NFT: RIP Brooks Robinson

...loved watching him play. Simpler, more elegant game back then.

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In comment 16222360 PatersonPlank said:

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Probably the greatest. The best I've ever seen going to his right. Graig Nettles might have been a little better going to his left. Maybe.

I was a Greg Nettles fan. He made some jaw-dropping plays at 3rd, especially during the 1978 World Series. But Brooks was the best I ever saw. He's on a plateau by himself. RIP Brooks.

That sucks. I have an older coworker-think he's in his mid to late 60s-who is from Annapolis & is a big O's fan & came of age when Robinson was playing.

In comment 16222346 rnargi said:

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...loved watching him play. Simpler, more elegant game back then.

Absolutely! RIP to a true legend

He gets so much notoriety with his glove, rightfully so, that his hitting often doesn’t get mentioned, but was a good hitter too

Said he was just a wonderful guy, warm and funny, treated everyone like a buddy. RIP

I was a Clete Boyer Yankee fan back in those days. I thought Cletis was the goods at the hot corner.

But when the Orioles came to Yankee Stadium....it was the Brooks Robinson show. Brooksie could hit way better than Boyer too.

He made some unbelievable plays and could hit too.

but Brooksie was a great 3rd baseman

A tough hoover like presence at the hot corner and a extra base hitter at the plate. Brooks Robinson that was a third basemen.

"I'm beginning to see Brooks in my sleep," Reds manager Sparky Anderson said during the Series. "If I dropped this paper plate, he'd pick it up on one hop and throw me out at first."

was the best third baseman ever. RIP. God bless. Prayers to his family and friends.

how when the Orioles moved him from 2nd to 3rd they told him "Catch everything you can." But it turned out he caught everything, period.

There was also a story about how when the Orioles had Robinson at 3rd, Belanger at SS and Davey Johnson at 2nd, they realized the other teams were beating them with great plays and everything was easy for their infield. So they cut the grass really short. Suddenly the other guys couldn't get to the ball and their guys were making great plays.

Boog Powell all time great name

The two best defensive 3rd basemen.

killed the Yanks. Yeah the man could play the hot corner.

R.I.P. Brooks

He did an ad with Brooks. I went with him to Baltimore and we did a shoot in the old stadium. They needed shots of Brooks fielding so someone rolled balls to him and then he threw to me across the diamond. Just Brooks, my dad, a photographer and me in the stadium.

Great guy. Gave me a signed ball and one of his bats. Still have the bat and a picture of him and me. I might have been 13 at the time and I am 68 now so, great memories of Brooks and my dad who are both gone.

He started as an active player in 1977, but by then he was mostly a pinch hitter. He started at 3rd in the second game of a Double Header against the Yanks and a few days later they announced his retirement.

He was indeed a Yankee killer. He played for the Orioles the same time as Frank Robinson. At the time it was a toss up which Robinson was more trouble for the Yankees.

He was an ultimate professional

RIP

for the opportunity to make diving plays like Brooks.

RIP

In comment 16222632 Ron from Ninerland said:

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He started as an active player in 1977, but by then he was mostly a pinch hitter. He started at 3rd in the second game of a Double Header against the Yanks and a few days later they announced his retirement. He was indeed a Yankee killer. He played for the Orioles the same time as Frank Robinson. At the time it was a toss up which Robinson was more trouble for the Yankees.

Brooks 96 tOPS+, Frank 84 tOPS+

to shave down the visor of a plastic Orioles helmet once to make it look like Robinson's.

RIP.

playing the position was all you needed to learn how to play the position. RIP

I haven't read the entire thread did anyone talk about how he shaved down the bill of his batting helmet? He's the only player I ever saw do that. I wonder if MLB would let a player do that today?



I think everything I've read on this thread so far that's positive about Brooks is true on and off the field. I think he was a model for what a professional baseball player should be. As good as it gets. It was worth the price of a ticket just to watch him play 3B. Brooks and his baseball brother Frank along with their excellent starting pitching were the foundation of the great Oriole teams of the late 60's and early 70's.

As a post dynasty Yankee fan I envied those Oriole teams. The Oriole way is the way I learned to play baseball. It's still the way I think baseball should be played.

It's funny as you get older what sticks with you. I can remember all of the position players from those teams and most of the pitchers. I don't think I could name 5 of the current Orioles which is pretty weak considering how good they've been this year.

Mark Belanger played SS next to Brooks and he was as good a glove at SS as there has ever been. Paul Blair was their CF. In his prime he was the best and most graceful CF I've ever seen (Andruw Jones was the closest, I think Blair was more fundamentally sound). Frank Robinson was a gold glove RF with a very strong arm. It was a pleasure to watch all of them play defense.

RIP to one of the best to ever do it.

just watching them take infield was a treat.

As a 12 or 13 year old Yankee fan, many times I would take the very short train ride from Washington Heights-Inwood. My friends and I, would mostly go to doubleheaders.

This one night the Yankees, who sucked in those years, were playing a very powerful Baltimore team. We hung around the stadium after the game was over, and Brooks came out and we were excited to no end. He stood there with us,behind home plate and chatted with us! Talk about being excited?? He was a real gentleman and very approachable.

The memory will last FOREVER.

RIP Brooksie!

as if his glove would go to the ball and he'd just be along for the ride. Beautiful, elegant, magical, mystical play at his best. I never saw him off the field, but he strikes me as one of those guys who could walk through a train station at rush hour and wouldn't look any different than a thousand other guys on their daily commute.

Divinely gifted and unspeakably humble.

For those fortunate enough to have seen him play, who was better defensively, him or Clete Boyer? How did Nettles stack up?

Played against Brooks in the minors (Piedmont B league) and shared fond memories of him, both as a player and as a person.