The Link To The Photo
Brooks Robinson (copied and pasted from sabr.org)
The stage was the fifth game of the World Series, on October 15, 1970. The Baltimore Orioles had taken a three-games-to-one Series lead over the Cincinnati Reds. Brooks Robinson had already delivered a game-winning home run in the opener, robbed Tony Perez and Johnny Bench of base hits with a pair of diving catches in Game Three, and cracked a two-out RBI single in Game Four. Robinson did not play an offensive factor in the Orioles’ 9–3 lead in Game Five. In fact, he was called out on strikes in the eighth inning. As he returned to the dugout with his head hung, the fans “gave him a standing ovation for his dream series.”1
And why
not? Robinson was batting .429 for the Series with 17 total bases and nine
hits, including two doubles and two RBIs in Game Three. Meanwhile, the bulk of
his 24 fielding chances occurred during key moments of the games. The Reds had
one final chance in the top of the ninth, and leading off the inning was Johnny
Bench, soon to be named his league’s Most Valuable Player. Bench lined a foul
ball that appeared to be out of Robinson’s reach. Yet it was plays such as
these for which Lee May nicknamed
him Hoover the Vacuum Cleaner. Robinson dived headlong into the dirt in foul
territory and miraculously snared the baseball, a startling and fitting finale
to an extraordinary World Series performance. Compared with his catch, throwing
out Pat Corrales on a
soft bouncer to end the game and win the World Series appeared almost
anticlimactic.
The
lasting memory of Brooks Robinson for many, it is his wizardry in the 1970
World Series. But countless others will remember the man behind the statistics,
records, and awards. “When fans ask Brooks Robinson for his autograph,”
remembered the late Oriole broadcaster Chuck Thompson, “he
complied while finding out how many kids you have, what your dad does, where
you live, how old you are, and if you have a dog. … His only failing is that
when the game ended if Brooks belonged to its story – usually he did – you
better leave the booth at the end of the eighth inning. … By the time the press
got [to the clubhouse] Brooks was in the parking lot signing autographs on his
way home.”2
Success
did not compromise the integrity or upstanding character of Brooks Calbert
Robinson. Even into his eighth decade, he stayed as honest and genuine as the
day he graduated from high school in Little Rock, Arkansas. He conducted
himself with class throughout his 23 seasons in a major league uniform and
fulfilled extraneous obligations with joy and enthusiasm. Robinson lived most
of his married life in Baltimore, where he helped raise four children, endorsed
local businesses, and was active in his family’s church. Brooks Robinson
continued to greet total strangers with the familiarity of childhood neighbors.
Robinson
was born in Little Rock on May 18, 1937, of mixed German-English extraction.
His father was instrumental in the development of his baseball skills, even at
a young age. “I was hardly big enough to hold a glove up when he taught me to
catch a rubber baseball,” remembered Brooks. “And one of my earliest memories
is the day he cut off an old broom, so the handle was about the right size for
me to swing. … Mom and the neighbors could always tell where I was by the ping
of the rocks against those old broomsticks.” When he was older, Robinson
developed his fielding skills with a paper route of 150 customers,
including Bill Dickey, the New
York Yankees Hall of Fame catcher of an earlier era. Given an English
composition assignment about his career ambition in the eighth grade, Robinson
entitled his paper, “Why I Want to Play Professional Baseball.” More
specifically, he wanted to play third base for the St. Louis Cardinals.3
Although
he also played football and basketball in high school, baseball was the sport
he most excelled at. One of many the scouts to observe the wunderkind and his
glovework at American Legion games was Lindsay
Deal, a former minor-league teammate of Baltimore manager/general
manager Paul Richards. “He’s no
speed demon,” wrote Deal to Richards, “but neither is he a truck horse. Brooks
has a lot of power, baseball savvy, and is always cool when the chips are
down.”4 After
graduating from Central High School in 1955, Robinson and his parents
considered several baseball offers before signing with Baltimore Orioles scout
Arthur Ehlers for $4,000. The Orioles were a lowly organization at the time,
just a season removed from their transfer from St. Louis. Ehlers used the
organization’s position to convince Robinson that “with us, you have the chance
to move up faster than with probably any other club.”5
Robinson
began his professional career in York, Pennsylvania, with a reputation as a
weak hitter. Even the public address announcer for the Piedmont League club did
not take the prospect seriously, announcing him as Bob Robinson in his first
plate appearance. Years later Robinson credited Paul Richards for seeing his
“raw ability and for [refusing] to listen to the people that didn’t think I’d
ever hit in the big leagues.”6 Robinson
batted .091 (2-for-22) in a
brief September call-up.
