All third baseman are measured by the high standards set by Brooks Robinson, who played the position for the Baltimore Orioles for the better part of 23 seasons. Brooks Robinson holds the Major League Baseball marks for the most games played by a third baseman with 2,870, highest fielding percentage lifetime at the hot corner (.971), and the most putouts, assists, and double plays as well. At the plate, Brooks Robinson was a clutch hitter who at one time held the record for most homers by a third baseman, but when he is remembered, it is glove that comes to mind above all else. After he won the MVP of the 1970 World Series against Cincinnati, Reds’ manager Sparky Anderson, who watched Brooks Robinson almost single-handedly defeat his team with his defensive prowess sighed, “I hope the car they give him has an extra large glove box.
Brooks Robinson was born in Little Rock, Arkansas in 1937. When he was eighteen, the Orioles signed him as an amateur free agent, and he would eventually become one of the faces of the franchise, which had just moved from St. Louis in 1953. Brooks came up to the big club in 1955 for a taste of the majors, but managed only a pair of base hits in 22 at-bats. The next season he played in fifteen games for the Orioles, and the following year Robinson saw action in fifty contests. By the time Brooks Robinson was twenty one years old in 1958, he was the regular third baseman for Baltimore. Originally a second baseman, Brooks hadn’t even played high school baseball when he was discovered by a scout playing in a church league. Had he stayed at second, he would have been a great one there as well, but he was moved over to third to take advantage of his wonderful reflexes and soft hands.
Humble as any player to ever trot out onto a field, Brooks Robinson recalled that, “I could field as long as I can remember, but hitting has been a struggle all my life.” Indeed, Robinson batted over .300 only twice in his career, but became known as a tough out in a big spot. He had a pair of 100 plus RBI seasons, in 1964 and 1966, and accumulated over 80 in a campaign eight times on his way to 1,357 runs batted in. The most homers Brooks ever belted in a single year were 28, but he had 20 or more six different times. He wore a batting helmet with a distinctive short bill, which would become his trademark. His lifetime average was .267, and Brooks Robinson has the dubious distinction of holding the record of hitting into four triple plays. Yet Brooks said it best when he remarked, “It’s a pretty sure thing that the player’s bat is what speaks loudest when it’s contract time, but there are moments when the glove has the last word.”
Nobody’s glove had the last word more often that the one worn by Brooks Robinson. He became known as the “Human Vacuum Cleaner” and “Hoover” for his ability to suck up ground balls and snare line drives. His teammate for many years, Frank Robinson, marveled at Brooks playing third. “He was the best defensive player at any position. I used to stand in the outfield like a fan and watch him make play after play. I used to think WOW, I can’t believe this.” If his own side couldn’t believe it, imagine how the opposing players that he robbed of hits felt. Johnny Bench of the Reds kidded the he “would become a left-handed hitter” so as not to hit the ball Robinson’s way. In the 1966 World Series, the Los Angeles Dodgers, who used the bunt as a big part of their arsenal, decided against the strategy because Brooks Robinson was too good at third to waste outs in that fashion. The Orioles wound up sweeping the Dodgers four straight, with Brooks hammering a big home run off of Don Drysdale in Game One. The Reds were so frustrated by Robinson’s heroics in the 1970 Fall Classic that Sparky Anderson told reporters he was “beginning to see Brooks Robinson in my sleep.” He made at least a half dozen highlight reel plays in that five game Orioles triumph, including one where Robinson went in back of third in foul territory to stab a Lee May hot smash backhanded. Brooks then wheeled and threw a one-hopper to first base to nip the slow footed May, a play that has been replayed countless times over the years. To rub salt in the wounds, Brooks Robinson batted .429 against Cincinnati with two homers and six runs batted in. In the nine post-season series he was involved in, Robinson batted .303.
His best year at the plate was 1964, when Brooks Robinson hit .317 with 118 runs batted in, good enough, combined with his defense, to garner him the American League Most Valuable Player Award. The most errors Robinson ever committed in a season were 21, in 1958, his first full year at third. After that, Brooks never made more than 17 miscues in a single year. Brooks Robinson won 16 straight Gold Gloves for fielding excellence at his position, tying pitcher Jim Kaat for the most ever. From 1960 through 1975, Brooks Robinson was awarded the honor. He also holds another record that he would rather forget though, as Brooks Robinson, a fifteen-time All-Star, played for the losing side on fifteen different occasions, including both games that were played in 1960. Brooks was named the MVP of the 1964 tilt, gathering three hits in a 2-1 loss to the National League.
The baseball writers adored the man, as he was always accessible and never snapped at them. Joe Falls of the Detroit News wrote, “How many interviews, how many questions – how many times you approached him and got only courtesy and decency in return. He was a true gentleman who never took himself seriously. I always had the idea he didn’t know he was Brooks Robinson.” He realized he had to maintain a certain image and he certainly did. Brooks said, “Whether you want to or not, you do serve as a role model. People will always put more faith in baseball players than anyone else.” The Baltimore fans put their faith in Robinson, showing up in droves at Cooperstown when their idol was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1983. Robinson at the time was the 14th player to be elected on the first ballot, as he had retired in 1977. He became a broadcaster for the Orioles, a player so wildly popular that sportswriter Gordon Beard noted, “Brooks Robinson never asked anyone to name a candy bar after him. In Baltimore, people named their children after him!”
