Brooks Robinson dead
One of the great Junior American League shortstops third basemen* of all time, Brooks Robinson, died Tuesday at age 86.
Nicknamed “Mr. Hoover” , the “Human Vacuum Cleaner” for his incredible fielding ability, Robinson was one of, if not the, greatest third basemen in Major League history. 18-time All-Star, 16 consecutive Gold Gloves in a 23 year career – stand-out stats. He also stayed with the Orioles for 23 years, and played 2,870 games at third base, the record by 700 games. His Wins Above Replacement average is the third highest in history among defensive players.
Robinson set the standard for third basemen during his career, with 18 All-Star Game selections and a record number of Gold Glove awards for a position player. He holds career records for games at third base, putouts, assists and double plays turned, according to Baseball-Reference.com CNN
Robinson served briefly in the Arkansas National Guard in 1958 between the 1958 and 1950 seasons (probably as a way to avoid being drafted into the Army, like many did.) Maybe not an impressive military career, but honorable.
* corrected – ed.
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Brooks was my Idol as a young kid!
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David, you wrote:
“Robinson served briefly in the Arkansas National Guard in 1958 between the 1958 and 1950 seasons (probably as a way to avoid being drafted into the Army, like many did.) Maybe not an impressive military career, but honorable.”
Ouch.
In our humble opinion and our opinion only, we really wish you did not write statement.
It just sounds so….demeaning…
😔
“Robinson joined the Arkansas Army National Guard in March 1958. He was activated and assigned to Fort Chaffee, Arkansas, and later to the Army’s 78th Field Artillery Regiment at Fort Hood,
Texas.”
“Robinson served as an ordnance parts specialist. While on the rifle range for qualification with the M1 Garand rifle in November 1958, Robinson received a commendation for his performance as a squad leader for his unit. It stated, ”He has performed his duties in an excellent and commendable manner. It is recommended he be considered for more rapid promotion than his contemporaries.”
“Officials with the Arkansas National Guard at Camp Joseph T. Robinson in North Little Rock, Arkansas, said he was honorably discharged from Company A, 739 Ordnance Battalion, in Little Rock, Arkansas, on Jan. 2, 1962.”
“In 1966, Robinson, by then a civilian, visited troops in all four corps areas of South Vietnam. Traveling with him on the morale-boosting tour were Stan Musial of the St. Louis Cardinals, Joe Torre and Hank Aaron of the Atlanta Braves, Harmon Killebrew of the Minnesota Twins, and sportscaster Mel Allen.”
https://www.defense.gov/News/Feature-Stories/story/Article/2279499/sports-heroes-who-served-baseball-legend-brooks-robinson/
Anybody ever walk the Devils Backbone at old Fort Chaffee?👹
Seems to me he had perfectly Honorable Service and was a good troop. A 4 year tour in the NG was not uncommon in the late ’50s/early 60s and the VN draft “avoidance” by joining an NG unit didn’t hit until the mid ’60s. Plus he survived Ft Hood so there is that.
Rest Easy, Good Sir.
At his time, NG was often used as a way to avoid a 2 year career gap. No wars going on, no reflection on his service.
As I recall, Brooks wore a batting helmet with a short bill. I sure remember some dumb things.
Brooks addressed an assembly at my high school (Bel Air, Maryland) around 1960. His service was honorable- compare that to the last five presidents, only one of whom wore the uniform (and three pulled scams to avoid service). BTW, my brother was Maryland National Guard in 1965- half his basic training company was Orioles and Colts.