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Roy Firestone

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Roy Firestone last won the day on February 28

Roy Firestone had the most liked content!

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  • Location
    Encino, California
  • Homepage
    http://www.royfirestone.com
  • Interests
    Music, Collecting Orioles rarities, Massive Beatles fan and collector
  • Occupation
    broadcaster/lecturer/entertainer
  • Favorite Current Oriole
    Jeremy Guthrie
  • Favorite All Time Oriole
    You kidding? Brooks forever!!!

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  1. per ESPN: Any dreams of a speedy return to the mound for reigning American League Cy Young Award winner Gerrit Cole were dashed Thursday when the New York Yankees moved the right-hander to the 60-day injured list due to elbow inflammation. On March 16, Cole said he wouldn't throw for three to four weeks in an effort to heal his ailing throwing elbow, telling reporters that nerve irritation and edema were the source of his problem, with rest and recovery the prescription. Cole, 33, pitched just twice this spring, once in a Grapefruit League game on March 1 and then in a simulated game six days later. He subsequently was shut down and underwent medical tests.
  2. Hi Denise..I wish I knew a woman who loves Oriole baseball as much as you...You met Weams, married him, and the two of you were inseparable in the love of each other...and orange and black...
  3. I think The Orioles need to wear the #5 patch ALL season...last year they wore it for only a couple of weeks...to me, he's the most important Oriole of them all. Remember him always.
  4. It's opening day for my team, the Baltimore Orioles, and I'm so excited. The team has a new owner, a real Oriole fan who grew up in Baltimore...the club has some fantastic young players and they will be there for a few more years...the ballpark will be filled today..and the fans too will be filled with anticipation of another great year. But the ONE person who wont be there is the ONE person who would have loved it more than just about anyone. This is the first year in my baseball life that Brooks Robinson wont be here, and it still weighs heavy in my heart. Brooks passed last last September 26 at the age of 86. Everything I loved about the game was embodied by that man. He was the best the game had to offer. A man of personal warmth, optimism, incredible skills in the field, congeniality, but also, he represented everything that was good and right about the game. I'd like to reprise a story I wrote about the time Brooks stayed at my home for a weekend with his son, Brooks David, and another Orioles legend, Jim Palmer. When Brooks and his son Brooks David came into my house, a house decorated in Orioles memorabilia..I didn't want to embarrass him by making it look like it was a shrine to him, but I also have to be who I am. I didn't take many things down. Instead of feeling embarrassed, Brooks seemed to look at my collection with wonder and joy. Brooks Robinson is perhaps the most beloved person I have ever known in my life...and not because he worked at it...but precisely because he DIDN'T. He didn't "dish". Didn't do "snark", and would never ever have told stories out of school. Perhaps most of all, thats why people loved him. As great a player as he was, with 16 Gold Gloves, he never ever pulled any kind of rank..never ever felt entitled to anything. Class isn't something you "work at". You have it, and your manner dictates it...class people never talk about themselves...never use their name as a third person. In all the years I knew Brooks Robinson, it never occurred to him that he was BROOKS ROBINSON.. I could say so many things about that weekend of his visit, but some thoughts are matters of the heart...mine..so I'll keep most to myself. But I will share one intimacy.at one point at dinner one night, It was time to toast my friends, and toasting Palmer was easy and funny...but then I turned to Brooks and said this: "I want you to know, and you do, how much I love you, and cherish you, and you must know, you are my hero, and always will be". I then started to cry. Brooks looked at me and said"I love you too Roy, and always will". Then Brooks David looked at me and said something that made me feel like a million bucks. "Roy, I love YOU, because you love my dad." The weekend was so joyous and warm and wonderful, and Palmer kept it light with hysterical banter. But the love was everywhere. We all attended Frank Robinson's memorial on that Sunday, and Brooks was asked to speak about Frank: 'Frank was about winning, and when when we won with him, we won something more than baseball games...we won as people..just knowing him was a win..I'm a better man from having known him", he said. Then we went back to my house. Brooks slept in MY bedroom. I slept in my guest room. The King gets the best room, the best bed. I wouldn't have it any other way. That Sunday, I dropped Brooks and Brooks David off at the airport. Palmer drove back to his home in his brand new car. When I returned from the airport, I was left alone in my house, and took a deep breath. My childhood heroes were my house guests that weekend, and every moment, every second, was cherished by me, and it won't ever be forgotten. I was introduced to becoming a sportscaster directly because of Brooks. He was my first interview when I was just 14. But far more than that, he was an inspiration. He was a man of character and generosity, and grace, and he specialized in human decency. I have never met a more decent and beloved person in all my life. How I carry myself in life came from my parents, and Brooks. I only hope I served them well. The house was quiet now, but the weekend my home was alive with memories, laughter, and a ton of love. As I dropped the Robinson's off a the curb.. we hugged tightly, and Brooks walked away to the counter. My eyes got misty again as they disappeared. You never know about life. You never know how much time you have left with people you dearly love. Nothing is guaranteed for anyone. So I was so deeply satisfied and grateful that our time that weekend was so very well spent, and the words were spoken, not kept away or protected. My God, how wonderful a life I've had. So many joys, so many experiences. This weekend ranked right near the top. To borrow Brooks' line about Frank..."Im a better man for having known them". Rest well, Brooks, I'm not sure about heaven..none of us really are...but if there IS one..you get a pass for eternity. Watching Opening Day today will be wonderful, but for me, it will be a bit empty and yes, a tad sad. Its the first Opening Day without Brooks in close to 70 years. I owe him so much. I will always love and admire and cherish the time we spent together. There will be other players, maybe even greater ones. But there will never be a greater human being than Brooks Robinson. I am blessed to have called him "friend" Oriole fans were always his friends too. Heres what I said when Brooks asked me to introduce his statue at Camden Yards. https://youtu.be/Pz9iiXNRado?si=gQbXnnfzITeelNie
