Roy Firestone's Brooks' tributes

[yark14]

Thank you so much for sharing.  Incredible.

[banks703]

@Roy Firestone I don’t think that I am in the minority when I tell you that I hope that you don’t ever stop posting content like this .. for us but also for yourself. 

It’s easy for us as fans to forget that, while we do love these players and their celebrity, it’s almost exclusively from a great distance. I appreciate that you participate with us on this board because it bridges a gap for us as fans, to the player as friends, through you. You have a uniqueness that the rest of us do not have in a legitimate closeness with people who are heroes to a lot of us. I’ve always felt had that your sharing is genuine and I thank you for it. 

We watch these supermen play a game for our entertainment and can overlook the fact that there is life and love beyond baseball. When I read about Brooks yesterday my heart sank so I immediately called my father. I’m sad for the loss of his hero and I’m sad as a lifelong Orioles fan but I’m most sad for the people who had the privilege of actually knowing Brooks and loving him closely. I think I can speak for a lot of us on the board when I tell you that we’re grieving for you and we’re very sorry for your loss and we hope that you never stop sharing these wonderful stories with us. 

[Tony-OH]

Just merging a lot of great stories and experience with Brooks by Roy to make them easier to find.

[dtk9119]

Just now reading this thread and I am in tears just as I was on Tuesday evening when I heard of the news.

Brooks Robinson is the greatest Oriole to ever play the game and an even better human being. My dad started taking me to Orioles games in the mid-late 70's so I don't have a memory of seeing Brooks play. I do however, remember hearing story after story from my dad and granddad about the Oriole glory years of the late 60's early 70's -- and many stories about Brooks Robinson. I also have burned into my memory a photo plaque that hung in my grandad's pool table room of Brooks Robinson diving to his right to catch a baseball. My granddad's company had some sort of sponsorship w/ the franchise back in the day, so he a had a bunch of these plaques and photos. But my favorite one to admire as a kid when I visited his home was the one of Brooks Robinson. Even though I have no memory of seeing Brooks play in person, those stories and photos of him helped shape my enduring love for this franchise and the game of baseball. Brooks Robinson is and always will be my favorite Oriole of all time.

@Roy Firestone thank you for sharing these memories and @Tony-OH thank you for collating them in this thread.

[Roy Firestone]

On 9/27/2023 at 6:20 PM, banks703 said:

@Roy Firestone I don’t think that I am in the minority when I tell you that I hope that you don’t ever stop posting content like this .. for us but also for yourself. 

It’s easy for us as fans to forget that, while we do love these players and their celebrity, it’s almost exclusively from a great distance. I appreciate that you participate with us on this board because it bridges a gap for us as fans, to the player as friends, through you. You have a uniqueness that the rest of us do not have in a legitimate closeness with people who are heroes to a lot of us. I’ve always felt had that your sharing is genuine and I thank you for it. 

We watch these supermen play a game for our entertainment and can overlook the fact that there is life and love beyond baseball. When I read about Brooks yesterday my heart sank so I immediately called my father. I’m sad for the loss of his hero and I’m sad as a lifelong Orioles fan but I’m most sad for the people who had the privilege of actually knowing Brooks and loving him closely. I think I can speak for a lot of us on the board when I tell you that we’re grieving for you and we’re very sorry for your loss and we hope that you never stop sharing these wonderful stories with us. 

I cant put into words how much that makes me feel warm in my heart. I root from the heart(good and bad), I sometimes may annoy people of the threads, and sometimes, I'm just over the top...but like all of you, I bleed Orange and Black...and have for 63 years...im so damned happy and wistful at the same time..but your lovely comment makes me feel appreciated and understood....

[tntoriole]

Thanks, Roy, soooo much for sharing your beautiful experiences with Brooks!! 
 

The chapter on Brooks in Joe Posnanski’s book, The Baseball 100, is wonderful.  The author’s father would drill him as a boy growing up in Cleveland by having him dive left and right after a Wiffle ball.. urging him all the while to “be like Brooks Robinson”. 
 

He writes: 

“Brooks broke his left arm and collarbone when he was very young and taught himself (with his dad’s help) to throw right handed. Can you imagine how different baseball history would have been (and all our lives- my comment) had Brooks not broken his arm? He would have thrown left handed and not played third base.
To the question he answered in a school essay at age 13 of why he believed he could become a big league ballplayer, he wrote “I’m slow to anger and not easily discouraged;am enthusiastic, happy, calm, and very active.”  … I think that came through with the way he played”..(and the way he lived.-my comment ) 

 

 

 

[Uli2001]

I am not sure if this was posted here:

https://x.com/notthefakeSVP/status/1706810904837243302?s=20