Day 57 (February 26, 2020 – 057)
Brooks had a couple of baseball heroes growing up in Little Rock, Arkansas. He was a St. Louis Cardinals fan so Stan Musial was one of this favorite players. In the 8th grade Brooks was given an English composition assignment about his career ambition and he entitled the paper, “Why I Want to Play Professional Baseball.” His desire was to play professional baseball for the St. Louis Cardinals (so glad that part of the goal didn’t happen). Another all-time favorite player was a fellow Arkansas native George Kell (who was inducted to the HOF the same year as Brooks). George Kell was traded to the Orioles to fill in at third base in 1956 and 1957 till Brooks was ready to take the position full time. Kell had nothing but good things to say about Brooks; he stated, “You could talk about Brooks all day but he possessed three things you must have, he could hit, he could field – the best ever – and he was a class act.”
This is a photo of Brooks and George at Spring Training in Scottsdale, AZ in 1957 comparing bat grips. The picture was taken at a slightly weird angle, but still looks pretty cool.
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