Remembering Brooks Robinson

Yeah, we got a Tony show today coming up at 10 o'clock and he will have a lengthy explanation. I'm sure as to why the show almost didn't happen today, but he is back. And that's good. I think he's doing shows the rest of the week. So today, tomorrow and Friday, you'll get Tony three days in a row. The number one story, of course, in this part of the country and it's high up in all parts of the country. He's the death of Brooks Robinson and it was not unexpected. He'd been ill for a while. They had a tribute to him last year. He didn't look great, but it was all smiles as he always was and they paraded him around Camden Yards and I'm glad they got that in before he passed away. You know, there's an old saying, you don't want to really meet your heroes because they'll disappoint you. Meeting Brooks Robinson for most people and I include myself because I have a story about him. He exceeded my expectations. It was almost hard to believe that someone who had achieved that kind of celebrity and was known wherever he went was just so wonderful and kind and caring about other people. I mean, it really you almost look at it like how is this possible? He was in the public eye for 60 years over 60 years and he never there's I don't think there's a story out there of him snubbing somebody. In fact, when you sell memorabilia, maybe the least article of least valuable article of memorabilia is a Brooks Robinson sign baseball because he signed for everybody. Yeah, sometimes he would do it for money, but if you saw him on the street and you handed him a baseball, he signed the baseball. He was just that kind of person and the tributes that have been pouring in since last night. We're going to hear from Jim Palmer who was on the pregame and the broadcast last night for the Orioles and the Nationals. He broke down and rightfully so because their connection goes back to when Jim Palmer came up in the early 1960s. As a 19 year old and Brooks Robinson had come up as a 19 year old with the Orioles in 1955. He didn't stick, but eventually got to be the third baseman in 1960 and the rest is history. We go through all the different numbers that he had 23 years with the team 16 gold gloves. He won the MVP of the American League in 1964 was the World Series MVP in 1970. And by the way, that World Series where they beat the Cincinnati Reds in five games in 1970. That was the last one that was played all in the daytime. The following year, the Orioles made it back and they played the first night game when they were playing the Pittsburgh Pirates. And I think to the detriment of baseball, but you know, it's all about ratings and numbers. But to be at that time was a kid. I was 12 years old and and to have been able to see all the games start to finish. Incredible. And Brooks Robinson, you know, what's what's overlooked is how well he hit in that World Series. He was the MVP. He could have done it just with his bat. He had 429 with two homers and six runs batted in in that five game series. But it was his fielding that was absolutely remarkable. And to this day, you can see the highlights on YouTube or anywhere you want. And it's amazing that he's able to make these plays. He was not the greatest athlete. You know, he wasn't fast. I think he hit into more double plays than any other Oriole in history. By his own admission, he didn't have a great arm, but he just managed to scoop up everything. He was the human vacuum cleaner. And not only could he scoop it up, he could make the play at first base. And he was always modest about that. You know, he always said that boot pal saved him on many of his throws because he was such a great fielding first baseman. That may have been. But you know, Brooks was just amazing. And in the obituary today, which is on the front page of the Washington Post. And I remember, you know, he had his career in Baltimore, all Baltimore. But is revered throughout baseball and is revered here. I think in large part because the last six years of his career in Baltimore, that was kind of Washington's team. Yeah, he faded towards the end. He wasn't the same when he reached his late 30s and retired at the age of 40. But, you know, when we didn't have a baseball team here from after the senators left in 1971 till the nationals got here in 2005, the Orioles were the home team. And their games were shown here in Washington on HTS and also on channel 20. They did the games out of channel two in Baltimore. But channel 20 was an affiliate. And that's where you got to see him work with Chuck Thompson and Scott Garso. In fact, he did games right after he retired 1978 through 1993. And just was just a wonderful ambassador for the game of baseball. And just the greatest fielding third baseman of all time. I mean, the debate goes on, who's the best third baseman? Mike Schmidt or Brooks Robinson? Well, Schmidt hit twice as many home runs. They had the same 267 batting average. But in the field, it wasn't close. Brooks was was just that great of a fielder. In fact, in the front page, O'Bitt in the post today by Gary Gatley. He recalls the 1970 World Series. And he writes this. He set the tone in the first game, grabbing a ground ball in the sixth inning off the bat of the Reds Lee May, as his momentum carried him far into foul territory. Robinson made a