Loyal to the game
by BmoreFan on Jul 21, 2010 4:59 PM EDT
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In my years as a sports fan, I've felt a lot of respect for certain players. Players that meant the world to their sport, their team, their fans, their particular city. "The Greatest" we would call them. Never did they let us down, nor would they ever leave us. We were married to them and they were married to us, and we would always love each other, till death do us part. And even then we would reminisce about all the great memories they gave us.
Baltimore Orioles third baseman Brooks Robinson is the most loyal player in the history of sports till this day, playing each of his 21 seasons with "the Birds" and earning some accolades along the way. From September 17th, 1955 till August 13th, 1977, Brooks had a batting average of .267, with 2,848 hits, 268 home runs and 1,357 RBI's. In his 21 years as an Oriole, he earned 18 consecutive All-Star selections ('60-'74), 2 World Series championships ('66, '70), 16 consecutive Gold Gloves ('60-'75), an AL MVP ('64), an All-Star MVP ('66), a World Series MVP ('70), the Roberto Clemente Award ('72), the Babe Ruth Award ('70) and the Lou Gehrig Memorial Award ('66). His #5 has been retired by the Baltimore Orioles and Brooks was selected to the MLB All-Century Team by the fans. He was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1983 with 92% of the vote.
If you were a young baseball fan throughout the Brooks years, you wanted to be Brook. No matter where you lived, if you were a fan of baseball, you were a fan of Brooks or at least an admirer.
I know there have been many other loyal greats throughout sports (although MLB seems to have the most), there is one trio of players that I wanted to mention in this article. These three guys have also been through it all, have won it all and they are part of that group that we call "The Greatest" and most importantly they did it together on one team only and created the core for one of the most successful sports teams this world has ever seen. Obviously I am talking about the New York Yankees and Derek Jeter, Mariano Rivera and Jorge Posada. The three players achieved 27 All-Star selections, 5 total World Series championships, 4 Gold Gloves, 9 Silver Slugger Awards, 2 AL Hank Aaron Awards, 1 AL ROY, an All-Star MVP, 2 World Series MVPs, the Babe Ruth Award, the Roberto Clemente Award and a Thurman Munson Award. On top of that Rivera holds 10 regular season records, 15 post-season records and 2 All-Star records and 6 other special feats. You can read about all his records and titles on his Wikipedia page. All three players started their careers with the Yankees in the 1995 season, although Posada played just one game, but was recalled again in '96 for 8 games though not making the post-season roster.
When life gives you the opportunity to admire a professional like any of these four, nothing could be better then to sit back a watch these students of the game take the sport to another level.
The list of these loyal people is pretty special and many many people have earned the title "The Greatest" playing at the highest level of performance. Who did you root for?
(Written by Arjan @ BmoreFan)
FanPosts are user-created content and do not necessarily reflect the views of the editors of Camden Chat or SB Nation. They might, though.
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It's so refreshing to see these Yankees spoken of in a positive light for once...
Oh wait. That’s the exact opposite of what I meant. I forgot.
Listen, if you don’t hate them, fine. I get it. I actually have always been amazed by Mariano. But really? I’m supposed to give a crap that these three players were retained by the wealthiest sports franchise on the face of the earth? The one team that could pay them more than any other anyway? Sorry, but I really don’t give a damn.
Talk about Cal, or Gwynn, or Chipper or Mauer or anyone else, but the Yankees? Those three stayed loyal to the team that could pay them the most and put them in a position to win every year. Color me unimpressed.
"things like locig and prrofreading are actually valued here" - zknower
its sad that you feel that way
i am in no way a Yankee fan, but if George Steinbrenner was owner of the Orioles you would have thrown up a finger at everyone else too. I am an Oriole fan, but I also like baseball in general. Certain accomplishments have to be admired from a different viewpoint.
Too bad you couldn’t say something nice about Brooks.
It is sad what Angelos has done to Baltimore baseball fans. Sometimes I don’t know which one I regret being around more
If you are not fired with enthusiasm, you'll be fired with enthusiasm - Vince Lombardi
I love Brooks, but that wasn't the point I was contesting (obviously)
and my feelings have nothing to do with Angelos. Sure, I probably would have loved being a fan under Steinbrenner, but that’s not the point here. How can you admire longevity with a team (the Yankees) when it is the easiest choice to make? For staying with the Yankees, they got the most money, played for the best team, and were in NYC. That isn’t “admirable”, that’s a no-brainer. Leaving in FA would have almost assuredly led to a smaller contract and a lesser chance at winning. Their situation is not the same as any other player, especially guys like Brooks and Cal.
