Do we all agree that seeing Johnny Unitas in a San Diego Chargers uniform in 1973 was something less than a pleasant experience? That lightning bolt never looked quite right.
Unitas? local iconic baseball counterpart, Brooks Robinson, similarly would have looked completely wrong wearing another town?s uniform. It never happened, but it wasn?t for any lack of effort on the part of other ballclubs.
Robinson appeared at a press conference at Sports Legends last week when he was introduced as an investor in Opening Day Partners, the new parent company of Maryland Baseball and Keystone Baseball, companies controlled by Peter Kirk. Kirk, the former owner of the Bowie Baysox and the Frederick Keys ? among other teams either currently or formerly part of the Orioles? farm system ? sold his affiliated clubs in organized baseball some years back and cast his lot with the Atlantic League, an independent circuit whose commissioner is Baltimore native Joe Klein. Robinson was originally brought on board as an advisor, but now he is a full-fledged part-owner.
Having known Robinson for more than 30 years, I thought I knew pretty much everything about his career in uniform. I asked him why, inasmuch as he never opted to pursue managing or coaching positions after he hung up his spikes, he now would choose to play minor league mogul at the age of 69.
“Well, I probably could have managed if I wanted to,” he said. “There were a couple of opportunities out there.”
Really?
“I started the ?77 season as a player-coach with the Orioles,” he recalled. “Everyone knew it was my last year as an active player. While I was still on the active roster, I got a call from the Texas Rangers asking me if I was interested in managing. These days, they?d call it tampering. I still thought I could play, so I said no.”
The Rangers, failing to get the Orioles? third baseman to manage their club, then turned to the Orioles? third base coach, Billy Hunter, to take the reins. Robinson?s other feeler came from the White Sox the following year when Chicago replaced Bob Lemon.
Robinson was already occupied, though, providing commentary on Orioles telecasts with Chuck Thompson, a job he held for many years.
Would any team have been so appealing that Brooks would have donned another city?s colors?
“I really doubt it,” he said. “I was a Baltimore Oriole.”
What if the St. Louis Cardinals had called? The Arkansas native paused, smiled and said, “Well, I?d have to have given that some thought. That was my team when I was growing up. I used to picture myself in a Cardinals? uniform when I was a kid.”
That call never came, so the point is moot. Still, would Oriole fans have continued to embrace No. 5 in the other team?s dugout? Hey, we?re talking about Brooks Robinson here. Of course they would.
Phil Wood has covered sports in the Washington-Baltimore market for more than 30 years. You can reach him at [email protected].