whirling throw to first to gun down May and stop assist in that E rally. Quote, he was going towards the bullpen when he threw to first, Clay Carroll, a Reds relief pitcher set at the time. His arm went one way, his body another and he shoes another in the next inning. Robinson hit a home run as the Orioles won the game four to three. Just, you know, a remarkable performance in that World Series. And to this day, I don't think you can think of anyone who had a better series in the field than Brooks did. I don't know about it. And even, you know, who hits 429 in a World Series? I wonder how many, how many players got to that? And, and he did both. He wanted with his bat and he won it with his glove. And it was probably a very easy vote. Probably was unanimous that he was the MVP of this World Series. Pat Corralis, who was a long time baseball guy. He worked in the national organization for a while. He was a manager for a number of teams. He hit the final out of the World Series for the Reds. It was a ground ball, the third base and Robinson threw him out. It was just so fitting all around. Before I get to what Jim Palmer said last night on Massen in the pregame show, as he was talking to Scott Garso, when the news first came down, it was late yesterday afternoon. Dave Shinin, who has lived in Baltimore, I think for over 20 years. And at one time was the Orioles beat writer. He's the one that broke the story that Cal Ripkin was going to retire at the end of the 2001 season. He, he wrote about Gordon Beard, who was a long time Baltimore sports writer, wrote for the Baltimore son. And he said, and this was in 1977 when the Yankees had signed Reggie Jackson. And, and Reggie said, if I ever play in New York, the name of candy bar after me. In fact, they did. It was the Reggie bar. But Beard said, instead here in Baltimore, we name our children for him. And Shinin writes, celebrity is not the same thing as decency. And not every hero is worthy of memorializing with something as personal and internal eternal as a child's name. But the Baltimore Orioles legend Brooks Robinson, who died Tuesday at 86, absolutely was Baltimoreians of a certain age can recite the numbers by heart Robinson's 23 seasons in an Oriole uniform, the 18 All-Star appearances, the 16 gold gloves is arguably the greatest defensive third baseman in history. He was the most beloved figure of the most successful era in Orioles history, the 1966 to 1974 teams that went to four World Series one, two of them, and made two other playoff appearances. And that, by the way, was at a time where there's only one wild card. So making the playoffs was a big deal. It's not 14 teams like it is today. So that's a wonderfully written tribute to Brooks Robinson, who frankly is not the greatest Oriole of all time. He's not even the greatest Robinson of all time to play in Baltimore. Frank Robinson was a better player, but I don't think you'll ever find anyone more beloved in Baltimore than Brooks Robinson because of the type of person he was on top of the great player that he was. Now this was part of the pregame show on Mass and last night, Scott Garso, who did television with Brooks Robinson doing the Oriole games in the early 80s and into the 90s, talking to Jim Palmer, who was a teammate for a large part of Brooks's career. I guess they intersected between 1963 and when Brooks retired in 1977. So that's a long time. And they remain close throughout the years. And you'll hear in this conversation, Jim Palmer break down when talking about Brooks Robinson. This was last night in the pregame show on Mass and Scott Garso, Jim Palmer. We've known that Brooks has been in failing health, but you're never prepared to lose somebody with the impact of Brooks. No, you know, I don't think we're ever going to lose them. You're right. I mean, I'm not real good at this, but I looked at my phone. Now what, they're honoring me for 60 years. He got here in 1955. Yeah, and never left. Yeah, I just talked to Boog, who came up to see him tomorrow. So, you know, right before I got COVID, I went up to see Connie and Brooks and spent probably, I don't know, about an hour and a half. You know, we would trade phone calls. I'd call them in two weeks later to get back to me. But, you know, I got here when I was 19, Brooks got here when, when, you know, 1955. So we, I think maybe he always knew what it's like to be in the big leagues in 19. And then I think when you get to the big leagues, you know, you got to get here, you got to stay here, you got to figure out how to get better. And then you got to decide who you want to be like. And for all of us, you know, who knew, you know, we knew he was the best. So, you know, and just, you know, the little things everywhere I'd go, you know, I'd get a Brooks, there'd be an autograph ball. And I'd, Brooks's name would be on it. And I used to tell them I said, I can't be right, right, right, right so big because it was a big city. But everywhere I'd go, people would go, we all know he's a great player. He won 16 gold gloves, but we also know what, how special a person he was. And I think as a young player, you know, you make a decision early in your life. Okay, who do I want to emulate? Who do I want to be like? And, you know, Brooks was that guy. And, you know, and then Connie, because, you know, I raised