“I thought Paul was kidding when he had me watch the kid work out one day,”
recalled teammate Gene Woodling. “He
couldn’t hit, he couldn’t run, and his arm wasn’t that strong.” Robinson spent
the next four years splitting time between the major and minor leagues. He was
playing for San Antonio in May 1956 when he learned that the Orioles had
acquired veteran third
baseman George Kell from
the Chicago White Sox. San Antonio manager Joe
Schultz reassured Robinson that Kell was “a stopgap measure,”
until the 19-year-old was ready for the major leagues.7 It took
Robinson a few tries to finally stick in the major leagues. He hit .272 in 154
games for San Antonio in 1956 before another September recall (.227 in 15
games). He hit his first major-league home run on September 29 in Griffith
Stadium off Senators pitcher Evelio
Hernández. Robinson was the Orioles’ starting third baseman at the start
of the 1957 season but returned to San Antonio after struggling—he wound up
hitting .266 in the minors and .239 in the majors for the season.
His first
full major league season was 1958 when he played 145 games but hit just .238
with three home runs. He hit just .232 in his first 216 major league games. He
was returned to the minor leagues again early in the 1959 season, this time to
Vancouver, British Columbia, of the Pacific Coast League. He hit well (.331 in
42 games), and he got back to Baltimore (for good, it turned out) in July.
After one final difficult month (.183 in July), he hit over .340 in the final two
months and claimed the job he would hold for another 16 years.
Robinson’s Vancouver manager, Charlie Metro, later recalled a freak accident that nearly ended his
career. “Our dugout in Vancouver had a screen hanging over some hooks,” said
Metro. “A guy took half the screen down but forgot the hooks. Robinson came
over for a foul, slipped, and threw his arm up. A hook caught his arm at the
right elbow. I grabbed his arm – he had a 24-inch cut. If he had fallen, he
would have been done.”8
Robinson’s finest hour in 1959 came off the field. On
August 26 he and his Orioles teammates boarded a flight in Kansas City bound
for Boston. After taking his seat, he became mesmerized by one of the flight
attendants and wisely asked for a glass of iced tea. After his third iced tea,
possibly his fourth, Robinson followed the air hostess to the galley, offering
that “all the rest [of the players] are married. So remember, if any of them
try to talk to you, I’m the only single, eligible bachelor on the plane.”9 Robinson
eventually collected enough confidence to ask the young lady’s name and she
introduced herself as Connie Butcher from Detroit. After she accepted
Robinson’s dinner invitation once the flight landed in Boston, the third
baseman knew that Connie was the woman he wanted to marry.
After six noncompetitive seasons in the American League, the Orioles surprised
almost everyone by challenging the New York Yankees for the pennant in 1960.
Baltimore was tied for first as late as September 15, but the Yankees won their
final 15 games to leave the Orioles behind. Despite his tender age of 23,
Robinson emerged as a leader of the very young club. He had a fine individual
season, hitting .294 with 14 home runs and 88 RBIs, and hitting
for the cycle on July 15 in Chicago. His fine season
earned him a trip to his first two All-Star games, his first Gold Glove, and
his choice as the Orioles’ MVP. He finished third in the voting for league MVP,
behind only Roger Maris and Mickey Mantle. Although
he did not get to play in the World Series, he did marry Connie Butcher on
October 8 at her family’s summer home in Windsor, Ontario.