"things like locig and prrofreading are actually valued here" - zknower
agreed
that money makes the decisions easier, but they got that money because they are good. Very good. But the Yankees don’t pay everyone to stay. They release a lot of players too who probably made more someplace else. At the same time, they didn’t come to the Yankees for the money, they all came from their farm system and have been loyal to the club.
But there are other teams that would have and could have paid more for either one, because their payroll isn’t as large as the Yankees.
I just thought it was an amazing feat that all three came up through the system and played together in 16 consecutive seasons. A feat never done before.
If you are not fired with enthusiasm, you'll be fired with enthusiasm - Vince Lombardi
I think the reason you might get a lot of flak for this post
Is that we’re practically bombarded with how great the yankees are from every major news outlet, even when the Yankees aren’t even involved in the story. Its not that i dont have some level of respect for those guys (though not much), its that I’m sick of hearing about it. There’s other good stories in baseball, and I like this site as a place wehere i can read about baseball without people fawning all over the Yankees.
your avatar
is a Yankee hat
i see its burning
still, you are throwing their image on your account, so you are bombarding me with it too. if you are sick of hearing about it, don’t put their hat on your account.
If you are not fired with enthusiasm, you'll be fired with enthusiasm - Vince Lombardi
That is the stupidest thing I have ever heard.
"On my tombstone just write, 'The sorest loser that ever lived.'" Earl Weaver
Do you have a screen reader?
’Cause it was one of the dumbest things I ever read, personally. :)
"I might know a couple things that you don't know. 'Cause I've been young, but you ain't never been old." - Elvin Bishop
This is a crap post.
Honestly, I’m on a break from CC right now because of other priorities, but I came within a hair’s breadth of deleting this. I will leave it to the other mods to decide its fate.
Read the fucking community guidelines. You’re supposed to proofread fanposts. Brooks played for 23 years, not 21. You have various other obvious typos above.
If you were a young baseball fan throughout the Brooks years, you wanted to be Brook. No matter where you lived, if you were a fan of baseball, you were a fan of Brooks or at least an admirer.
How can you have any idea what young baseball fans were thinking in the 1950s, when you weren’t even alive back then? Are you just making shit up, or do you have sources to cite? Or is this just what you imagine it was like, in which case, maybe you shouldn’t present it as fact.
These three guys have also been through it all
No, they haven’t “been through it all”. These guys have never been on a losing team in their entire career. They have never had to face any kind of baseball adversity. What’s so remarkable about them not leaving a franchise that cherrypicks the best players from other teams and surrounds them with them? Why not, since you’re on a Orioles blog, mention Cal Ripken Jr., who played for 21 years, many of them losing seasons, and still never left his team?
It is sad what Angelos has done to Baltimore baseball fans. Sometimes I don’t know which one I regret being around more
This sentence doesn’t even make sense. You can’t decide whether you regret being around Angelos more or Baltimore baseball fans more? What the fuck? Explain this to me. Particularly since, in moving to Baltimore in 2000 (yes, I read the internet), you missed the first seven years of his regime, during which he refused to field replacement players, improved relations with Cuba, and put the Orioles in the playoffs for the first time in 13 years. I’m no defender of PA as a whole, but seriously, you can’t just make up shit and expect it to go uncontested.
Your post is basically a list of statistics (and a link to Wikipedia, which is laughable as a source), and virtually no original thought. It was also published in its entirety on your own website, which means it’s just you driving traffic to your blog, which is SPAMming, and forbidden.
Write something else like this here and risk being banned.
"I put a pepper rub on the scallops so you have a little contrast. You have sweetness from the coconut oil and little acidity from the splash of lemon." – Luke Scott
by zknower on Jul 22, 2010 5:40 PM EDT reply actions 8 recs
BOOM
"I have seen the future and his name is Matt Wieters." Keith Law
by Reddrummer9187 on Jul 23, 2010 10:45 AM EDT up reply actions
yet you were wussy enough to leave it on?
big bark, no bite.
my statement about Brooks was derived from testimonies from people who were there. Obviously I wasn’t there. You should go outside and meet people outside of the internets.
My statement regarding they had been through it all was my fault that it was misinterpreted. I was focusing on the positives and it doesn’t get any better then their accomplishments. Maybe you didn’t get that. My bad.
And your statement that i wasn’t there for the other years of losing is simple at best. i wasn’t in New Orleans for Katrina, but somehow I knew that was pretty bad. I wasn’t in WWII, but i am pretty sure no one is celebrating all the deaths. I never met you, but your post shows what kind of douchebag you are. ARE YOU GETTING IT NOW?
