Brooks Robinson and Cal Ripken Jr.
Signed by the Orioles in 1955, just one year after the moribund St. Louis Browns franchise moved to Baltimore, Robinson would spend all or parts of 23 seasons with the team, winning American League, All-Star Game and World Series Most Valuable Player awards, 16 Golden Gloves for defensive excellence at third base and the undying love of thousands of Baltimoreans.
In 1981, four years after Robinson hung up his spikes for good, Ripken joined the Orioles, playing shortstop before migrating to third base. When he retired 20 years later, the Iron Man had American League and All-Star MVP awards (two of each), the unfathomable accomplishment of having played in 2,632 games without a break, more than 3,000 hits and the image burned in fans' minds of staying for hours after a game was over, until everybody waiting in line for an autograph was satisfied.
Reuniting at (where else?) third base, on the field that now hosts youngsters learning to play the game on the same spot where both Hall-of-Famers began their major-league careers, the two men involuntarily flashed back to their Memorial Stadium years. Robinson, standing on home plate, looked beyond the outfield, at the white-painted houses that would sometimes make it hard for a batter to see the ball coming out of the pitcher's hand. Would you believe Boog Powell once hit a ball into some hedges way out there? he asked, smiling at the thought (and at Boog's power).
Ripken noted how strange, but familiar, it felt, driving on Greenmount Avenue and heading for the ballpark — something he was doing on an almost daily basis 25 years ago, but not anymore. Yes, leaving Memorial Stadium was hard, emotional. But he got over it, Ripken said, the minute he set foot in the Birds' luxurious new digs at Oriole Park at Camden Yards.
Once, when Ripken was being feted before a packed house at Camden Yards, Robinson took to the mike to announce that he was handing over the unofficial title of “Mr. Oriole.” But such things cannot simply be passed on; let's just say it's a shared honor.
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