a family here. My daughters grew up here. My wife, Susie, Connie was, you know, I mean, wasn't that much older, but she was so nice to him. And when, you know, I got in the Hall of Fame, you know, a lot of times the younger wives aren't treated particularly well, but not by Connie Robinson. So they were wonderful family. We all know Brooks was a great player. And like you said, I kind of know that maybe, you know, with his health declining that wouldn't happen around, but just think about if we didn't. Yeah. And I thought it was so great last year that Brooks went into the clubhouse and told this young team that was kind of ascending and how much he thought about them and what their future might be. Right. You guys went through that as young players. Well, we did. And, you know, I mean, you know, I played in six world series and what another two or three playoffs and, you know, Brooks, yeah, I mean, we were talking on the last road trip about the, we were talking about celebrations. And he always had one, you know, just, you know, that they're going to get in the postseason. And then, but, you know, and Boug would be able to tell you that the celebration we had in Kansas City when we knew we, you know, going in the first world series. And guy, you know, there's a solid and guys are throwing a solid and three years later, there'd be a big mustard stain on your shirt because we couldn't really afford to buy a lot of shirts back then. But those are the things. And, you know, again, I mean, going back, I'm, I guess for some reason anyone on or me for 60 years here. And they should. I'm just glad that this team. And I said this many times. I think this is the best story in baseball this year. Yeah, I mean, Atlanta's having a great year. There are a lot of teams that are playing well, but they're going to get to experience what Brooks and I did and all the guys have played on these teams. Yeah. And I'm sure that there will be a uniform patch for Brooks Robinson, probably a number five that they will wear without the playoffs. And these guys are too young to have seen in play, of course. But maybe they'll be inspired just a little bit more by Brooks Robinson, who was as I put out at a tweet last night, there may have been men who played baseball better than Brooks Robinson. But there was never a better man who played baseball than Brooks Robinson. And almost everybody who intersected with them has a story. I've got mine. This was Scott Van Pelt a couple of months ago on the Dan Patrick show with his story of Brooks Robinson going back to when he was a kid growing up in Silver Spring Memorial Stadium of my dad. Like three bucknight. They used to be able to get an upper reserve seat in Memorial Stadium for three bucks. And so there'd be 20,000 people in 10,000 would be in this. And the upper reserves and then around the third or fourth inning you'd work your way down. I don't want to derail this, but I'll make it as quick as I can. There used to be a public address announcer there by the name of Rex Barney. And if you're if a fan made a catch of a foul ball and they made a good catch, Rex would say give that fan a contract. Brooks Robinson hits a foul ball. My dad jumps up makes a good grab catches a Brooks foul ball. I'm like 10. I'm home from school the next day. Naturally, we're going to play catch with the ball. Throw it. My buddy misses it. It rolls down the street into a sewer. It's gone. I tell this story at a charity event in Baltimore 20 years ago in the crowd is someone who does some work with book with Brooks and a week later a box shows up at my house. And there's a note in the box. It says hope this makes up for the one in the sewer Brooks Robinson. So I'm not I'm not an autograph guy Dan, but I I have been my man cave. I have one autograph. It's a baseball sign by Brooks Robinson to make up for the one my dad caught that I threw in the sewer. As a matter of fact, SVP last night tweeted out a picture of that baseball from his home that he's kept to this day. I mean, it's and here's my story. It's I guess it's similar to that Brooks Robinson would make appearances and maybe he got money for him. I don't know, but anytime somebody had a charity event he was there. He was there for all of Johnny holiday's golf tournaments. You asked him. He showed up and Bethesda big train, which is a team in the wooden bat league. It's now called the the Cal Ripken league. It's college players who play a two month season. And it's really nice ballpark at Cabot John and and I've gone to many, many games there over the years. And this probably goes back at least 10 years, maybe 15. I don't remember, but they were bringing in Brooks Robinson to sign autographs. And they had asked me if I would show up and interview him over the PA. Brooks Robinson, you have to ask twice for that. And I never met him. I'd seen him, of course, many times doing games on television. I watched him play the second half of his career. And I knew that he was he was known as a nice man. I just had no idea how nice he was. And we sit down to do the interview. He addresses me by name throughout it. And the way he handled it, he might as well have been talking to Vince Scully. That's the kind of respect that he showed me. And and just was just wonderful in this interview. And then we went out and he sat