Hank Aaron & Sadaharu Oh

I always appreciate your comments on this MLBlog, and here are some more responses:

Kenny, there is an old saying that "the best is whoever you want it to be." You like Sadaharu Oh. I like Hank Aaron. I will tell you that Sadaharu Oh was a tremendous player, an icon in Japan, a wonderful gentleman and a great ambassador of the game. The Orioles went to Japan after the 1970 World Series and played almost 20 games. I had a chance to play against Sadaharu Oh in about 15-16 of those games. Believe me, he was a tremendous hitter. I only saw 2 players in those 20 games that could have played Major League Baseball and that was Sadaharu Oh and Shigeo Nagashima. Those 2 guys (pictured here in a photo from Stars & Stripes, 10 years after their famous 1974 home run contest) were tremendous players and I'm sure could have played in the Major Leagues and I'm sure Sadaharu Oh could have hit a lot of home runs. I saw the ballparks that Sadaharu Oh played in and they were much smaller than the parks that Hank Aaron played in. I saw the pitchers that Sadaharu Oh hit against and they were not as good as Major League pitchers. In my opinion, Hank Aaron is the greatest home run hitter of all time.

I think the Japanese players now are certainly getting the credit they deserve. You see a couple joining the Major Leagues each year like Hideki Matsui and Ichiro Suzuki. They are proving that they do belong with the best.

Dear Tiger Fan, I think it's terrific that you are playing third base and that your defense has always been very important to you. Defense is always something that I loved to do. I always had the hand-eye coordination and I think it's a God-given talent more than anything else. I was never fast. In fact, Boog Powell had more stolen bases than I did. I had that little instinct to get after the ball. The reflexes were always there. I started at second base and I played my first 50 games there before they moved me to third. I'm glad you played. I'm glad your boyfriend calls you the "Hot Corner Babe." I've always been impressed with women's softball and women's baseball. As you know, Phil Niekro managed a women's baseball team. He was also very impressed with how well the ladies played. I got the opportunity to hit against Lisa Fernandez, an Olympic Champion pitcher. I played in about 10 or 15 games with her. I've seen Jenny Finch (pictured) pitch and play and I'm amazed at how far college softball teams have come. I used to watch UCLA and Southern Cal play and I just couldn't believe the caliber of softball I was watching. Just remember that Cal Ripken started out as a third baseman and it was too tough for him so he had to move to shortstop. So as I also used to say, "Bring it On."

What I'm up to:

I've been spending the Thanksgiving Holidays in Florida. I will be signing the Norman Rockwell "Gee Thanks Brooks" prints at Ollie's Bargain Outlets in the Baltimore area on December 3rd and 10th. You can check the details on my website at www.brooksrobinson.com. I'll also have some good auction items on the site during December.