Current:Home > FinanceBrooks Robinson Appreciation: In Maryland in the 1960s, nobody was like No. 5 -EverVision Finance
Brooks Robinson Appreciation: In Maryland in the 1960s, nobody was like No. 5
View
Date:2025-04-17 01:36:24
ROCKVILLE, Md. (AP) — Hall of Fame third baseman Brooks Robinson died Tuesday at the age of 86. Among his many fans in Maryland during his playing days was Ben Walker, a young left-hander who would go on to cover baseball for The Associated Press for more than 40 years. Walker retired in March, but he wrote this appreciation of Robinson for the AP from his childhood home after hearing the news.
___
We still have a charmed patch of grass in our backyard, plucked from the very spot where Brooks made that play.
Growing up in Maryland in the 1960s, Brooks Robinson was a god. Every kid wanted to wear his No. 5. Even us lefties tried to play third base like him.
We imitated his aw-shucks Arkansas twang. We copied his relaxed, shoulders-bouncing jog off the field. If we could’ve worn a short-brimmed batting helmet like he did, we would’ve.
I was in fourth grade in 1966 when Mrs. Rogers gave our class a project to teach us how the post office worked. We were supposed to write a letter to someone and have them write back. Most students wrote to their grandparents or a classmate.
But I wrote to my beloved Baltimore Orioles, asking for Brooks Robinson’s autograph.
Understandably, I didn’t get anything back. So a few weeks later, my mom wrote to the team president, explaining that her son was in danger of getting a failing grade. She also added that I was a promising, 8-year-old pitcher and would never play for the Orioles if they didn’t at least write back saying they got my letter.
Within days, a large envelope came to our mailbox in Rockville. Inside, a beautiful glossy picture of Brooksie with this signature: To Benjy. Good Luck. Brooks Robinson.
I have it in a frame now, a cherished part of my childhood.
That 1966 season was magical. We’d go hours early to Memorial Stadium to watch infield practice, mesmerized as Brooks made perfect throw after perfect throw to big Boog Powell at first base.
Boosted by the great Frank Robinson, the elegant Paul Blair and the smooth Jim Palmer, the Orioles won their first World Series championship. The famed picture of Brooks leaping across the diamond toward Dave McNally after the final out of sweeping the Dodgers, Brooks’ sheer exhilaration, we all wanted to be him that October afternoon.
Five decades after I moved away from Maryland, my mom has preserved the door to my boyhood bedroom. It is covered with sports decals from back then and features a “Year of the Bird” sticker from that year. My friend KG, she calls it “the shrine” — I kind of feel that way now, with Brooks gone.
A Year of the Bird sticker from 1966 is among the items affixed to the door that leads to Ben Walker’s bedroom in his boyhood home. (Ben Walker via AP)
In the 1970 World Series, the whole baseball world got to see what we’d been watching for years in Baltimore.
My dad took me out of school to go to the clinching Game 5 against Cincinnati. We moved down from the upper deck in the late innings with the Orioles way ahead. We were sitting behind Baltimore’s third base dugout when Brooks cemented his MVP performance by making a diving, backhanded catch on a liner by Johnny Bench.
Moments later, it was over and fans rushed onto the field to celebrate. My dad gave me an approving nod. Go ahead.
So I ran out there, too. And I had my spot picked out — I went to the edge of the grass near where Brooks landed in foul territory after thwarting Bench, and pulled up a small plot of sod.
That night, we planted it in the backyard, near an oak tree. I wish I could say it was the shiniest, frothiest, greenest piece of grass of all time. It wasn’t. That didn’t matter, it was where Brooks had been.
I’m sure the remnants of the original sprouts are long gone. But we still point toward the spot, knowing the legacy of Brooks and certain our appreciation for what he meant will grow there forever.
Parents in the neighborhood often praised Brooks as much for his humility as his home runs. I saw that first-hand in 1983 when I was preparing to cover his first-ballot induction into the Hall of Fame.
I called him to arrange a phone interview and naturally told him I’d grown up cheering for him. Brooks said if it was easier, we could talk in person. He’d be at a Crown gas station in suburban Baltimore that weekend — he did promotional work for the company — and invited me down from New York to join him.
For an hour that Saturday, he sat under the blazing sun in a beach chair between the gas pumps, no handlers around him. Signing autographs, shaking hands and telling stories, he didn’t give off a single sign of being such a huge, revered star.
The only hint came in the way people approached him, as if they were greeting the Pope. It took all of about 3 seconds for Brooks to even the playing field, making them feel as if they were chatting with their next-door neighbor.
Without a doubt, he was the nicest, kindest ballplayer I ever met.
A few days ago, I was playing pickup softball in Central Park. Standing at third base during batting practice, a guy hit a hot shot at me and I dodged out of the way, not wanting to get zinged.
“You’re no Brooks Robinson!” an old-timer playfully shouted.
That’s for sure. On and off the field, there was only one Brooks Robinson.
___
AP MLB: https://apnews.com/hub/MLB
veryGood! (7576)
Related
- Whoopi Goldberg is delightfully vile as Miss Hannigan in ‘Annie’ stage return
- What to make of the Pac-12, Georgia? Who wins Week 4 showdowns? College Football Fix discusses
- Mississippi program aims to connect jailed people to mental health services
- Who's that baby hippo on your timeline? Meet the wet, chubby 'lifestyle icon' captivating the internet
- Who are the most valuable sports franchises? Forbes releases new list of top 50 teams
- Mississippi high court rejects the latest appeal by a man on death row since 1994
- Tori Spelling Reveals If She Regrets 90210 Reboot After Jennie Garth's Comments
- Where is 'College GameDay' for Week 4? Location, what to know for ESPN show
- Elon Musk's skyrocketing net worth: He's the first person with over $400 billion
- O'Doul's in Milwaukee? Phenom Jackson Chourio can't drink in Brewers postseason party
Ranking
- SFO's new sensory room helps neurodivergent travelers fight flying jitters
- US sends soldiers to Alaska amid Russian military activity increase in the area
- Couple rescued by restaurant staff after driving into water at South Carolina marina
- How can I resolve a hostile email exchange before it escalates? Ask HR
- The company planning a successor to Concorde makes its first supersonic test
- Kim Kardashian and Kanye West's 4 Kids Look So Grown Up in Back-to-School Photos
- Alumni of once-segregated Texas school mark its national park status
- Harassment case dismissed against Alabama transportation director
Recommendation
Federal appeals court upholds $14.25 million fine against Exxon for pollution in Texas
Text of the policy statement the Federal Reserve released Wednesday
What will become of Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs’ musical legacy? Experts weigh in following his indictment
Where These Bachelor Nation Couples Stand Before Golden Bachelorette Joan Vassos' Journey
'Squid Game' without subtitles? Duolingo, Netflix encourage fans to learn Korean
John Thune is striving to be the next Republican Senate leader, but can he rise in Trump’s GOP?
A vandal badly damaged a statue outside a St. Louis cathedral, police say
Lin-Manuel Miranda and Eisa Davis on their ‘Warriors’ musical concept album with Lauryn Hill