Robinson, Brooks

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Brooks Robinson

1937-

American baseball player

Brooks Robinson was one of baseball's greatest third basemen. Many say that he single-handedly turned the Baltimore Orioles from a no-name team into a legitimate contender year after year. Off the field, Robinson was kind and gentle, a true ambassador of the game, while on the field he was known primarily for his fielding. Opposing teams would try and keep the ball away from him. He won sixteen consecutive Gold Gloves, played in 2,870 major league games in a career that spanned twenty-three years. Brooks Robinson is an integral part of baseball culture and a fixture in the minds of the people in Baltimore.

Growing Up

Brooks Robinson was born on May 18, 1937, in Little Rock, Arkansas, the son of Brooks Calbert Robinson and Ethel Mae Robinson. His father was a firefighter and mother a homemaker. Oddly enough, the man who would become one of the best defensive infielders in baseball did not play much as a child. His high school

didn't have a team, and he was actually discovered while playing second base for his local church league.

The Early Years

Robinson started with the Baltimore Orioles in 1960. In his first season he hit .294, belted fourteen home runs, and drove in eighty-eight runs. He won his team's Most Valuable Player award, as well as receiving his first gold glove. He would miss winning the American League MVP and take third in the voting.

During his second season, his numbers improved. In 1961 he hit .303 and knocked twenty-three home runs. His offense, though never stellar, peaked during the 1964 season. He knocked in 118 runs (leading the league in RBIs), hit .317 and slugged twenty-eight homers. Even though it was only his fourth season and he would play ball for nineteen more years, these would be his offensive career highs. He garnered the Most Valuable Player award and was voted Major League Player of the Year by the Sporting News for his 1964 season.

Though his batting average would fluctuate during his long career, Robinson's fielding remained superb.

One Man Show

In 1970, Robinson had three career milestones: he collected his 2,000th hit, his 1,000th RBI and 200th home run. The Orioles would also make it into the World Series, again, but this time the fall classic would be referred to by many as "The Brooks Robinson Show." His bat got hot again, and his glove, always hot, would blaze.

Robinson made some of the most memorable plays in World Series history in 1970, many of which went to put down Cincinnati rallies. Reds relief pitcher Clay Carroll talked about one of his fielding plays as follows: "He was going toward the bullpen when he threw to first. His arm went one way, his body another, and his shoes another." Reds manager Sparky Anderson said that the Orioles didn't beat the Reds, Brooks Robinson beat the Cincinnati Reds. "I'm beginning to see Brooks in my sleep," he said. "If I dropped this paper plate, he'd pick it up on one hop and throw me out at first."

Hanging it Up

On August 21, 1977, the Orioles dropped Robinson from their roster. Rick Dempsey, coming off the disabled list, filled into the space and Robinson decided it was time to retire. He was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1983, on the first ballot. It was a landslide election.

Chronology

1937	Born May 18 in Little Rock, Arkansas, to Brooks Calbert and Ethel Mae Robinson
1951	Plays baseball with local church team because high school has no baseball team
1955	Plays for the first time with the Orioles baseball system
1956-57	Attends Little Rock University (now University of Arkansas at Little Rock)
1958	Hits into first triple play of a record four for his career
1960	Goes 5-5, hitting for the cycle
1960	Marries Constance Louise Butcher on October 8
1962	Becomes 6th major leaguer to hit grand slams in back to back games
1963	Benched for poor hitting, streak of 463 straight games playing third base comes to a halt
1967	Plays in longest All-Star game, 15 innings (three hours and 41 minutes)
1970	Hits 2,000th major league hit, a three-run homer
1971	Ties World Series record by reaching base five straight times on three hits and two walks
1977	Retires from baseball
1978	Becomes color commentator for Orioles games
1979	Takes position as assistant to management for Crown Central Petroleum Corporation
1979	Works with Shapiro & Robinson, a consulting firm
1979	Becomes vice-president of Baltimore Orioles
1983	Elected to Baseball Hall of Fame in landslide election

For fifteen straight seasons, Robinson was the American League's starting All-Star third baseman. He led American League third basemen in assists eight times, and led in fielding eleven times. Robinson holds almost every lifetime record for third basemen, often by a large margin. He holds the records for most games played, for best fielding percentage (.971), most putouts (2,697), most assists (6,205), most chances (9,165) and most double plays (618).

His uniform, #5, was officially retired on opening day 1978. In 1999, Robinson was named to the ESPN All-Century Team, honoring the best twenty-five players in baseball during the 20th century.

His Legacy

At the end of the 1964 season, Washington Post columnist Shirley Povich wrote: "It is not quite proper to say that the Baltimore Orioles have brought Robinson's talents to notice with their resolute pennant rush. It is Robinson who has taken Baltimore to its present eminence."

Brooks Robinson's consistent superlative presence at the third base spot, year in, year out, is perhaps only a small reason that even today he's well known in baseball lore. He added a new dimension to the third base position, often forcing teams to change their plans if they'd wanted to bunt. He had skill and flare, and his highlight-reel playmaking took the Orioles from obscurity to a major presence in professional baseball. A truly generous and decent individual, everyone seemed to like Brooks, and no one said anything bad about him. With his wife Connie and their four children, he's a staple in the Baltimore area and more than a few people in Baltimore have named their children after Robinson.

As Robinson neared retirement, due to some naive business dealings, he was having financial difficulty, and the Orioles kept him on those last few seasons, in part, to help him out. When he finally left the playing field, he entered broadcasting. In addition to doing color commentary for the Baltimore Orioles, he also serves as vice-president of Personal Managment Associates, a company that provides athletes comprehensive counseling and support in their professional, financial, and personal lives. Robinson is also is a special assistant with the Crown Central Petroleum Company.

