Brooks Robinson, Orioles baseball legend and Baltimore icon, dies at 86
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Hall of Famer Brooks Robinson returned to Camden Yards in 2022 for a tribute and lap around the field. He died Sept. 26, 2023 at 86. Photo: G Fiume/Getty Images
Hall of Fame third baseman Brooks Robinson, who died Tuesday at 86 years old, is being heralded as a true great, on and off the field.
- People in Baltimore, the city that adopted him during his 23-year career as the heartbeat of the baseball franchise there, rushed to pay tribute to their hero, who was also known as Brooksie, Mr. Oriole and the Human Vacuum Cleaner.
- "You just never heard a negative word out of him," said Rick Dempsey, who remembers Robinson greeting him warmly when the catcher arrived at the Orioles in 1976, per the Baltimore Banner. "He was just absolutely the best."
The big picture: Before Cal Ripken Jr., Baltimore had Robinson. He came to the city in 1955 straight out of Little Rock Central High School in Arkansas. He participated in 18 straight All-Star games and won 16 Gold Gloves — sorry, 16 consecutive Gold Gloves — an AL MVP award and a World Series MVP.
- That 1970 World Series performance ranks up there with any, ever. Robinson batted .429 and homered twice to lead the Orioles past the Reds. But his defense at third base is what was most memorable, including a snatch of a sure double off the bat of Lee May that's still replayed in highlight reels.
- "I'm beginning to see Brooks in my sleep," Reds manager Sparky Anderson said during that Series, AP noted. "If I dropped this paper plate, he'd pick it up on one hop and throw me out at first."
Zoom out: After news of his death became public, though, most tributes skipped right past all of his statistics and went straight to his kindness. Like this story about an autographed baseball from ESPN's Scott Van Pelt.
Of note: On the field, the Orioles won Tuesday night, beating the Nationals 1-0 to move within an eyelash of winning the American League East.
- The lone run came on a solo shot from Gunnar Henderson, a 22-year-old phenom who's a leading candidate for Rookie of the Year, and who's already making incredible defensive plays himself.
