Brooks Robinson

Brooks Robinson
3rd Baseman
Born: May 18 1937 (1937-05-18) (age 70)
Batted: Right	Threw: Right
MLB debut
September 17, 1955 for the Baltimore Orioles
Final game
August 13, 1977 for the Baltimore Orioles
Career statistics
Hits	2848
HR	268
AVG	.267
Teams
Baltimore Orioles (1955-1977)
Career highlights and awards
AL MVP: 1964 All-Star (AL): 1960-1974 Major League Baseball All-Star Game MVP Award: 1966 World Series champion: 1966, 1970 World Series MVP: 1970 Gold Glove Award: 1960-1975 Lou Gehrig Memorial Award: 1966 Roberto Clemente Award: 1972 Babe Ruth Award: 1970 Led League in RBIs: 1964 (118)
Member of the National
Baseball Hall of Fame
Elected	1983
Vote	91.98%

Brooks Calbert Robinson, Jr. (born May 18, 1937 in Little Rock, Arkansas) is an American former third baseman in Major League Baseball. He played his entire 23-year career with the Baltimore Orioles (1955-77). Robinson was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1983. Robinson grew up to play third base for the Orioles, and gained great renown for his fielding ability. Nicknamed "The Human Vacuum Cleaner"^[1], he is generally acclaimed as the greatest defensive third-baseman of all time. He won 16 consecutive Gold Glove Awards during his career, tied with pitcher Jim Kaat for the second most all-time for any player at any position. He was also a productive hitter who in his finest season hit 24 home runs and led the league with 118 runs batted in.

Career

In 1964, Robinson won both the American League MVP and All-Star Game MVP awards. In the AL MVP voting, he received 18 of the 20 first-place votes, with Mickey Mantle finishing second. Robinson was selected for the All-Star team in 15 consecutive years (1960-74). He also played in four World Series. In 1970, he received the World Series MVP Award, as well as the Hickok Belt as top professional athlete of the year. After the 1970 World Series, Cincinnati Reds manager Sparky Anderson quipped, "I'm beginning to see Brooks in my sleep. If I dropped this paper plate, he'd pick it up on one hop and throw me out at first."^[2] In his playing career, Robinson compiled a .267 batting average with 2,848 hits, 268 home runs and 1357 RBI. His Number 5 was the first retired by the Orioles, at the conclusion of the 1977 season, his last. His 23 seasons with one team set a new major league record, since tied by Carl Yastrzemski.

Retirement

When the Orioles started their team Hall of Fame, Brooks and Frank Robinson were the first two men inducted. Following his retirement as a player, Robinson began a successful career as a color commentator for the Orioles' television broadcasts. In 1982, local television WMAR's on air newsteam in Baltimore, Maryland went on strike and picketed the WMAR headquarters for the two months approaching the baseball season. When Robinson refused to cross the picket line, WMAR management re-opened the negotiations and the strike ended the next day.

Honors

Considered among the greatest all-time Orioles, Robinson and the man usually considered the greatest Baltimore Colt football player, Johnny Unitas, had plaques in their honor in the lobby of Baltimore's Memorial Stadium. When the Orioles played their last game there on October 6, 1991, Brooks and Unitas were invited to throw out the ceremonial first balls. (Unitas threw a football.) After the conclusion of the game, several Oriole players took the field in the uniforms of their time and stood at their old positions on the field, Brooks was chosen to be the first player to come out (Cal Ripken, Jr. was chosen to be the last). Throughout his Major League career he won 16 Gold Glove awards. In the 1970's, Robinson published his autobiography entitled "Third Base is My Home." The book is notorious for the story about how he met his future wife. She was a flight attendant on an Orioles team flight, and he was so smitten with her, he kept ordering iced teas from her until he eventually ended up helping her in the galley. A longtime supporter of scouting, Robinson served for many years on the executive board of the Baltimore Area Council, Boy Scouts of America and is a recipient of the Silver Beaver Award. In 1999, he ranked Number 80 on The Sporting News' list of the 100 Greatest Baseball Players, and was elected to the Major League Baseball All-Century Team. On December 5, 2006 he was recognized for his accomplishments on and off of the field when he received the Bobby Bragan Youth Foundation Lifetime Achievement Award. On May 16, 2007, in preparation for his 70th birthday, Radio Tower Drive, a road in Pikesville, Maryland, was renamed to Brooks Robinson Drive in his honor[1].

Quote

Perhaps the greatest accolades he received as a player came from his opponents. After the 1970 World Series upon seeing him receive his World Series MVP award ceremony in which he received a brand new Toyota as part of his award, Cincinnati Reds catcher Johnny Bench said, "Gee! If we had known he wanted a new car that bad, we'd have chipped in and bought him one."^[3] "That kid plays third base like he came down from a higher league." -Umpire Ed Runge "Brooks never had a candy bar named after him. In Baltimore, people named their children after him." - Gordon Beard "Very nice (play)...where do they plug Mr. Hoover in?" - Lee May

See also

• Top 500 home run hitters of all time
• List of major league players with 2,000 hits
• List of Major League Baseball players with 400 doubles
• List of Major League Baseball players with 1000 runs
• List of Major League Baseball players with 1000 RBI
• Hitting for the cycle
• List of Major League Baseball RBI champions

References

External links

• baseballhalloffame.org – Hall of Fame biography page
• Career statistics and player information from Baseball-Reference, or The Baseball Cube