Yesterday morning I published my little Uni Watch tribute to Brooks Robinson, who died on Tuesday. Last night the Orioles had their own tribute for him, and it was impressive. For starters, fans who want to visit Robinson’s statue inside Oriole Park (shown above) can do so from 7am until four hours before first pitch, each day from now through Sunday — a very nice gesture.
Also: Fans attending last night’s game saw Robinson’s number five painted on the grass behind third base:
If they then turned their gaze toward the outfield, they saw that No. 5 had also been added to the warehouse beyond the right field wall:
Looking around the ballpark, they could then see that black trim had been added to Robinson’s retired number icon:
In addition, all Orioles players wore a “5” on their sleeve last night. Like many other MLB teams, the O’s have put their team-logo patch on the non-front-facing sleeve this season in order to keep the front-facing sleeve free for an eventual ad patch. Since they still haven’t added an ad, the “5” went on each player’s front-facing sleeve:
A more conventional memorial patch will reportedly be announced today and will be worn into the postseason (and, I bet, next season). The team is currently using a simple black-circle “5” as its social media avatar, so that’s probably what the patch will be:
Classy stuff all around.
The Orioles beat the Nats last night, reducing their magic number for clinching the American League East to one. They’re a fun team — I’m hoping they get to wear that new memorial patch deep into the postseason.
As a Cardinals fan, I think I’m safe in equating Brooks Robinson to Stan Musial. Which is to say, there can almost no limit to the quantity of testimonials to that player. Heck, we named a bridge after Stan. Good for the Orioles.
Brooks Robinson (one of my favorite names) grew up in Little Rock, so he was a devout fan of the Cardinals. Naturally, he loved Stan Musial.
And that orange juice can is thee greatest.
“fans who want to visit Robinson’s statue inside Oriole Park (shown above) can do so from 7am until four hours before first pitch, each day from now through Sunday — a very nice gesture.”
I’m a bit confused by this verbiage. Were fans not permitted to visit the statue previously, or have the hours been extended? Is it open to anyone (or does one need a ticket?). Or is the statue located in a location that’s generally off-limits to the public?
(Perhaps I’m equating this with the Mets’ Seaver statue or Apple, which anyone can visit any time — is the Brooks statue literally inside the park, as opposed to the Seaver statue which is just outside the Mets’ ballpark footprint?)
It appears this is in reference to the statues that are inside the park beyond the bullpens in CF. There is a different statue across the street in what looks like public space beyond LF.
Ahhh. OK, gotcha. Thanks.
The OPaCY HOF statues are inside the park behind the bullpens. This part of the stadium is usually closed to non-ticket holders (even on non-game days when Eutaw street is open to foot traffic. Before the Os honored their HOFers a private citizen paid for a statue outside the park of Brooks.
Thanks Frank!
As dchis noted, the Orioles have Legends Park that is inside the gates of the stadium, with statues of members of the Hall of Fame who went in as Orioles (so, Brooks, Frank Robinson, Cal Ripken, Eddie Murray, Jim Palmer, Earl Weaver). This is generally not open to the public during non-game times. There is another statue of Brooks just outside the gates of the stadium as well.
I believe that FCOJ was acquired by Duke & Duke in the 80s
Excellent!
Can of the day kinda reminds me of this Orange Bowl logo! (excuse the sponsor creep)
link
Such a great design on that can!
I too thought of the Orange Bowl – The Orange King is a classic.
Such a great logo even looked good through the FedEx sponsorship years. Why did they change it in 2011? Just not the same without the face. Of course, they had already moved the game out of the actual stadium it belonged in the 90s.
My personal opinion is that the O’s should wear the No. 5 on their unis all next season too. He was a giant, and deserves an entire season dedicated to his memory.
Nice tributes by the Orioles who are indeed a fun team to watch. My favorites for this postseason after the Mets did not qualify (to put it mildly). I hope they will continue to honor him somewhere on the uniform next season as well, that number 5 next to third base should stay there for next season as well. At least.
The can is another home run, the basketball uniforms are amazing once again. How many of them will be wearing Chuck Taylor, Keds or Spalding sneakers? Or extinct brands we do not know about?
My favorite can in the series so far! Thanks, Paul.
Northeast Harbor and Bar Harbor aren’t just both towns in Maine, they are neighboring towns on Mount Desert Island in Maine, separated by Acadia National Park.
I’d say Bar Harbor had more fishermen on their team back then, as they look considerably older than the NEH team.
Point of order, Mister Chairman: Tribute is a noun, not a verb. Please don’t contribute to the kind of nonsense that is trying hard to make “gift” a verb. It is not.
Brooks came to the Orioles the year I was born and retired the year I graduated from college. I had a Brooks glove and went with my wife to his Cooperstown induction wearing his jersey. He autographed a poster for my son before the baby was born. Fortunate to meet him on several occasions and he was one of the nicest humans I ever met. He was a gift to Baltimore, Maryland and baseball and should never be forgotten. God bless him.
What a nice thing it would have been for Brooks to see the O’s clinch the AL East, or even return to the World Series before he passed! (and who knows, it could be a repeat of the O’s and the Phillies from 1983- 40 years later!) He was my childhood hero (not Mickey Mantle) and I am a lifelong Orioles fan, having grown up on the Eastern Shore. He would come over occasionally and speak at a local event. My brother was a LL all star one year, and got to meet him. Truly a gentleman. Just listen to Jim Palmer speak of him, nearly being brought to tears. Go O’s!