The new bridegroom picked up right where he left off in 1961, batting .287
mainly in the leadoff position as the Orioles finished well behind the Yankees.
The next year, under new manager Billy Hitchcock, Robinson
set career highs with 23 home runs and 86 RBIs while batting .306. New teammate
Robin Roberts reflected that Robinson was “quicker than [former teammate Willie] Jones and
had the fastest reflexes I’ve ever seen.”10 Robinson
fell off quite a bit in 1963, hitting just .251 with 11 home runs, and the
team’s poor play cost Hitchcock his job. Hank
Bauer took over for the 1964 season.
Robinson had perhaps his best season in 1964, and the Orioles were part of a
summer-long scramble for the pennant, again won by the Yankees. Missing only
two innings of the Orioles’ 163 games played, Robinson had 194 hits, 28 home
runs, and a league-best 118 RBIs. He hit a torrid .464 in September to lift his
average from .294 to .317. After the season Robinson was named the American
League’s Most Valuable Player and also won his fifth consecutive Gold Glove
(he eventually won 16 straight). The Yankees finally dropped back in 1965, and
the Orioles won 94 games, but it was Minnesota that took advantage of the
opening and won the pennant easily. Robinson suffered a broken thumb when hit
by a Hank Aguirre fastball,
and played 144 games (after missing just one game the previous four seasons),
batting .297 with 18 home runs.
In the following off-season, the Orioles underwent some changes. Jerold Hoffberger, chairman
of National Brewing Company, bought a majority stake in the team, and he
hired Harry Dalton to
be the general manager. As Brooks Robinson was the club’s only right-handed
power threat, Dalton made a big deal with the Reds to acquire outfielder Frank Robinson. For the
next six years the two Robinsons defined the franchise and led the team to its
greatest run of success.
Many would have understood if Brooks Robinson felt threatened by the arrival of
Frank Robinson, a great player and renowned leader. Frank was the first African
American star in Baltimore and one of the first in the American League.
Brooks, on the other hand, grew up in Little Rock, a city that had integrated
its schools nine years earlier only with the help of the National Guard. Brooks
was elated by the trade, declaring the new Oriole to be “exactly what we need.”11 If
anything, Frank eased the burden on Brooks as a clubhouse motivator. As Hank
Bauer recalled, Frank “was definitely the missing cog,” who “took away the
pressure on Brooks and Boog [Powell]. He
helped the young players just by talking to them.”12
More
importantly, Frank’s presence greatly strengthened the Orioles’ offensive
attack. On Opening Day in Boston, Frank was hit by a pitch. Brooks followed by
belting a two-run homer, which proved to be just sufficient in a 13-inning 5–4
victory. Although Frank won the Triple Crown, Brooks also supplied valuable
contributions to the team’s runaway pennant—the club’s lead was more than eight
games every day after mid-July, and they eventually won by nine over the Twins.
Robinson played the entire All-Star Game in St. Louis, and though the American
League lost 2–1, his triple and two singles earned him the game’s MVP award.
The
Orioles’ opponents in their first World Series were the heavily favored Los
Angeles Dodgers, champions from 1963 and 1965. The upstart Orioles did not pay
attention to the doubters and swept the Dodgers in four straight games. In Game
One, both Brooks and Frank Robinson homered in the first inning to start the
Orioles to their 5–2 victory. The Orioles finished the job with three straight
complete-game shutouts from their pitchers. For Brooks Robinson, runner-up to
Frank in the league’s MVP vote, the Series was a highly satisfying event. “You
dream about signing a big-league contract,” he later wrote. “You dream about
getting to the majors. And you dream about getting to the World Series. I
remember thinking, ‘Now if you never win anything else again, at least you’ve
done this.’”13
The Orioles fell back to sixth place in 1967, beset by injuries to
pitchers Jim Palmer and Dave McNally and
off years from several hitters. Robinson hit .269 with 22 home runs, fine
production for the mid-1960s. Although the American League lost the All-Star
Game once again, Robinson was responsible for the junior circuit’s only run, a
round-tripper off Ferguson Jenkins. The
Orioles moved up to second place the next year, although a midsummer slump cost
manager Bauer his job in favor of Earl
Weaver. Brooks received a favorable first impression of his new
manager, describing him as “intense and just insecure enough to have us playing
out all the time.”14
While 1969
marked an off-year for Robinson (.234 with 23 homers and 84 RBIs), the Orioles
crushed American League opponents all season en route to a 109-53 record and a
sweep of the Twins in the playoffs. Despite losing the World Series to the
upstart New York Mets, the Orioles came back the next year and did it all
again, this time sporting a record of 108-54 and another sweep of Minnesota.