And your discovery that my post was mostly statistics was pretty obvious. did it take you long to get to that conclusion? I never claimed this was all original thought, I was merely pointing out to these amazing feats.
and oh yeah, your site doesn’t drive any traffic. don’t worry. I get more hits from wrong searches.
overall, you are exactly the sad type of fan running his mouth at anything he can hold on to, because you don’t have anything else to do.
and oh, I am pretty sure you feel all balsy now to delete it so I will make sure i keep a copy of this page for future entertainment.
and oh i met the Angelos family. you wont believe how bad it really is. and no, i don’t owe you any explanation on it, except to rally piss you off. have a good day sir.
If you are not fired with enthusiasm, you'll be fired with enthusiasm - Vince Lombardi
keep all the copies you want.
i see no reason to delete. you can stand as an example for what others shouldn’t do.
i stand behind everything i wrote: there are guidelines here, and everyone is expected to read them and follow them. you don’t get to be an exception to that rule no matter how terrific you think you are based on your “wrong search” hit quotient, or how much of a douchebag you think i am. on the latter point, judging by the comments in this thread, you’re in the minority.
by the way, it’s nice that you have testimonies from people “who were there” when Brooks was playing, and that you’ve “met the Angelos family”. it’s a shame you didn’t cite any of this extensive background in your original Fanpost, as it would have strengthened it considerably.
You should go outside and meet people outside of the internets. …… overall, you are exactly the sad type of fan running his mouth at anything he can hold on to, because you don’t have anything else to do
ahahaha! those are pretty rich statements, coming from someone whose bio reads “Sometimes you just gotta vent. Welcome to my blog.”
"I put a pepper rub on the scallops so you have a little contrast. You have sweetness from the coconut oil and little acidity from the splash of lemon." – Luke Scott
Yeah that's about enough.
Oh and now we’re warming up Uehara. He’ll die. He will actually DIE if he pitches in this heat. -KenDixonFanClub
BANNED (For real)
"[The] dictionary is the only place that success comes before work." - Vince Lombardi
by BaltimoreSportsFan on Jul 25, 2010 5:49 PM EDT up reply actions
You seriously have your own site????
I really hope you have an editor that understands the difference between then/than…
Rub some $100 bills on it, you sell-out. -duck
At least his proofreading is rally good
"I have seen the future and his name is Matt Wieters." Keith Law
by Reddrummer9187 on Jul 26, 2010 9:54 AM EDT up reply actions
I love how you title this post 'loyal to the game'
Yes, Jeter, Rivera and Posada are loyal to the game in that every year of their adult life they’ ve been on an organized baseball team. Reggie Jackson, who was more or less a soldier of fortune, was loyal to the game in that he never stopped playing it during his career. He’s as loyal to the game as those three.
But then you give us the old Rod Serling plot twist, by letting us know you’re actually here to congratulate players who are loyal to the same team, and one in which they are paid great amounts of money to continue being that way.
Truthfully, this reads and feels like an April fool’s post.
"Tragedy is what happens to me. Comedy is what happens to you." -Mel Brooks
perhaps even...
an m. night shyamalan plot twist.
what a twist!
At all hazards, a man must keep up appearances. Dignity, I say. Dignity above all, Governor. Hear, hear!
-Det. William "Bunk" Moreland
by j.q. higgins on Jul 25, 2010 12:52 PM EDT up reply actions
let me guess
a conspiracy theorist?
the fact that it was 16 years as a trio makes them #1 in that fashion. was it another trio on another team, it would have written about them.
the fact that you cant celebrate the game of sports and its accomplishments is sad because yes this was an MLB record accomplishments. if you don’t like it, hat is your problem, not mine
If you are not fired with enthusiasm, you'll be fired with enthusiasm - Vince Lombardi
15 years as a trio
…plus part of this season. And really 14 years for Posada, who had only one game and zero plate appearances in 1995.
But don’t let those pesky facts get in your way!
"I put a pepper rub on the scallops so you have a little contrast. You have sweetness from the coconut oil and little acidity from the splash of lemon." – Luke Scott
hat is my problem!
I really need to find a new one for everyday use. I had this great all white one with the cartoon bird on it, but I lost it! I’ve been totally stressing about my hat problem for weeks now. Thanks for the reminder.
