Roy Firestone's Brooks' tributes

[CynBeth]

That was very well written. Thank you for sharing that with us.

[Hank Scorpio]

1 hour ago, Hank Scorpio said:

You're blessed, Roy!!!!!!!

People always say "Don't meet your heroes." 

Pfffffffffffffffft.......... they never met Brooks Robinson. 

I promise I didn't steal that from Roch. But the reality is, he was first:

https://www.masnsports.com/blog/hyde-proceeding-without-defined-bullpen-roles

[da_dirty_bird]

I remember meeting Brooks in the early 80's as a teenager, he didn't know me at all, but he talked to me like I was his best friend. That was Brooks Robinson, the greatest third baseman to ever play the game.

[Tony-OH]

Well written and from the heart. Thank you Roy for sharing your experiences with Brooks. He will truly be missed by all.

A special person through and through.

[Tony-OH]

A wonderful story, thanks for sharing my friend!

[Gurgi]

I loved listening to his voice on broadcast in the 80's.   He had class.  

[Roy Firestone]

Our final post on Brooks Robinson's passing, has to do with his relationship with another man named Robinson.

The story is rarely told how two teammates from completely different backgrounds grew to a respect and admire one another:

He was born in segregated Little Rock Arkansas in 1937.

Jim Crow laws didn't allow blacks and white to mingle almost anywhere.

He was an aspiring baseball player, who never even knew a black man except for a man named Sonny, who oversaw his little league park where he played.

That was the only black man he had ever met.

He never played baseball with a black player...until things changed with the Little Rock Nine.

The Little Rock Nine was a group of nine African American students enrolled in Little Rock Central High School in 1957, which was a seminal moment in the Civil Rights movement.

This young man never really understood prejudice.

His father was a decent and kind man,instilling respect and honor to his sons... and the young man and his brothers would eventually play against, but not with, black players.

He left Little Rock to play pro baseball...the same year Little Rock became a center of racial tension and change....

His name was Brooks Calvert Robinson, and he never even knew a black man in baseball he would call a close friend.

He was born in segregated Texas, moved to Oakland, California after his father abandoned the family, and he endured unbelievable racial hatred.

He enrolled at McClymonds High School in Oakland, hoping to play pro basketball or baseball.

His high school teammates were Bill Russell, who became an NBA legend,Curt Flood, who would eventually challenge the reserve clause in Major league baseball, and perennial All Star Vada Pinson.

HIS name was Frank Robinson, and he went to the big leagues, becoming an instant star for the Cincinnati Reds, earning Rookie of the Year honors.

In December 1965, Frank Robinson was traded to the Baltimore Orioles, and both men's lives would change forever.

Brooks and Frank Robinson, the "Robinson Boys".

Baltimore was mostly segregated in 1966, Frank's first year in Baltimore...but Brooks, remembering his father's tolerance and kindness, made his new teammate feel at home.

Then he grew to understand what racial prejudice really was.

"When Frank came to Baltimore", Brooks told me tonight, "I saw things I couldn't believe. He couldn't rent a decent apartment, he couldn't buy a house.

So I put my name "Robinson" on a down payment for a house.

They thought the "Robinson" was me.

But it was for Frank.

When the realtors found out it was for this new black player...well, lets say the deal magically fell through".

"I was angry for Frank.Angry for his pain",said Brooks.

"And for the first time in my life...I came to understand how bigotry caused pain and suffering for people...especially a family".

Frank Robinson, thanks to Brooks' insistence and name got a modest home in Baltimore..and Frank Robinson, for the rest of his life grew to love and admire...the "other Robinson" .

They led their teams to two world titles, and played in 5 World Series together.

In the first inning of the first World Series the Orioles ever played in,Frank and Brooks Robinson hit back to back home runs...and their story became legend.

The won that World Series over the Dodgers in a four game sweep.

Brooks Robinson called Frank one day about 4 years ago.

His old friend and teammate was dying of bone cancer.

