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| Favorite Fan Memory |
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Palm Springs with my new son, yes... Brooksie.
It seems as if we all have our stories and memories that we like to tell about our encounters with Brooks. This is the place where you can share those times that we've had. Click on the link below and e-mail us your story and/or pictures of Brooks for others to read and enjoy. We reserve the right to edit all incoming material for suitability.
Please, enjoy these moments...
I grew
up far from Baltimore, in the hills of Western Maryland. Every night during
baseball season, I would hide my transistor radio under my pillow and listen to
Chuck Thompson and Bill O'Donnell provide their descriptions of the Oriole games
while my mother thought I was fast asleep. I never went to sleep till I knew
the outcome of the game.
I turned 9 when Brooks won the MVP in 1964. But Brooks was almost a figment of
my imagination as we lived too far from the big city to get any TV signal other
than one station out of Washington, DC. The radio broadcasts were my only link
to the Orioles.
We eventually moved to Rockville, Maryland, but that was Washington Senators
territory. But at least we were closer to Baltimore and could get a snowy
picture on the TV so I could watch the Orioles.
We finally got to get to some games in the late 60s, but my dream was to see the
Orioles in a World Series with a full stadium. They didn't disappoint me when
they captured the AL crown in 1970.
My father, knowing my love of the Orioles, drove to Baltimore and waited in line
to get tickets to the World Series. My mother drove my sister and I to the
game; she wrote some creative excuse to get us out of school We attended Game 3
when Brooks made his famous diving catch off the bat of Johnny Bench. That game
cemented Brooks in my heart for life. My younger sister and I recreated that
scene in our backyard routinely every night as we played whiffle ball - it was
always the Orioles vs. the Reds.
While there were many more games and memories, that moment stuck with me
forever. And it came to life again when I had a chance to meet Brooks for the
first time.
I went to the Orioles Fantasy Camp for a 40th birthday present for myself, The
first day, they let us into the locker room so we can see our uniform's hung
with care in our lockers with our names emblazoned across the back. I was
standing by my locker stall just in awe of the moment when I heard some rustling
behind me. I turned around and there was Brooks Robinson standing by the locker
directly behind me. He saw me just staring at him and he said: "Hey Murf.
How's it going." I just said, "Thanks Brooks." He smiled, slapped my back and
said: "Have a great time."
That night I was on the phone with my mother and sister, recreating the
story.....crying like I was 9 all over again.
Thanks Brooks.
Many
people named their children after Brooks Robinson. My wife and I named our dog
after Brooks.
When we first got our Sheltie puppy, she loved to play with a chewed up tennis
ball. We couldn't figure out a name for our female Sheltie - just called her
Pup for the first week. I used to try to throw the ball by her, but she always
snared it with her teeth or knocked it down with her paw. No matter how hard I
tried, it wouldn't get by her. Even when I threw it over her head and off the
wall, she grabbed it on the fly. Every night after dinner we'd
play catch...baseball style. I would hit fungos to my dog with my old bat
from Little League and that old tennis ball. She had a fielding percentage
of 1.000. By the way, the ball was white and I used a red pen to put
"stitches" on it.
I
quickly figured out that I had a "canine vacuum cleaner"......and we named her
Brooke - for Brooks Robinson.
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