BALTIMORE — In 1895, a Bambino moonshot from present-day Camden Yards, Babe Ruth was born in Pigtown.
Twenty years after the Babe's last season in the majors, a gifted young infielder packed his bags to join a new Baltimore ballclub.
His name was Brooks Calbert Robinson. Mr. Oriole.
Baltimore lost him last week.
"It was like a family member had just passed," said Shawn Herne, executive director of the Babe Ruth Museum and Birthplace. "It was just a punch to the stomach."
You'd be hard-pressed to find someone in this town without only the best to say about Brooks: a torchbearer for the Baltimore Orioles, and for America's pastime.
Brooks himself was closely involved with the Babe Ruth museum. After its team learned brooks had passed last week - it got to work on a tribute. An exhibit dedicated to Brooks, to begin display the Saturday the Orioles play their first 2023 postseason game.
"We're talking about the nicest guy in sports, period," said Herne. "And so if you asked Books to do something, he was always willing to do it."
Behind the glass: time capsules - some of the museum's own collection and lent items from private donors.
Robinson's first contract, jerseys, and yes, a glove used by the Human Vacuum Cleaner himself; not much got past him at the hot corner.
"He's the king of this city, in so many ways, and so I think it's going to be emotional for people," Herne told WMAR. "It's been emotional all week for a lot of people. People who have met him, knew him. And I think that's just going to continue."
As the present-day Orioles embark on a playoff journey this Saturday, fans can swing by and remember Baltimore's greatest baseball hero, and most important of all, a great man.
"There is no one that even comes close to the kindness, the gentleness, the good humor, of Brooks Robinson," Herne added.
The Brooks exhibit will be on display throughout the postseason this year, and leading up to the beginning of next season. And let's hope it's a long playoffs.