'When I got on the phone with him, his voice was thin.

I told him I was praying for him.

I told him that I loved him. But I knew I would never speak to him again. Just as I said goodbye on the phone, I got choked up. I knew it was the final goodbye."

Brooks and Frank Robinson were inexorably linked in baseball history...but their friendship was authentic and the two families were deeply close..until the end.

"You can't really understand the hardships that people have in their lives unless you walk in their shoes", said Brooks to me Thursday night.

"He led by example and he led his team in ways I didn't..and couldn't".

"I knew he was the greatest player I ever played with", he said, "but more than that, he was one of the greatest men I ever knew."

Brooks Robinson and Frank Robinson.

The 'Robinson Boys" , couldn't have been different in personality or style.

But baseball brought them together.

They played the game as teammates and learned that great teammates and great friends brought out the best in each other.

"I'll really miss Frank. He had a great life. He had a hard life. But he made the game better, he made his team a champion, and he made my life so much better".

I'm a better man for having known him," said Brooks.

As I hung up the phone, I remembered a famous quote by humanitarian, Albert Schweitzer who put it this way:

"In everyone's life, at some time, our inner fire goes out. It is then burst into flame by an encounter with another human being. We should all be thankful for those people who rekindle the inner spirit."

Brooks and Frank. Their inner spirits will be intertwined for eternity.

[Aristotelian]

Got something in my eye, gimme a sec...

[Ridgway22]

Beautiful, Roy. Thanks for sharing. So hard to imagine the racial hardships and prejudices back then, even for celebrities. I spent ages 8-13 (1970-1975) on Naval Bases in Japan, and never was exposed to racial tensions until we moved back to Southern California in 1975 and I started in public schools.

PS, Reason I'm an Orioles fan is I saw them play in Tokyo, Japan against the Tokyo Giants on their tour after the 1971 World Series, first professional baseball game I ever saw. I was hooked.

PS2, there is a book called "Black and Blue" that goes into that era of Orioles baseball much more in-depth, including the off-field hardships faced by some of the players.

[Malike]

Roy, making grown men tear up since 1981.

[Ridgway22]

2 minutes ago, Malike said:

Roy, making grown men tear up since 1981.

[Just Regular]

The Brooks detail Cincinnati was the other team he talked with a lot coming out of high school makes the multiverse where he signed with them one I'd be curious to poke around its Baseball-Reference for a minute.

Brooks and Frank become teammates as young men....do Frank and Brooks learn to win together before the '61 Series with the Maris/Mantle Yankees?    They are basically Ripken/Murray by the time rookie Pete Rose breaks in.

Maybe give BAL Al Kaline and Tony Perez in that universe to put some of its balance back.

[Roy Firestone]

1 hour ago, Malike said:

Roy, making grown men tear up since 1981.

longer than that, my friend...

[Roy Firestone]

1 hour ago, Just Regular said:

The Brooks detail Cincinnati was the other team he talked with a lot coming out of high school makes the multiverse where he signed with them one I'd be curious to poke around its Baseball-Reference for a minute.

Brooks and Frank become teammates as young men....do Frank and Brooks learn to win together before the '61 Series with the Maris/Mantle Yankees?    They are basically Ripken/Murray by the time rookie Pete Rose breaks in.

Maybe give BAL Al Kaline and Tony Perez in that universe to put some of its balance back.

Brooks, and Baltimore's own, Al Kaline, were lifetime friends for about 50 years...both men had the same manner to them...generous, kind, devoted to the game...

[TimD]

4 hours ago, Roy Firestone said:

Our final post on Brooks Robinson's passing, has to do with his relationship with another man named Robinson.

The story is rarely told how two teammates from completely different backgrounds grew to a respect and admire one another:

He was born in segregated Little Rock Arkansas in 1937.

Jim Crow laws didn't allow blacks and white to mingle almost anywhere.