Also how should we “celebrate the game of sports”?? By the way, what is the “game of sports”? Is that some kind of super hybrid game that combines all the major sports into one?? Do you start at home plate and kick a football to start the game, then run to first base and dunk a basketball, then run to second and try to kick a soccer ball into a goal in center field, then run to third and throw on some hockey goalie equipment and skates and block a shot from left field, then head home and take out the catcher, all the while dodging tackles from cornerbacks and safeties?? That sounds fucking awesome.
Rub some $100 bills on it, you sell-out. -duck
Is that some kind of super hybrid game that combines all the major sports into one??
I played a game in middle school that was a combination of soccer and basketball, cant remember what we called it. Indoor soccer goals were set up on the basketball court. Baskets were worth 2, goals were worth 1. You started off playing basketball but any point you could put the ball on the ground and start playing soccer. If while playing basketball there was was a loose ball that settled on the ground you had to start playing soccer. Once it was on the ground, you couldn’t pick up the ball again until a goal was scored or the ball went out of bounds. It was awesome.
Sounds awesome
if you added tackling and random pitching/hitting you’d have what BmoreFan was talking about!
Rub some $100 bills on it, you sell-out. -duck
I'm sure making it a contact sport would be easy enough
obviously that wasn’t an option in gym class at a public middle school. Incorporating baseball would be a bit more difficult.
Oh i'm working on it
the next CC meetup might have to start with an exciting round of game of sports.
I take that back, the next CC meetup might have to start with heavy drinking, then game of sports.
Do you think you could make solid contact on one of those red rubber playground balls with a bat? It would probably have to be metal.
dude this could be awesome
you could copyright this shit
I don’t have much tolerance for stupid. Or cheese on food that doesn’t need it. -duck
by twistedlogic on Jul 26, 2010 3:04 PM EDT up reply actions
Wait,
where did a conspiracy theory come from? You titled the post ‘Loyal to the Game’, then you write about how these three guys are loyal to their team.
"Tragedy is what happens to me. Comedy is what happens to you." -Mel Brooks
its twisted logic!
I don’t have much tolerance for stupid. Or cheese on food that doesn’t need it. -duck
by twistedlogic on Jul 26, 2010 3:21 PM EDT up reply actions
Who cares if a player is loyal to his team?
I’ve never understood this.
Seriously, does anyone admire a plumber for being loyal to his employer and not going somewhere else where he could make more money or have more success? I know I’ve certainly learned in my dozen plus years of adult employment that it doesn’t usually pay to be loyal to my boss. Beyond being disappointed when your favorite player leaves your favorite team, why does anyone care?
I agree with this!
This string of posts make me giggle at 8 am, so that’s something, but I also don’t see the point of really celebrating the success of a rival team’s commitment to keeping 4 players together. Wasn’t there an SI article about this exact topic?
Yes, and here it is:
http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2010/writers/tom_verducci/04/27/yankees.core.four/index.html
I think if it’s a cover story for SI, you can’t take credit for the points made in the article and post it like you made it up all by yourself. Apologize to Tom Verducci right now!
"People who write about spring training not being necessary have never tried to throw a baseball."
Sandy Koufax
by Birdland in NC on Aug 2, 2010 8:10 AM EDT up reply actions
Seriously, does anyone admire a plumber for being loyal to his employer and not going somewhere else where he could make more money or have more success?
Last i checked, millions of people a year don’t pay to watch plumbers work. Its not a good metaphor.
actually, they do
each person who hires a plumber to work on their system then stands around to watch him work. but it’s more of a one on one thing.
and i’m exaggerating, most don’t stand around and watch, but many do. i’m not a plumber, per se, but i work with water as a specialist.
Why would that change anything?
What does the amount of money paid to athletes have to do with anything ?
(and by the way, I guarantee the plumbing industry is a much larger part of the economy than professional athletics)
“I pay a lot of money so you should act outside of your own economic interests!”
That makes no sense.
I think his point
was that sports teams have a very loyal fan base that develops a relationship, real or imagine, with their players. That relationship most certainly doesn’t exist in the plumbing industry.
And just to throw it out there, until pretty recently in our history lots of people in “normal” jobs DID work for the same company their entire careers and that WAS celebrated.
Rub some $100 bills on it, you sell-out. -duck
Exactly
Usually when someone expects “loyalty” from a player, it’s usually the same as expecting him to bend over & take it from the owner.
I know it’s a football movie, but as one of the players in North Dallas 40 said, “Every time we say it’s a game, you tell us it’s a business. And when we say it’s a business, you tell us it’s a game!”
"Fairy tales start 'once upon a time...'. Fishing stories start 'now this ain't no bullshit...'."
- Cap'n Phil Harris
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