at a table and he signed autographs for everybody. Anybody who brought a ball or even just a piece of paper, he would sign it. And they would they would give him stories like, you know, do you remember the game in April of 1967 when you had two hits against Minnesota. And he'd he'd remember the game and he'd tell you the picture he hit it off of and he just made everybody feel like, you know, like great politicians do like they're the only one in the room. But it was it was for everybody. And I just came away from that thinking kind of it's just doesn't seem real how nice he is. But he was and everything you hear and everything you read that's all come out now is in the last twenty well not even 24 hours ever since yesterday afternoon. When the announcement came that he passed away, everybody says exactly the same thing that he was just that genuine of a person. And as Tom Boswell wrote in 1977 when he retired and that's that's part of the orbit in the post today. He wrote he had a great talent and never abused it. He received adolation and reciprocated with common decency while other players dressed like kings and acted like royalty Robinson arrived at the park dressed like a cab driver. Other stars had fans Robinson made friends and also talked about his wife and he pulled all the best one on his teammates. They want to flight a team flight those days teams didn't fly charter they flew commercial so nineteen fifty nine they're on a flight. And the one of the they used to call them stewardesses now they're called flight attendants it was constant butcher was her name and Robinson said hey look you know all these other guys on the team they're married so if if any of them try to talk to you remember I'm the only single guy on the plane. Which wasn't true but they got married a year later he converted to Catholicism they had four kids and remain married until his death just a wonderful life that included incredible generosity in 2015. He sold most of his memorabilia including all the gold gloves donated $1.4 million in proceeds to a charter charitable foundation that he and his wife had started. And when they closed down memorial stadium in 1991 they asked two athletes who played there to throw out the first ball one of them was of course Brooks Robinson the other one was Johnny and I just and I think if you ask people who grew up at Baltimore who are the most beloved sports figures in the history of Baltimore those two would be at the top of the list Johnny and I just who passed away in 2002 and Brooks Robinson who passed away. Yesterday Tim Kirchin did a really nice tribute to him that will play at 10 o'clock also will will get more into the Orioles of today as we do Orioles preview every Wednesday Kyle Gibson who has 15 wins leads the team with 15 wins he'll join us at 10 30 when we do Orioles preview Tony's coming up at 11 o'clock it's the Andy Policio ESPN 630. an Amy Trask present offbeat conversations and expert sports commentary as they ask, what the football when my family found out how long it took me to figure out why Charles woods and named his wine intercept they said there's a reason that you had trouble in school. Not everyone knows when I think about the end of the said that I don't know that I play football well what I've learned is a smuthe defensive back and make that's what it's all about. What the football was Susie Schuster and Amy Trask. The podcast is available Tuesday. Wherever you listen. The Andy Poland show on ESPN 630. The sports capital Orioles preview coming up at 10 30 Tony Cornheyser back in his spot at 11 o'clock today. So the Jets yesterday did sign a cot a quarterback. They didn't trade for one. Although the Kirk Cousins rumors persist, but right now they're saying, oh, Zach Wilson is our guy. We're sticking with Zach Wilson. And they signed Trevor Simeon, who's been around the block a few times. He's 31 years old, released by the Bengals in the preseason. Also came to light yesterday that Colin Kaepernick had written a letter to Jets General Manager Joe Douglass stated the 21st of September, asking that he be signed to the practice squad. He wasn't asking to back up Zach Wilson, but he wanted to join the Jets practice squad. Now keep in mind, he last played in 2016. He had a workout with the Raiders last year. They chose not to sign him. And if the Raiders don't sign you, nobody's going to sign you. But this letter was posted, and this is the way things work today, was posted on the Instagram site of rapper J Cole. Okay. But in the in the letter, Kaepernick says I would be honored and extremely grateful for the opportunity to come in and lead the practice squad. I would do this with the sole mission of getting your defense ready each week. If I were able to fill this role, I believe this allows for multiple things. It gives your defense the advantage of getting a true read on the more mobile athletic, versatile quarterback. I remember he hasn't played since 2016, he may be in shape, but that's not football shape. It's also allow you guys as an organization to take a real look at where I'm at football wise. So yeah, he's still very interested in playing, but I would say the chances of that are very slim. Simeon, you know, he is what he is. Career record of 13 and 17. Touchdown to interception ratio, not too bad. 42 touchdowns