He was an aspiring baseball player, who never even knew a black man except for a man named Sonny, who oversaw his little league park where he played.

That was the only black man he had ever met.

He never played baseball with a black player...until things changed with the Little Rock Nine.

The Little Rock Nine was a group of nine African American students enrolled in Little Rock Central High School in 1957, which was a seminal moment in the Civil Rights movement.

This young man never really understood prejudice.

His father was a decent and kind man,instilling respect and honor to his sons... and the young man and his brothers would eventually play against, but not with, black players.

He left Little Rock to play pro baseball...the same year Little Rock became a center of racial tension and change....

His name was Brooks Calvert Robinson, and he never even knew a black man in baseball he would call a close friend.

He was born in segregated Texas, moved to Oakland, California after his father abandoned the family, and he endured unbelievable racial hatred.

He enrolled at McClymonds High School in Oakland, hoping to play pro basketball or baseball.

His high school teammates were Bill Russell, who became an NBA legend,Curt Flood, who would eventually challenge the reserve clause in Major league baseball, and perennial All Star Vada Pinson.

HIS name was Frank Robinson, and he went to the big leagues, becoming an instant star for the Cincinnati Reds, earning Rookie of the Year honors.

In December 1965, Frank Robinson was traded to the Baltimore Orioles, and both men's lives would change forever.

Brooks and Frank Robinson, the "Robinson Boys".

Baltimore was mostly segregated in 1966, Frank's first year in Baltimore...but Brooks, remembering his father's tolerance and kindness, made his new teammate feel at home.

Then he grew to understand what racial prejudice really was.

"When Frank came to Baltimore", Brooks told me tonight, "I saw things I couldn't believe. He couldn't rent a decent apartment, he couldn't buy a house.

So I put my name "Robinson" on a down payment for a house.

They thought the "Robinson" was me.

But it was for Frank.

When the realtors found out it was for this new black player...well, lets say the deal magically fell through".

"I was angry for Frank.Angry for his pain",said Brooks.

"And for the first time in my life...I came to understand how bigotry caused pain and suffering for people...especially a family".

Frank Robinson, thanks to Brooks' insistence and name got a modest home in Baltimore..and Frank Robinson, for the rest of his life grew to love and admire...the "other Robinson" .

They led their teams to two world titles, and played in 5 World Series together.

In the first inning of the first World Series the Orioles ever played in,Frank and Brooks Robinson hit back to back home runs...and their story became legend.

The won that World Series over the Dodgers in a four game sweep.

Brooks Robinson called Frank one day about 4 years ago.

His old friend and teammate was dying of bone cancer.

'When I got on the phone with him, his voice was thin.

I told him I was praying for him.

I told him that I loved him. But I knew I would never speak to him again. Just as I said goodbye on the phone, I got choked up. I knew it was the final goodbye."

Brooks and Frank Robinson were inexorably linked in baseball history...but their friendship was authentic and the two families were deeply close..until the end.

"You can't really understand the hardships that people have in their lives unless you walk in their shoes", said Brooks to me Thursday night.

"He led by example and he led his team in ways I didn't..and couldn't".

"I knew he was the greatest player I ever played with", he said, "but more than that, he was one of the greatest men I ever knew."

Brooks Robinson and Frank Robinson.

The 'Robinson Boys" , couldn't have been different in personality or style.

But baseball brought them together.

They played the game as teammates and learned that great teammates and great friends brought out the best in each other.

"I'll really miss Frank. He had a great life. He had a hard life. But he made the game better, he made his team a champion, and he made my life so much better".

I'm a better man for having known him," said Brooks.

As I hung up the phone, I remembered a famous quote by humanitarian, Albert Schweitzer who put it this way:

"In everyone's life, at some time, our inner fire goes out. It is then burst into flame by an encounter with another human being. We should all be thankful for those people who rekindle the inner spirit."

Brooks and Frank. Their inner spirits will be intertwined for eternity.

Beautiful post, thanks for sharing Roy