Quote:
Originally Posted by mr2686
Richard, I had the same reaction about Mays. When you have autograph tickets for 20 hall of famers, and Mays is the 10th one you get on that day, and after meeting him you want to just go home and forget about collecting, that's saying something. Thank goodness that Brooks Robinson was number 11 on that day. He saved baseball in my world.
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About seven or eight years ago, I went to a free signing out in Pennsylvania with Brooks that I think was to promote an indy league team and their sponsors (the details are a little fuzzy, I think it was promoting the Lancaster Barnstormers team awhile before the team started play). It was one of those deals where the players were supposed to be signing promotional items and nothing else, which the other players, not nearly as big of stars as Brooks Robinson, were sticking to. Can't blame them, that's what they were being paid for.
I got on the Brooks line maybe perhaps 100 people back, and noticed immediately that the line was pretty slow. I didn't really have a great idea of Brooks's rep at that time, so I was expecting the Willie Mays experience - slow, grumpy, maybe hung over.
Got up to the front of the line, and the reason the line was moving a bit slow was because Brooks was getting up and taking pictures with anyone who had a camera, having a nice chat with every single person, handing out his own signed 8x10 collages that he brought, and actually asking if people brought anything with them for him to sign - even though he wasn't supposed to be doing anything other than signing the commercial pre-print. The handlers running the signing were getting annoyed, but Brooks didn't care at all, and he ended up staying well past his allotted time because he wouldn't let the line get cut off until everyone who wanted his autograph had it. I took home two beautiful signed ROMLBs with HOF inscription that are proudly in my showcase, the Brooks-provided 8x10 which is also still in my collection, and a permanent fandom of Brooks Robinson.
And that's my Brooks Robinson story to add to the list. What a class act.