R.I.P. Brooks Robinson

[bmattioli]

Always a respected player. RIP..

[Andy Sandler]

A great player and a class act!

[icollectDCsports]

Sad to hear it. Great player and guy. RIP, Brooks.

[JollyElm]

1972brooksrobinson06.jpg

Met him at one of the first card shows I ever attended on Long Island in the 80's, and man was he nice to everyone (even though the Orioles were the enemies of BOTH Mets and Yankees fans alike) with that southern drawl emanating joy and a polite and gracious nature. A memory (along with him signing my cards left-handed) that's forever happily burned into my mind.


brooksrobinson.jpg


Rest in peace, Number 5.

[DodgerMike22]

RIP Brooks

[Chris-Counts]

When I was a kid in the early 1970s, just about everybody I knew wore a Brooks Robinson model Rawlings glove — especially after his performance in the 1970 World Series. On baseball fields everywhere, whenever an infielder made a a great play, it was compared to one Brooks would have made (at least until Ozzie Smith showed up). I recall meeting him as a teenager — with a big grin, he asked ME if I wanted HIS autograph. I hated watching him shut down my beloved Reds with his diving plays, but I respected him as a player and a person. It's going be tougher than ever today to hit a ball down the third base line in Heaven.

[michael3322]

“I still respect him to this day as much as I ever have,” Bench said. “I called him the other day, just to check on him, just, ‘How you doing? How you feeling?'”

Bench said when they see each other they always flash an open hand, signifying the No. 5 — their uniform numbers in their playing days. Bench said one of his favorite photos throughout his storied life occurred while three guys were chatting at a table during a gathering in Cooperstown, N.Y.: Bench, Robinson and fellow Hall of Famer George Brett.

“When you get to sit around with Brooks, he is even classier. Him and Connie have been really close friends to me. And we love to hold up our No. 5 when we see each other,” Bench said. “In fact, I have a great picture of Brett, myself and Brooks at the Hall of Fame, before we went out to an induction, and we are sitting at the table and we are all holding up 5.”

From: ‘I still respect him’: More stories of Brooks Robinson and the 1970 World Series. The Athletic.

[MikeGarcia]

[IMG]httpimagehost.vendio.com/a/2042957/view/1957BROOKSTRIFECTA_NEW.JPG[/IMG]

[Harliduck]

Definitely a favorite...sad day for sure. Even respected today, my daughter who played 3rd in college and Team USA would constantly watch youtube video's of him in action and was her favorite player for obvious reasons. We lost one of the greats!

[Peter_Spaeth]

I was at the home games of the 1970 WS sitting on the third base side, didn't get any better than that.

[gabrinus]

Brooks was somebody everybody from Arkansas could be proud of...Jerry

[BillyCoxDodgers3B]

Originally Posted by gabrinus

Brooks was somebody everybody from Arkansas could be proud of...Jerry

I humbly request to edit "Arkansas" to "the entire world".

An even greater success as a human being than a ballplayer. Just a rare, rare bird.

[Hankphenom]

OMG, what a sweet guy Brooksie was! My joke about talking to Brooks was after a while you felt like you had to excuse yourself before he gave you his car! In the late 80s, me and my buddy went to see the Russian national baseball team play the U. of MD team and Brooks was a special guest. After the game, we went down and had a long chat with him. Some time later, as we were heading for the parking lot, we hear a car horn and look over to see Brooks waving at us as he drove out of the lot. He was way over on the passenger side looking out that window, barely hanging onto the steering wheel, and almost drove off the road. Swear to God. I was lucky enough to have had several opportunities to talk to him at length over the years and my gosh, what a wonderful human being he was. R.I.P. Brooks, if ever there was someone who deserves it, it's you.

[ValKehl]

Below is a clip from an online piece in the Wash. Post re Brooks' passing. Here's the link to this piece, but there may be a firewall: https://www.washingtonpost.com/obitu...-orioles-dead/

“Of all the game’s greats, perhaps Robinson has been least cursed by his own fame,” Washington Post sports columnist Thomas Boswell wrote in 1977, when Mr. Robinson retired. “He had great talent and never abused it. He received adulation, and reciprocated with common decency. While other players dressed like kings and acted like royalty, Robinson arrived at the park dressed like a cabdriver. Other stars had fans. Robinson made friends.”

[Peter_Spaeth]

As best I could tell, Ripken was very much in that tradition as well.

[ClementeFanOh]

Rest in Peace- Trent King

[perezfan]

Originally Posted by Chris Counts

When I was a kid in the early 1970s, just about everybody I knew wore a Brooks Robinson model Rawlings glove — especially after his performance in the 1970 World Series. On baseball fields everywhere, whenever an infielder made a a great play, it was compared to one Brooks would have made (at least until Ozzie Smith showed up). I recall meeting him as a teenager — with a big grin, he asked ME if I wanted HIS autograph. I hated watching him shut down my beloved Reds with his diving plays, but I respected him as a player and a person. It's going be a tougher than ever today to hit a ball down the third base line in Heaven.

Awesome post. I feel the exact same.

RIP Brooksie.

[campyfan39]

Probably the nicest person I ever got an autograph from at a show. Classic signature too.

[Touch'EmAll]

The tidbits posted are all nice. He was the best.

[Trublubrucru]

I picked up this 1968-71 Brooks gamer about 35 years ago coming out of a card show and stopping a guy who was going in to sell it. It was my 2nd or 3rd bat I ever bought, and after 200+ more I obtained, this is still my favorite.

In 2002 at an All-Star game appearance at a Milwaukee bar he was signing for free. When I got to the front of the line a sign said NO BATS. Brooks saw me and the bat, waived off the attendant, gave my bat a good grip and half swing and then signed it with a smile. He was the Best

[seanofjapan]

I got his autograph at a show in 1991 and he was just the nicest guy imaginable. I'm quite sad to see him go.