Re your column about the Ravens. Derrick Mason is wrong. This is not the same team we were excited about in the summer. That team looked like a favorite for the playoffs, this team looks like a longshot.

Great time last night....the stories were wonderful. My favorite was Earl Weaver talking about Brooks' last home run. A pinch hit 3 run home run to win the game.....Mr Weaver seemed grateful to have Brooks as a player.

I wish I could have been at the tribute last night as it sounded very special indeed!
I would have loved to hear Earl talk about that last HR. I was there and I believe it was against Cleveland and the 10th inning after a rain delay. Also, it was late in the season. Very few fans were still there and Brooks had been replaced by DeCinces that year. The place went nuts. I still have an old O's batting helmet I used to wear, and I had it on that game. About 3 years ago, I had the pleasure of having lunch with Brooks on May 18th and I actually brought that helmet with me and after many laughs, Brooks signed it for me. It now sits on a table with my most prized possessions!!

I remember listening to the Orioles on radio when Brooks first came up. (TV games were rare in those days) and listening to Chuck rave about the kid's glove. Some remarks about him belonging in a higher league. And this was when we had a bunch of great gloves. Brooks didn't hit 300 but it seemed like everytime he came up with the game on the line he'd get that key hit. Great pressure batter.

On the eve of the world series i couldn't help notice how many people want the yankee's to lose. I myself are hoping they win but not for the obvious reason.I want them to win not because i am a fan but because after spending countless of millions on salaries the last 6 years they always fell short of there goal. However last off season the owner said enough is enough and went to any lengths to win. While other teams are incapable of doing it that way, the structure of baseball allows them to persue there goals in that fashion. I have preached all year that this process will never allow the orioles to finish any higher then 3rd in this divison , but despite that i must give the yankee's , boston and any the other higher salaries teams tons of credit for always playing very hard and playing the game the right way even with there star players making huge amounts of money. I have been some what nostalgic in my last couple of postings only because i can't help think where we once were as a organization compared to where we are now as a organization, and honoring brooks last night helped me remember.The majority of fans posting on here including the owner of the blog are completely satisfied with the direction of this team. But being satisfied has different meaning to some of us.

1. When camden yards first opened and for the longest time after the only way you could get a ticket to the big games was to have some real connections, now the only way is to ask Boston and Yankee fans if they have any spares.

2. The usual way a manager is retained is to produce over a period of time, but this team only reguires there manager to be able to nurture and coddle the players. BOY HOW THE DYNAMICS OF THE GAME HAVE CHANGED.

3.Fans have always said that Peter A interfered way to much in the day to day operations of the team especially with the firing of davey Johnson,and not retaining Pat Gillick as GM. I must admit i was guilty as charged in feeling that way for the longest time,however now that Peter A has turned into a total recluse i now know that his total absense has allowed for the elimination of accountability something that can't be good.

But like i said before being satisfied is different for everybody you only need to figure out where you stand on the subject.

Just can't ever get enough of Brooks. I once got to see an unpublished photo of Brooks with a pair of Playboy bunnies that was just great.
It's so nice to see that one of my boyhood heroes hasn't lost his luster over the years.

For me, Brooks Robinson personifies the virtues of talent, grace, and decency. In 1964, when I was a freshman at Loyola High, I had the chance to join some mutual friends on a brief afternoon visit to the Robinsons. At that time they were living in a row house a few blocks east of Memorial Stadium. I was in awe of Brooks and dazzled by the Golden Gloves on the mantlepiece in the living room. What I most remember is that Brooks made me feel welcome. He asked me about my school and about Pony League ball (where I played mostly third base and wore #5).

I've met some star athletes who weren't much as human beings. But in so many ways, for so many years, Brooks Robinson was an inspiration for kids growing up in Baltimore. I could never play like him, but I've tried to live like him. I love the man.

When I was a kid, I played 3B in little league. I asked to play there because my hero did. I even spit in my glove & rubbed it in like he did. I was 9 or 10 then. My last year of LL, I was 11 or 12 & the Coaches moved me to SS. I was not happy about it & got upset. I almost started crying about it I was so upset. Everyone tried to explain to me that it was a good thing, like a promotion, that SS was harder & a more important position. I was not convinced or happy. I played SS that year, but I still looked over at 3B during moments in the game & missed it , trying to be like Brooks.

saw brooks out here in
san francisco at an autograph
signing. he was so kind and
he autographed his jersey and
put extra info on the jersey...

even nicer, he shook my wife's
hand and said thanks for coming
here today...

brooks we are so happy you
played in baltimore for 23
years...

brooks and unitas will always
be symbolic of all the good
things in baltimore......

Brooks always makes you smile.

I fondly recall sitting in a seat about six rows up from the Oriole dugout, directly across from Brooks at third base. Approximately 30 times per year, as a kid, I would view his miraculous play, diving and sweepinp up grounders like a "Human Vacuum Cleaner." In the 1950s and 1960s, he was my favorite player. I have lived in MD, IL, TN, NY, KY, and now GA; Brooksie still remains in my heart.

Peter, wonderful posts about Brooks.

The quote at the end, though, should be "I met her" not here!

Does anyone know if the evening is on the web somewhere? Or if there's a transcript? It'd be great to read or listen to some of the stories about Brooks and hear the accolades!

.............................................................................................
Pete's reply: I assume it will be broadcast somewhere, but don't know for sure.

I had the good fortune to spend some time with Brooks at his golf tournament at Hunt Valley in 2008. I hadn't talked with him since he came to see me in the hospital when I was 8 years old.

I told him about an Oriole game I attended his last season with the Birds. It was in extra innings and I wanted to get to Fells Point for some late night libation. I was sitting in my car in front of the Horse You Came In On and Brooks came in and hit a pinch three run homer to win the game. I told him I kicked myself in the butt for years over that. He laughed and said "That was off Dave LaRoche wasn't it?"

I told him that I only owned one players' jersey, his and asked him if he would sign it. He said "I'd be happy to."

A true gentleman and a Baltimore Treasure..