Career Statistics

Yr	Team	Avg	GP	AB	R	H	HR	RBI	BB	SO	SB	E
BAL: Baltimore Orioles.
1955	BAL	.091	6	22	0	2	0	1	0	10	0	2
1956	BAL	.227	15	44	5	10	1	1	1	5	0	2
1957	BAL	.239	50	117	13	28	2	14	7	10	1	3
1958	BAL	.238	145	463	31	110	3	32	31	51	1	22
1959	BAL	.284	88	313	29	89	4	24	17	37	2	13
1960	BAL	.294	152	595	74	175	14	88	35	49	2	12
1961	BAL	.287	163	668	89	192	7	61	47	57	1	14
1962	BAL	.303	162	634	77	192	23	86	42	70	3	11
1963	BAL	.251	161	589	67	148	11	67	46	84	2	12
1964	BAL	.317	163	612	82	194	28	118	51	64	1	14
1965	BAL	.297	144	559	81	166	18	80	47	47	3	15
1966	BAL	.269	157	620	91	167	23	100	56	36	2	12
1967	BAL	.269	158	610	88	164	22	77	54	54	1	11
1968	BAL	.253	162	608	65	154	17	75	44	55	1	16
1969	BAL	.234	156	589	73	140	23	84	56	55	2	13
1970	BAL	.276	158	608	84	168	18	94	53	53	1	17
1971	BAL	.272	156	589	67	160	20	92	63	50	0	16
1972	BAL	.250	153	556	48	139	8	64	43	45	1	11
1973	BAL	.257	155	549	53	141	9	72	55	50	2	15
1974	BAL	.288	153	553	46	159	7	59	56	47	2	18
1975	BAL	.201	144	482	50	97	6	53	44	33	0	9
1976	BAL	.211	71	218	16	46	3	11	8	24	0	6
1977	BAL	.149	24	47	3	7	1	4	4	4	0	0
TOTAL		.267	2896	10654	1232	2848	268	1357	860	990	28	264

CONTACT INFORMATION

Email: [email protected]. Online: brooksrobinson.com.

SELECTED WRITINGS BY ROBINSON:

(With Fred Bauer) Putting It All Together, Hawthorn, 1971.

(With Jack Tobin) Third Base Is My Home, Word, Inc., 1974.

(With Fred T. Smith) Brooks Robinson's Baseball Quiz, privately printed, 1979.

(With Jerry Coleman, Ernie Harwell, Ralph Kiner, Tim McCarver, and Ned Martin) The Scouting Report: 1983, ed. by Marybeth Sullivan, Harper, 1983.

(With Dave Campbell, Denny Matthews, and Duke Snider) The Scouting Report: 1984, edited by Marybeth Sullivan, Harper, 1984.

(With Dave Campbell, Denny Matthews, and Duke Snider) The Scouting Report: 1985, ed. by Marybeth Sullivan, Harper, 1985.

(With Dave Campbell, Harmon Killebrew, and Duke Snider) The Scouting Report: 1986, ed. by Sullivan, Harper, 1986.

Awards and Accomplishments

1960-74	American League All-Star Team
1960-75	American League Gold Glove Award
1964	American League most valuable player; Sporting News American League Player of the Year
1966	All-Star Game most valuable player
1970	World Series most valuable player; Hickok Belt
1977	Joe Cronin Award
1983	Inducted into National Baseball Hall of Fame
1999	MLB All-Century Team; Uniform number 5 retired by Baltimore Orioles

(With Ted Patterson) The Baltimore Orioles: Four Decades of Magic from 33rd Street to Camden Yards, Taylor, 2000.

FURTHER INFORMATION

Books

Davis, Mac. 100 Greatest Baseball Heroes. New York: Grosset, 1974.

Hirshberg, Al. Greatest American Leaguers. New York: Putnam, 1970.

Libby, Bill. Heroes of the Hot Corner. New York: Watts, 1972.

Peary, Danny, ed. We Played the Game: Memories of Baseball's Greatest Era. New York: Black Dog & Leventhal Pub, 1994.

Robinson, Brooks, with Ted Patterson. The Baltimore Orioles: Four Decades of Magic from 33rd Street to Camden Yards. Taylor Publishers, 2000.

Robinson, Brooks, with Fred Bauer. Putting It All Together, Hawthorn, 1971.

Robinson, Brooks, with Jack Tobin. Third Base Is My Home. Word, Inc., 1974.

Robinson, Brooks, with Fred T. Smith. Brooks Robinson's Baseball Quiz, privately printed, 1979.

Robinson, Brooks, with Jerry Coleman, Ernie Harwell, Ralph Kiner, Tim McCarver, and Ned Martin. The Scouting Report: 1983, ed. by Marybeth Sullivan. New York: Harper Collins, 1983.

Robinson, Brooks, with Dave Campbell, Denny Matthews, and Duke Snider. The Scouting Report: 1984, edited by Marybeth Sullivan. New York: Harper Collins, 1984.

Robinson, Brooks, with Dave Campbell, Denny Matthews, and Duke Snider) The Scouting Report: 1985, ed. by Marybeth Sullivan. New York: HarperCollins, 1985.

Robinson, Brooks, with Dave Campbell, Harmon Killebrew, and Duke Snider) The Scouting Report: 1986. ed. by Marybeth Sullivan. New York: Harper Collins, 1986.

Zanger, Jack. The Brooks Robinson Story. New York: Messner, 1967.