and 28 interceptions. And he was the Broncos starter in 2016 and 2017, but mostly has been a backup ever since. So I guess he's another option there, but not a great option as Zach Wilson remains the guy. And much to the disappointment of Joe Namath, that's the case that they're sticking with Wilson. And if you miss this, this was Monday. Joe Namath was on the Michael Keisho on ESPN, New York. And, you know, as I said yesterday, Namath has been a guy, you know, much like Sonny Jurgitson has been to the Redskit. Now he never did the radio play by play, but he's been around the organization. He's a beloved figure. He's the most important player in the history of the franchise. And he's been mostly positive about the team, even when things have been bad. But yesterday, or Monday, I should say, he came out guns blazing on the Michael Keisho, asked if he'd seen anything good from the Zach Wilson performance in the lost to New England on Sunday. No, I didn't take anything positive out of it yesterday. It was awful. Why? Why? Are you watching? Is it watching? I mean, please, when did you ever see a, well, with a little snack, we'll stay on Zach. You sit down. You sit down on the play, you go right down. What happens? I thought you're trying to win and make plays. You quit on a play. You ready? What is going on? It's disgusting. Well, and you brought up the coaching, how can a coach make things better for Zach? I'm going to coach, say, the locker rooms together. How many teams have we been on? Are you telling me there aren't some cats on the defensive sides? And, whoa, man, what's wrong with you? Yeah, there's not a harmony in the locker room. And if there is, they need to get ready to people. You've got to get people in there to the competitors and want to fight to win. These guys don't have to be in love with each other. And if they, if they're saying they're in love with each other, they'll be asking you. And you've got to get ready. Talk to bottom. What would you, if you, if somebody handed you Zach Walson and said, OK, Joe, make him better, what would you do? Send him the Kansas City to back up against somebody like my home, maybe it learned something. I wouldn't keep them. I've seen enough of Zach Wilson, all right? I've seen enough. As quick feet can throw a little bit, but I don't believe what's going on up there. You know, that's the thing is that they're saying they believe in him. And they're backing it up, Joe, by not bringing in a veteran quarterback. Well, what could be Joe Douglas's motivation at this point, with the season teetering of not bringing in somebody that is playing this league before outside of Tim Boyle backing up, Zach? He picked these people. Douglas picked these people. So he's going to double down. What's he going to do? I can get rid of everybody. What are you going to start over? I miss the Johnson. Hey, these guys aren't picking the right players. They're not doing a good job of coaching. It's evident. I mean, you're going to look and see if you have an eye about football at all. You see things are haywire. It's too crazy. They need to fix it. And that's getting rid of a lot of people and bringing new ones in. So Broadway, Joe has become flame throwing, Joe. Yesterday on the Rich Eisen show, Michael K. made a guest appearance. And just to give you a little background on how this came about and reaction to it. And there was more reaction yesterday with Aaron Rogers, which we'll get to. But this was Kay with Eisen on how they got this interview arranged and what the setup was. He tweets or I don't know what to call him on X. He X's. And I was looking at it during the rain delay on Sunday after the jet game. And I can see that his comments were really pointed. So between innings after the game resumed, I just texted my producer. So let's try to get Joe on. And I think he really wanted to come on. Usually it takes you have to go through his feet. But he also found here to be on Zoom, which usually don't do. So that gave us the video portion for the S network. And then Donald and I had to do much heavy lifting there, Richie. We just asked one question and he went off. He was not happy with cycles. Yeah, I know. And your questions that elicited it were what you try to be positive, like what was positive and you said nothing. And then you said, what would you do if you had him in your, I guess, mentorship. And he's like, he was uninterested in being a mentor to Zach Wilson, Michael. Yeah, you know what's amazing? Here's so many things came out of the interview, Rich. But the thing that really got me when Joe Names said he has never met Zach Wilson. And to me, that's on the jets. I mean, this is your most famous alum, period, end of sense. Every quarterback that puts on a jet uniform should at least meet Joe Names that have some words. Not to talk about exes and owes, but just to talk about be a quarterback in New York and how you handle it. He has never met the guy. I don't get it. That's malfeasance on the jets part. And maybe that led to Joe being as upset as he was. How dare the jets not make Zach Wilson a Joe Names with me. It doesn't make sense. Well, I mean, I'm just want to do as much as I possibly can deep down Michael and given the jets a pass because they at least realized what had happened last year and moved as much heaven and