About brooks5

Brooks Robinson started his professional career, fresh out of Little Rock, Ark., as a second baseman at York, Pa. (just 40 miles north of Baltimore) in the Piedmont League. It was his manager at York, George Staller, who wisely recommended that Brooks be moved to third base.

Later that same year, Brooks made his Orioles debut under manager Paul Richards, who inserted him in the lineup as a replacement for another rookie, Kal Segrist, who was scratched because of an injury. The date was Sept. 17, 1955, and Brooks went 2-for-4 against the Washington Senators while driving in a key run in the eighth inning. From there he went on to:

  • Play in 2,896 games for the Orioles; seventh on the all-time list. For 15 years (1960-1974)
  • Play in 98 percent of all Oriole games.
  • Hit six grand slams.
  • Have eight straight hits on two occasions.
  • Lead the American League in RBIs in 1964 with 116 with a career-high 28 home runs.
  • Hit a home run off Dodger’s Don Drysdale in his first World Series at bat in 1966.
  • Hit his 268th and last home run in dramatic fashion on April 19, 1977,against the Cleveland Indians. It was a three-run drive in the 10th inning off of Dave LaRoche that gave the Orioles a 6-5 victory.

    And Brooks Robinson would finish his career with an incredible 16 Gold Gloves, becoming known along the way as “The Human Vacuum Cleaner” at third. He was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1983, gaining more than 91 percent of the writers’ ballots as a first-year selection.

    The 2005 season marks the 50th anniversary of that first pro contract with the Orioles, and Brooks is looking forward to spending it here with you and on his official site at brooksrobinson.com.]]>

    Interests

    <![CDATA[I am President of the Major League Baseball Players Alumni Association, and I get involved in many of their activities. We do 35 golf tournaments around the country each year. We've raised more than $6 million for different charities in each city. We also do 25 baseball clinics around the country and children attend free. They get a T-shirt and the opportunity to listen to former Major League players about baseball and life.

    My interests also include many speaking engagements and appearances all over the country working with a number of speakers' bureaus and promoters. You can always check my website to see where I’ll be next.