In Memoriam: Brooks Robinson
By Jacob Pomrenke
In Baltimore, it was said, nobody named a candy bar after Brooks Robinson. Instead, people named their children after him.
On the field, the Baltimore Orioles third baseman redefined his position with extraordinary defensive prowess, racking up 16 Rawlings Gold Glove Awards and nearly singlehandedly defeating Cincinnati’s Big Red Machine in the 1970 World Series. He played all 23 of his big-league seasons in Baltimore, earning American League MVP honors in 1964 and leading the Orioles to four pennants and two championships before he was enshrined in the National Baseball Hall of Fame in 1983.
But his impact may have been even greater off the field, where he became the most beloved player in Orioles franchise history and his legendary kindness and generosity inspired generations of fans in his adopted hometown.
“When fans ask Brooks Robinson for his autograph,” Orioles broadcaster Chuck Thompson recalled, “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.”
Robinson died at the age of 86 on Tuesday, September 26, 2023. Tributes poured in from across the baseball world about the man known as Mr. Oriole.
As Maxwell Kates wrote in his SABR biography of Robinson, “Success did not compromise [his] integrity or upstanding character. … 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. [He] continued to greet total strangers with the familiarity of childhood neighbors.”
From the moment the Arkansas native made his major-league debut with the Orioles in 1955, until he hit his final home run — a dramatic game-winner — in 1977, he was a fan favorite in Baltimore. In between, he became the most enduring and beloved figure in the rise of an Orioles’ dynasty, cementing their place as arguably baseball’s model franchise.
Robinson won the first of his 16 Gold Glove Awards in 1960, when one Chicago writer called him a “fielding genius” on a day when he hit for the cycle. Such was his reputation for brilliance at third base that no matter how many home runs he hit or runs he scored, it was always the defense that took people’s breath away.
In 1966, he teamed up with superstar Frank Robinson and a young pitching corps led by Jim Palmer and Dave McNally to sweep the Los Angeles Dodgers and deliver the Orioles’ first World Series title. By 1969, the Orioles had supplanted the New York Yankees as the AL’s team to beat. They won the first of three consecutive pennants that year, culminating in another World Series title in 1970 against the Reds.
That’s when Robinson put on a show for the ages, earning World Series MVP honors with a spectacular performance at third base, robbing Johnny Bench, Lee May, and Pete Rose of extra-base hits with diving stops to his left and acrobatic throws from his right. He earned the nickname the “Human Vacuum Cleaner” for his efforts.
“I’m beginning to see Brooks in my sleep,” Reds manager Sparky Anderson said afterward. “If I dropped a paper plate, he’d pick it up on one hop and throw me out at first.”
Robinson continued to star in the field late in his career, winning his final Gold Glove Award at age 38 in 1975 before retiring two years later. He remained in Baltimore for the rest of his life, talking about Orioles baseball with his distinctive, folksy Southern lilt in the broadcast booth and running a successful sporting goods store. He also co-owned a group of minor-league teams and served on the Board of Directors for the National Baseball Hall of Fame and the Major League Players Alumni Association.
Through it all, he always made time for his fans in Baltimore and beyond, making frequent public appearances and signing autographs on any piece of memorabilia available — including a famous Norman Rockwell print of him doing the same for a young boy. The illustration was titled “Gee, Thanks Brooks.”
Following his Hall of Fame ceremony, held in front of a then-record Induction Day crowd of 12,000 people in Cooperstown, Robinson expressed his own thanks for the love shown to him by Baltimore fans in a separate ceremony at Memorial Stadium.
“I only wish I had 20 more years to give you,” he said.
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Originally published: September 27, 2023. Last Updated: September 27, 2023.