earth as they possibly can to make sure that Zach was either on a path to be redeemed while he could sit and watch from somebody you can teach it and show it or never play for the jets again while still being on the roster. And they made every possible move to make that happen and then Rogers goes and gets his Achilles blown out just for snaps in. And I'm just wondering if the fan base that you talk to every day is just sleepwalking right now like zombies like that right now. Michael. They're kind of in a haze, but I will tell you this and I said this in the summer red. So it's not second guessing. There's no way in 2023 that Zach Wilson was going to be the starting quarterback for the jets. No way, even if they didn't get Aaron Rogers, they wouldn't brought in another quarterback to be the starting quarterback. That's dead. You get Aaron Rogers, which I totally approve of that move and I'm sure that you did too. He's 30 years old. How did the jet organization think that it was a good idea to have Zach Wilson backing him up? One heartbeat away from being the starter, four snaps away from being the starter and you're right back to where you were. Why was there not an established veteran quarterback behind him so you don't completely blow the season away? By moving Zach Wilson in there, you have given up on the season. I'm sorry, you have. He would not have been the quarterback if Rogers wasn't there. He should have been the third string quarterback where he could have learned from Aaron Rogers. He never should have been the back. That's Michael K on the Rich Eisen show yesterday and speaking of Rogers, he made his weekly appearance on the Pat McAfee show. And what you're going to hear first is what he said about the situation with the jets and doesn't refer to name it by name, but clearly refers to him followed by Michael K and Rich Eisen reacting to what he said. So it starts with what Rogers said yesterday on the McAfee show and the reaction from Eisen and K. This is what teams have to go through. There's adversity points in every season. This year, it's happening early and people are coming for us and there's some heated conversations on the sideline and different things. I think we need to hold our voice a little better. It sucks not being there. It's tough. It's really hard. I missed the guys, I missed the leadership opportunity, missed ball, and I feel like if I was there, some of those things wouldn't be happening. Not sure if we'd be freeing early, I don't know that. I'd like to think there's a possibility to that, but it's more the size that I don't like and that I want to stick together through the tough times. I said it to him in preseason. Our toughest task is being handling success. And that's whether we're having success or not having success. It doesn't mean you're winning all the time to get out the right way. It's when we're not having success. How do we respond? How do we respond in person? And that goes for our fan base and former players as well. You're not open to cops. You're not open to cops. Got a shot at Joe. I have no question. There's no doubt it. I even said that at the end of the first hour, will he have, will he have when he's on patch, Joe? I didn't even know, because he's been on Fridays. I didn't even know if it was today. Will he take a shot at Joe Namath? And everything he set up until that point, I totally was there for. But, hey, man, while he was, you know, went in and green Bay and all of that stuff, I mean, there's a lot of scars here that we were hoping that his play would heal. But I think that was a shot at Namath and telling the fans to RELAX in a way, you know? Well, first of all, I've heard from people, Rich, I'm not sure when I think you're a jet fan. So, Joe, Joe Namath, I'm sorry. Yes, Clark Watch, he could say what he wants, what he wants to say, he is the king of New York jet history. And if he has a point to comment like that, he could make it. He doesn't have to be a cheerleader. He doesn't work for the jets. People that work for the jets, it's a different story. And Aaron Rodgers hasn't been here his entire career. He doesn't know what jet fans have gone through. He doesn't know the angst that they've gone through. And there are going to be shots fired. Sorry, there are. And I think jet fans are most disappointed. Not so much in Zach Wilson, but that's Zach Wilson is put into this situation. So, I think that goes to the top of the ladder for the jets. Joe Douglas who has assembled a really, really, really good roster has essentially put a child in the seat of a Maserati. Doesn't make sense. Just doesn't make sense. You've got to back up, you're 30 on your quarterback with somebody with more experience. And I'm sure Zach Wilson has proven for three years now. He is not that guy. A wrong guy to be taking shots at is Joe Namath. I'm sorry. So, I agree with what he says, Michael K, what he says about Joe Namath. Yes, he has carte blanche to say whatever he wants to say. I agree with that. As far as getting a veteran quarterback in there, yeah, I mean, I suppose that they could have unloaded Wilson, although I don't know what the salary cap implications would be. He was the second pick of the draft. You could unload him and bring in a veteran guy, but look at Jacobi Berset. Jacobi Berset is among the higher paid