Three of Robinson’s 18 home runs were particularly noteworthy. He broke a 2–2
deadlock on May 9, hitting the 200th round-tripper of his career off
Chicago’s Tommy John. On June
20, he delivered a three-run blast to eclipse a 2–2 tie against
Washington’s Joe Coleman for
his 2,000th hit. A walk-off home run off Boston’s Sparky Lyle, though
not a career milestone, was exemplary of Robinson’s grit and tenacity. Earlier
in the game he had sustained minor head injuries as starter Mike Nagy beaned
him. Robinson brought his average back up to .276 and drove in 94 runs in the
Orioles’ cause.
Robinson’s dominance of the 1970 World Series made him more famous than he ever
had been before. Along with all the formidable defensive plays, he also hit
.429 with two home runs (after having hit .583 in the Twins series). However,
few remember that the memorable Game Five almost did not take place that day.
As Phil Jackman of the Baltimore Evening Sun reported:
“It was about 30 minutes before the fifth game … but it didn’t look as if the
show would go on. It was pouring. Brooks Robinson walked into the dugout
and Andy Etchebarren, sitting
there, kiddingly said, ‘Brooksie, make it stop raining.’ Number 5, raising his
eyes, said, ‘Stop raining.’ It did. ‘I’m getting out of here,’ Etchebarren
said, scurrying towards the clubhouse.” Perhaps umpire Ed Hurley offered some
validity with his remark that Robinson “came down from a higher league.”15 Teammates
and adversaries alike offered their admiration of Brooks Robinson after the
Series. Boog Powell supplied the ultimate compliment in the late innings
of a tight ballgame, “I’d rather have him up there instead of me.” It was of
little surprise to anyone that Robinson was named the 1970 World Series Most
Valuable Player, receiving a new Dodge Charger. To this, Pete Rose of
the vanquished Reds suggested, “If we knew he wanted a car so [badly], we’d
have bought one for him ourselves.”16
How could the 34-year-old improve on his magnificent 1970? He could not, but
the next year his 20 home runs, 92 RBIs, and .272 batting average were enough
to earn him his fourth and final Most Valuable Oriole award. Baltimore ran away
with the American League East again, racking up 101 wins and sweeping Oakland
in the playoff series. Two of Robinson’s more memorable regular-season contests
were against the Athletics. On July 18 in Oakland, his grand slam proved to be
the difference in a 7–3 victory. On July 27 he beat Rollie Fingers with
a two-run homer in the bottom of the ninth. The following night Robinson
reminded everyone that he was mortal after all, committing three errors in one
inning and hitting into two double plays.
Baltimore took a 2-0 lead over Pittsburgh in the World Series, as Robinson
reached base five times in an 11–3 victory in Game Two. Fans at Memorial
Stadium, if they opened page 44 of their World Series Program, could view a
beautiful Norman Rockwell art print of Robinson used as an advertising piece
for a sporting goods company. Entitled “Gee Thanks, Brooks,” it displayed the
third baseman signing an autograph for a boy sitting in the first row of seats.
Having autographed hundreds of examples of the portraits, Robinson became
familiar with every detail in the painting, even showing which of the
spectators was Rockwell himself. Despite winning the first two games, the
Orioles lost the 1971 World Series to the Pirates, whose star Roberto Clemente had
a World Series as memorable as Robinson’s had been the year before.
