Comments on: Brooks Robinson remembered as young fan’s hero, at a time when he really needed one

By: Ernie Paicopolos

Ernie Paicopolos — Tue, 24 Nov 2009 16:48:22 +0000

In 1965, when I was 13 years old, Brooks was kind enough to speak with and give autographs to two Red Sox fans outside Fenway after a game (myself and a friend).

But more amazingly, Brooks WALKED to the Orioles hotel in Boston’s Park Square and invited us to walk along with him. I will never forget the great baseball talk on the way. He talked to us like peers, not kids. That was so refreshing—back then and certainly nowadays.

Thank you, Brooks for a lifetime baseball memory!

Ernie Paicopolos

By: Terry O'Neill

Terry O'Neill — Sun, 01 Nov 2009 16:53:17 +0000

Dean…plan to forward this to my nephew, a single Dad with a 9 year-old son who loves baseball. Hope your beautiful thoughts are read by some of today’s “star athletes” so that they can understand how the young are influenced by their feats on the field and off.
Your Dad must be so proud of you.
Terry

By: carter

carter — Fri, 30 Oct 2009 19:30:37 +0000

The goosebumps are still with me, I can only say the the remembrance is priceless. I hope these words and this article “live” in “print” as they do now on the web.

The story takes us all back … perhaps to the last years of true baseball “greatness,” before steriods, before mass marketing, before money made a prostitute of sports.

Images of Brooks Robinson, Boog Powell, Mike Cuellar (his famous rituals at the mound), Mark Belanger, Frank Robinson, Paul Blair, Andy Eitchbarren, etc… they are alive again thanks to this story.

From the late sixties to the late seventies, the Orioles set the standard when it came to pitching rotation. They had perennial 20 game winners, 5 deep… from McNally, to Palmer, to Cuellar, to Flannigan, to others my memory fails me on at the moment. What a piece. Thank you Mister Smith.

By: Greg

Greg — Fri, 30 Oct 2009 17:44:05 +0000

Another Brooks story: my neighbor was an elderly widow who used to live near several ballplayers in a row house near 33rd street. After her husband died, Brooks arranged for her to attend an Oriole’s game with him to console her. We were impressed when he swung by without fanfare in a creme Cadillac and had her spend the evening with him in a skybox.

By: Timothy A. Hodge

Timothy A. Hodge — Fri, 30 Oct 2009 17:39:55 +0000

Dean: Great memories to carry with you thru life and to share with others who remember those outstanding years. Thanks.

Tim Hodge
High-Steppers
Turtle

By: Eric

Eric — Fri, 30 Oct 2009 16:12:22 +0000

One of my favorite treasures is my Brooks autographed baseball. I met him at a bar in Locust Point where it was an honor just to say “Thanks, Mr. Robinson.”

By: Doug

Doug — Fri, 30 Oct 2009 10:45:07 +0000

I met Brooks Robinson while covering then-Mayor William Donald Schaefer for the Evening Sun in the 1980s. Schaefer was giving a speech that veered into an attack on the press in general and The Sun in particular, as was his wont. And hizzoner kept glaring at me. Brooks looked at me, smiled and winked. A classy guy.

By: smach

smach — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 18:10:17 +0000

Dean…poignant, beautiful. American Boy through and through.

By: caryn

caryn — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 14:12:26 +0000

This eloquent tribute made me cry.

By: Patricia Smith

Patricia Smith — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 12:47:55 +0000

Dean, As usual, you bring eloquence to the most “ordinary” of events. The poet’s eye to the game of baseball. Your Nana would be so proud.

LOve, Aunt Pat