backups in the league, might be the highest paid, not sure, but he's making $8 million this year. Let's say the jets could offer him the same amount of money. Well, coming here to Washington is a totally different situation than going to New York. You can't anticipate that Aaron Rogers is going to blow out as a killi's in the fourth play of the season. You know, it's just something that's in your mind. When you sign Aaron Rogers at age 39, you're looking at how modern quarterbacks are able to operate and not get hit as much. And Tom Brady in many ways did a disservice to teams playing as well as he did till he was 45 years old. And a lot of it was well, yeah, because they can't hit quarterbacks the way they used to, you know, if they could hit him the way they did Joe Montana. Montana would have lasted till he was 45. Well, maybe, but, you know, the aging process takes care of a lot of us at different ways. And, you know, for them to go into the season, thinking that Aaron Rogers is going to get hurt after all they invested in in him and all the build up to Aaron Rogers coming to New York. And oh, by the way, we've got this guy who's won a bunch of games in the NFL ready to back him up just in case he goes down. I don't think you can go into it thinking that way. So their thought process was, well, you know, quarterbacks don't go down as much as they used to because you can't hit him. There's just rules now that allow them to operate in a clean pocket and not get their uniforms dirty. And gee, look at what Tom Brady did and Aaron Rogers won the MVP a couple of years ago. And he's still at his age a very high level quarterback. You don't even anticipate that a guy is going to go down. So for, for what Kay says about, oh, you know, they totally blew it by not bringing in a veteran quarterback. I don't know how realistic that was. And I don't know how realistic it would have been if they approached a guy like Jacobi Bersett and said, yeah, you're going to back up Aaron Rogers. And if all goes well, you'll never see the field where he comes to Washington where the starting quarterback has exactly one start behind him. And he looks at it and says, okay, I'll be here for this guy. But the chances are he's going to struggle a little bit. And I'm going to get an opportunity with a team that has a really good defense. And I'm going to make $8 million. I don't know if the Jets salary cap wise were in a position to offer that to a guy like Bersett and to get rid of Zach Wilson. Because you can't carry those three. You know, the Wilson salary is the number two pick of the draft even though it's a rookie deal. It's just too much money along with another guy who's making significant money. So now they bring in Trevor Simeon, who's going to make the veteran minimum. Maybe it's a million dollars, something like that. And he's a guy who's been a starter in this league but I don't think he's going to be any better than Zach Wilson if he gets an opportunity to play. So it's, you know, hindsight as Steve Spurrier said is 50-50 more correctly as said by Ron Rivera yesterday it's 2020. And if you had a veteran quarterback now ready to step in, yeah, things would be a lot better for the Jets. But what veteran quarterback were you going to get when the whole off season and hard knocks and everything else was devoted to, hey, Aaron Rodgers is coming to the Jets to win them a Super Bowl, right? I mean, I just don't know what the market would have been to try to attract somebody to come to New York and give them the chance that Aaron Rodgers is going to go down four plays into the season. Yeah, it could happen. We got to be ready for that. So we got to have, and it's not like the old days where you could afford to have two experienced guys. It doesn't work that way anymore. And with 32 teams, there aren't 32 good starting quarterbacks to go around. So if you're close, you're going to take a, you know, I thought that Baker Mayfield might be an interesting option here as a backup for Washington. I thought in the off season, yeah, he's got a similar style to Sam Howell. He can teach him the rope. He's the former number one pick. He had some good moments in Cleveland. And, you know, they brought him in off the street last year and well, made the deal at the last second to get him into play for the Rams. And he did very well on the Thursday night game. So, you know, Baker Mayfield, you know, that would have been a good option, except for the fact that he's now the starting quarterback with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. And, you know, would have been a better situation for him to come here to Washington where they told everybody, Sam Howell's our guy. No, he got a chance to compete for the starting job in Tampa, and he won the job. So, Michael Kaye, yeah, I mean, it's easy to criticize and say they should have thought of this, but you don't really think of it when you sign Aaron Rodgers. And you also have a difficult time getting somebody to come in and sit in the shadows with the slight possibility that Aaron Rodgers blows out as a kille's for plays into the season. Coming up in the next hour, got Orioles Preview again, tucking a Kyle Gibson much more on the death of Brooks Robinson. And also what Sean McVay, coach of the Ram, said about almost leaving to go work in