Shortly
after returning from an 18-game barnstorming tour of Japan, the Orioles
announced a trade that sent Frank Robinson to the Los Angeles Dodgers. Without
their catalyst and fearless leader in the lineup, the Orioles reverted to the
middle of the division in 1972 thanks to a collapsing offense. A lifetime .274
hitter to that point, Robinson batted only .250. The Orioles returned to their
divisional apex in 1973 and 1974 but could not defeat Oakland in the
Championship Series either year. Robinson retained his attitude as a team
player, as was evident when the Orioles overcame a 4–0 deficit in Game Four of
the 1973 Championship Series to win 5-4 on a pair of home runs by Bobby Grich and
Andy Etchebarren, “I remember being out in the field thinking in the sixth
inning that I’ll probably be home raking leaves the next day. Instead, we were
playing the next day with a trip to the World Series on the line.”17
In 1975, the 38-year-old Robinson won his 16th consecutive Gold Glove Award, a
fitting accomplishment for a player who committed only 263 errors in 9,165
chances. But he also hit .201, and just .211 in 71 games the following year. By
the end of the 1976 season, Doug
DeCinces had supplanted Robinson as the regular third baseman, and
the end appeared imminent. When Billy Hunter left Baltimore to become the manager of the Texas
Rangers, Robinson replaced him on the coaching staff. Before he hung up his
spikes, he saved one final moment in the sun – in the rain, actually – for
Baltimore’s fans. On April 19, 1977, the Orioles trailed the Indians by three
runs in the bottom of the 10th inning. After Lee May singled in one run, there
remained two Orioles on base as Robinson emerged to pinch-hit for Larry Harlow. Dressed in the garish orange uniform of the era, he
took the count to 3-2 against Dave LaRoche, he fouled several pitches before producing a
game-ending home run for a 6–5 victory.
It was Robinson’s 268th and final home run.
The Orioles paid tribute to their retired star on September 18, 1977, as they celebrated Thanks Brooks Day. Before the game, Robinson was driven around the
perimeter of the field in a 1955 Cadillac convertible as the crowd of 51,798
offered a standing ovation. Doug DeCinces ran on the field, removed third base
from the dirt, and presented it to Robinson. The bitterness of losing Reggie Jackson to free agency remained a vivid memory when Gordon
Beard wrote in his Associated Press column that “Brooks never asked anyone to
name a candy bar after him. In Baltimore, they name their children after him.”18 Following
the season, Brooks was selected, along with Frank Robinson, as a charter member
of the Baltimore Orioles Hall of Fame.
In 1978 Robinson became an Orioles broadcaster. He also became a popular
advertising representative, lending his name to products like Rawlings Sporting
Goods, Mike Meagher’s All-Star Dodge, Crown Petroleum, and Esskay Hot Dogs.
These were products used by families in the Baltimore area – much like his own
family, which would grow to include sons Brooks David, Chris, and Michael,
daughter Diana, and several grandchildren. As the autograph industry expanded
in the 1980s, Robinson became a regular on the baseball card show circuit. Over
the decades, Robinson has scrawled his signature on thousands of items,
including some that collectors would not expect. In an interview with the Baltimore Sun, he
admitted that on various occasions, he has been asked to sign a pet rock, an
easter egg, a photo of Frank Robinson, and even a plane ticket.19
In 1983 Robinson was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame. Standing before a
sea of black and orange from the podium in Cooperstown, Robinson paid homage to
his teachers, Paul Richards and George Kell. Of his predecessor at the hot
corner, he once offered that “George Kell taught me everything he knew about
playing third. He also taught me how to conduct myself as a big leaguer, to be
a role model, and someone kids and all fans could look up to.” Fittingly,
fellow Arkansas native Kell was also enshrined in the Hall that very day. In
his own speech, Kell remarked to Robinson that he found it “almost unbelievable
that we have traveled the same path for so long with the same goals in mind.
