Brooks Robinson

    The recent passing of Brooks Robinson hit almost everyone who lived in this area no matter if you saw Brooks in his prime, at the end of his career, as an announcer for the Baltimore Orioles television broadcasts, or the many years after all those jobs that Brooks spent as a team ambassador for a team that maybe didn't deserve him for the longest time.

To most people under fifty, Cal Ripken Jr. would be the player that most people think of as "Mr.Oriole" but if you are over fifty, I'm certain that the title would belong to Brooks Robinson.

Brooks was a deserving Hall of Famer and a good ( not great) hitter with six seasons of over twenty homers and eight seasons with over eighty RBI.

Robinson also was named to fifteen All-Star teams, won sixteen Gold Gloves, and won the 1964 American League MVP.

Brooks stepped into the national spotlight during the 1970 World Series, in which the Orioles defeated the Cincinnati Reds in five games with Robinson winning the Series MVP after numerous spectacular defensive gems and hitting two home runs with an average of .429 during the five-game set.

Brooks Robinson still can stake a claim as the best-fielding third baseman ever and while I wouldn't grade him as the best overall third baseman, I'm in agreement with those that call him the top with the glove at the position,

But for me, Brooks was past his best days when I saw him play, especially with the bat, and I remember him most fondly for his announcing days on the Orioles television network with Chuck Thompson.

Brooks wasn't the most eloquent commentator ever but he had a charming, folksy manner of speech even if you were rooting against the Orioles as I almost always did!

Brooks always said the word "Orioles" as "Oreos", which tends to be a problem when you are commentating for that team and I still remember him calling Albert (don't call me Joey) Belle "Belley" during games against the Indians.

Yet, you could tell that it wasn't a lack of knowledge for Brooksie because his analysis was usually spot on. While I wonder if Brooks would have sold as well in the era of analytics, Robinson was exactly what teams hoped to have on their network- a homer to an extent but not so over the top that he comes off with a bias.

Brooks Robinson was a person who always had time for the fans of his and the game.

I remember meeting him a few times as a child, and Brooks always stayed until everyone had gotten what they came for, whether it was the chance to meet him, get a picture with him, or have something signed or all three, Robinson was noted for the time that he spent talking to people and listening to whatever they had to say.

I realize that sports, media, and collecting have changed since those days of Brooks Robinson as a player and commentator, and while some of those changes are for the better, I can't help but think it's not all for the good.

At his core, Brooks Robinson was still the person who grew up in rural Arkansas listening to St.Louis Cardinals and Browns games on the radio and appreciated that when people are meeting a celebrity it could be the only time that opportunity could arise and that is the memory that those people would forever have of him.