  5. Baseball's regular season begins tomorrow. It is a joyous time for me because it renews so many happy moments and times... Some here on this page may know why I love the Orioles and baseball...But for those who may not..on the eve of Opening Day...I'd like to reprise this essay: One night, years ago, when the Orioles had another unlikely comeback win, I ran around my house in my underwear with glee. Even my dog Kobe thought I was a bit insane, and maybe in the moment I was. I stopped and actually asked myself....Why would a grown man act this way over a silly baseball team? Or ANY team for that matter? And why would he act this SAME way for so long? So I decided to try to explain if even I could. A long time ago, when I was having a fit after the Mets beat the Orioles in the World Series...my father tried to get me to come to my senses. He said, "Relax....what did the Orioles ever do for you"? In a way, it was a fair question. At the time, I didn't have a good answer. My dad is gone now, but if he were here...I'd say this. The Orioles never put money in my pocket(I've never been a gambler) or food on my table, or gotten me a job or anything like that. But there's something that still burns in my soul when the franchise is playing well, and is also playing thrilling baseball. I get a visceral charge out of seeing them , not just win, but coming from behind to overcome in doing it. Its an almost indescribable feeling. The Orioles, (with a couple other teams in other sports) put a skip in my step....fire up an adrenaline rush, and make me think of the possibilities of winning...when they play this way. In 2011-12 when the Orioles spoiled the Red Sox post season with an astonishing end of season comeback win..and later went to the playoffs the next year, there was a palpable joy in my heart. I literally couldn't wait to watch the game every night on the MLB ticket (even living in LA). Most females in my life rolled their eyes, or almost mocked me, though a couple began to get it. It's the CARING. This quote from the great Roger Angell really sums it up for me: “It is foolish and childish, on the face of it, to affiliate ourselves with anything so insignificant and patently contrived and commercially exploitative as a professional sports team, and the amused superiority and icy scorn that the non-fan directs at the sports nut (I know this look - I know it by heart) is understandable and almost unanswerable. Almost. What is left out of this calculation, it seems to me, is the business of caring - caring deeply and passionately, really caring - which is a capacity or an emotion that has almost gone out of our lives. And so it seems possible that we have come to a time when it no longer matters so much what the caring is about, how frail or foolish is the object of that concern, as long as the feeling itself can be saved. Naïveté - the infantile and ignoble joy that sends a grown man or woman to dancing in the middle of the night over the haphazardous flight of a distant ball - seems a small price to pay for such a gift.” Roger Angell "A Baseball Companion " And so, I seized upon the caring. I don’t know these current players personally. I've never met a single one. But they're my "boys" now. Like my boys in "real life", these boys occasionally frustrate me, confound me, aggravate me...but the love will never die. When "my boys"do well..I have a metaphoric hug for them. When they deliver a win in dramatic fashion, I feel it personally. So to answer my dad's question..."what did the Orioles ever do for YOU"...I would answer...."They lifted me up...like nothing else in sports can". Don't ever postpone or mute joy.
  6. I hear ya...I just dont know that I've heard people on this page or just Oriole fans in general talk about what an amazing hire she has been for this organisation...if you or others have mentioned it...Im sorry...I didnt see it..
  7. For the first time in many years, I am solidly behind the Oriole brass for doing a fantastic job in acquiring and developing players, sizing up their ability, and utilising their talent. Mike Elias has done a brilliant job as has Sig Mejdal...I feel the Orioles have some of the best personnel minds in baseball. And so it follows that we should also acknowledge Eve Rosenbaum, the Asst. General Manager.Eve is in her second year as the Asst. GM. She is still just 34 years old. She is from Bethesda, Maryland and grew up a die-hard Oriole fan. But she is no "token" woman added to the staff. Eve is laser focused, a detail-oriented person with deep insights into personnel and contracts. She is a Harvard educated , former Harvard softball player who eats, drinks, and sleeps Oriole baseball. I have watched numerous interviews with Eve and she is among the sharpest minds in the baseball front office. She is smart, thoughtful, deeply knowledgable, and very analytical. She prepares contracts and keeps tabs on all Oriole players both in the majors and minors...she is a tremendous asset to the Orioles. Eve Rosenbaum is one of just a handful of women in baseball's front office...we are all lucky to have her. So if we are grateful for Elias , and Sig, we need to mention Eve Rosenbaum too.
  8. Many of these yearbooks or scorecards are EXTREMELY rare...contact me if interested on PM.
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