And we wind up here in Cooperstown on the same day.”20
Robinson stayed
an Orioles broadcaster until 1993 when he and Connie retired to Southern
California. In 1991 he was central to the closing ceremony at Memorial Stadium.
He and Baltimore Colts’ Hall of Famer Johnny Unitas were invited to throw out
the first pitches before the final game on October 6 against the Detroit Tigers
– Unitas threw a football.
The Robinsons later returned to Maryland, and Brooks
remained active in baseball as the part-owner of four minor-league teams,
including the York Revolution in the independent Atlantic League. Early in the
2008 season, Robinson was honored by the Revolution as a life-size bronze statue
of his likeness was unveiled. A few years ago, Robinson received a surprise
Christmas gift from his son – the original Norman Rockwell portrait bearing his
likeness. It was hung in the family recreation room in Timonium. Robinson
received a health scare in early 2009 when he was diagnosed with prostate
cancer but early treatment was successful.21
He stayed
active with the Orioles organization until his death at the age of 86 on
September 26, 2023.
Brooks
Robinson once defined professional sports as “a good life that allows you to do
what you love to do all the time and at the same time supply support for
yourself and your family. But it is important to understand what goes on in a
professional athlete’s mind during his brief playing career. To us, making
money is secondary – we just want to play.”22 He
played for parts of 23 seasons, and for most of that time established a
standard for his position.
1. Ted
Patterson, The Baltimore Orioles: Four
Decades of Magic
from
33rd Street to Camden Yards (Dallas: Taylor
Publishing
Company, 2000) 117.
2. Curt Smith, The Storytellers: From Mel Allen to Bob Costas
– Sixty
Years of Baseball Tales from the Broadcast
Booth (New York:
Macmillan, 1995), 204.
3. Brooks Robinson and Jack Tobin, Third Base Is My Home (Waco,
Texas: Word Books, 1974), 20-29.
4. Patterson, The Baltimore Orioles, 40.
5. Robinson and Tobin, Third Base Is My Home, 54-55.
6. Rick Maese, “Yea for York,” Baltimore Sun, April 5, 2008;
Patterson, xi.
7. Robinson and Tobin, Third Base Is My Home, 92.
8. Larry Stone, “The Most Wonderful Days I
Ever Had,” Rain
Check Baseball in the Pacific Northwest, Mark
Armour, ed.
(Cleveland: SABR, 2006), 106.
9. Robinson, Third Base Is My Home, 126.
10. C. Joseph Bride, Bob Brown, and Phil Itzoe,
eds, Baltimore
Orioles 1966 Yearbook (Baltimore:
Baltimore Baseball Inc.,
1966), 10.
11. Tom Adelman, Black and Blue: Sandy Koufax, the Robinson Boys,
and the World Series That Stunned America (New
York: Little,
Brown and Company, 2006), 13.
12. Patterson, The Baltimore Orioles, 83.
13. Patterson, The Baltimore Orioles, 87.
14. Patterson, The Baltimore Orioles, xii.
15. Patterson, The Baltimore Orioles, 117, 133.
16. Patterson, The Baltimore Orioles, 117, 120.
17. Patterson, The Baltimore Orioles, 125.
18. Patterson, The Baltimore Orioles, 134; Richard Kucner, “1983:
Brooks Goes to Cooperstown,” Baltimore Orioles Official 1983
Yearbook (Baltimore:
FATA Inc., 1983), 33, 36.
19. “There’s Nothing Brooks Won’t Sign,” Baltimore Sun, April 19,
2009.
20. Patterson, xi; George Kell and Dan
Ewald, Hello Everybody, I’m
George Kell (Champaign,
Illinois: Sports Publishing, 1998), 205.
21. Peter Schmuck, “Brooks Robinson Was Treated
for Cancer,”
Baltimore Sun, May 13, 2009.
22. Kucner, “1983: Brooks Goes to Cooperstown,”
36-37.
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