the time that I started watching baseball, in the mid-sixties, Brooks was already a bona fide superstar. But he always had time to sign autographs for kids, in contrast to most baseball stars of the modern era who have little time for anything other than their own selfish pursuits. Brooks came from humble roots in Little Rock, Arkansas, and never let fame change him. Today, stars of the modern game whose accomplishments are dwarfed by those of Brooks Robinson live in 8-figure mansions in gated communities, travel with possies, and cant be bothered to spend a few minutes to make a lifelong memory for a little kid. When Reggie Jackson joined the Orioles in 1976, he was making noise about a new candy bar, the Reggie Bar, that was being named after him. This was in the twilight of Brookss career, and Gordon Beard, a longtime sportswriter for the Baltimore Sun, took the opportunity to contrast the humility of Brooks Robinson with the bombast of Reggie jackson. Beards quote is one of my all-time favorite Brooks Robinson quotes: Brooks never asked anyone to name a candy bar after him. In Baltimore, people named their children after him. And they did. On September 18th, 1977, my parents took my brothers and I to Thanks Brooks Day at Memorial Stadium to honor Brooks Robinson on his retirement. The park was full, with not a dry eye in the house. I still have the Norman Rockwell print of Brooks signing an autograph for a kid that was given to all fans on that day (although I have to admin that I dont know exactly where it is at the moment). I also had the opportunity to attend the last baseball game played in Memorial Stadium in September 1991, before the Orioles moved to Camden Yards in 92. After the game ended and the players had left the field, the sound system played music from Field of Dreams, followed by the booming voice of James Earl Jones saying, in the voice of Terrance Mann: The one constant through all the years, Ray, has been baseball. America has rolled by like an army of steamrollers. It has been erased like a blackboard, rebuilt and erased again. But baseball has marked the time. This field, this game: its a part of our past, Ray. It reminds us of all that once was good and that could be again. After a long pregnant pause, and with no introduction, Brooks Robinson, then 54 years old, trotted out to third base in full uniform, glove in hand, and pawed the dirt at third base for the last time. No one who saw Brooks play could have had a dry eye at that moment. I can still see that moment in my minds eye as if it were yesterday. The best piece that I have ever read about Brooks was a vignette by Thomas Boswell in a coffee table book honoring the 50th anniversary of the Baseball Hall of Fame. More than anything else I have read, this piece captures the essence of Brooks as a player and as a man. I highly recommend it to anyone who has not read it, and am planning to write to Mr. Boswell to request that it be released into the public domain in honor of Brookss birthday. John Steadman, legendary Baltimore sportswriter, summed up Brooks Robinson perfectly: Theres not a man who knows him who wouldnt swear for his integrity and honesty and give testimony to his consideration of others. Hes an extraordinary human being, which is important, and the worlds greatest third baseman of all time, which is incidental. - John Steadman of The News American Thanks, Brooksie. Happy birthday.
Posted on: Sun, 18 May 2014 18:30:36 +0000
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