television. We'll get to that more as we continue. It's the Eddie Pollan show, ESPN 630. You love Lala Kent on Vanderpump rules. Now get to know her on give them Lala. When you get married, I'm letting you know, no one gives but you. And when you get remarried, then people really don't accept you. No one needs to hear your backstory and speeches given. It's so boring, have a cap like no longer than a minute. No one cares about your love story. I know, I know it's hard to hear. Watch what Lala is talking about on YouTube or search for give them Lala wherever you listen. We've talked a lot about the death of Brooks Robinson and the kind of person he was, everybody who came across him as I did a number of years ago, revered him, just a wonderful man, a nice, nice person, and a great, great player. I don't think there's much argument over who is the best fielding third baseman of all time. You can get into a debate whether it was Mike Schmidt or Brooks Robinson, who's the best third baseman of all time. They both had the same 267 batting average, but you got twice as many home runs from Schmidt as you did from Robinson, but I don't think anybody will ever have a world series like Brooks had in 1970 as they beat the Reds in five games. I mean, he had 429 with two homers, Straven six runs, and had three or four incredible fielding plays, including one that set the tone for the entire series. And in the O-Bit in the post today, it's described this way. It's an O-Bit that was written on the front page, and it was written by Gary Gaetley. And this is how he describes the play that set the tone in game one. Groundball, six thinning off the bat of the Reds, Lee May, as his momentum carried him far into foul territory, Robinson made a whirling throw to first to gun down May and stop a Cincinnati rally. Quote, he was going towards the bullpen when he threw to first, Clay Carroll, a Reds relief pitcher set at the time. His arm went one way, his body another, and his shoes another. In the next inning, Mr. Robinson hit a home run to win the game for Baltimore, four to three. And that's the kind of series that he had. And he was the MVP in 1964. He also was key in getting the Orioles to three straight world series. You know, they lost the 1969, one of the great upsets in baseball history to the New York Metz. They beat the Reds in five in 1970. And then 1971, they played the Pirates. And I think they were off to a three-one lead in that series, if I'm not mistaken. And they wound up losing. It was also the first world series to have a night game, which I think has been very bad for baseball. It's probably financially is what they needed to do. But I don't think it was helpful for the game. I don't think it grew the game in any way. But they did play the first night game in 1971. So the 70 world series was the last one that was played totally in the daytime. The news of Robinson's death came down yesterday, afternoon late, maybe, I might have even been after five o'clock if I'm not mistaken. And so they had to mobilize pretty quickly. They did have a moment of silence before the game for Robinson. I won't imagine that they'll have Jersey patches put on today. In fact, well, Kyle Gibson, if he knows anything about that. But I think that the death of Robinson will be something that stays with them as they head into the postseason, a guy who was in the postseason six times as a player when it was really hard to get to the playoffs because you had to win your division. There was no wildcard in those days. So just getting to the playoffs was a big thing. And he did that six times during his career and won two world series along the way. Rex Mentor and with us today, he was there last night. Now, you didn't get there in time to see the moment of silence. But Gunner Henderson led off the game with a home run. And I don't know how to say unfortunately, but it would have been fitting if he was playing third base instead of shortstop last night. Because this stat came out after the game. Brooks Robinson had more game winning hits in one nothing games than any player in history. We don't see as many one nothing games now like we used to. I mean, until they lowered the mound after the 68 season, they were pretty common to have one nothing game. So there was some karma going on there. Was there any sense when you got there, I mean, you're too young to have seen Robinson play, but what was the overall feel in the ballpark last night? I think I kind of missed all the pregame. Yeah, yeah. It was kind of just a normal game. It felt like to me at least. You didn't see anything during the game that was, because you know, anybody sitting around you talking about him or anything, not like that. Okay, well, the pregame was very moving because Jim Palmer who played with Robinson for the bulk of Robinson's career. Robinson came up in 55, but struggled. He was up and down from the minors. He didn't become the regular third baseman till 1960. Jim Palmer came up in 1963. He was 19 years old just as Brooks was in 1955. And so there was sort of a connection that was made between the two of them. And he kind of looked to Brooks as an older brother and Brooks looked at him as, hey, that's a younger me. I kind of know what he's going through there. And Palmer stuck. I mean, he never went down to the minors again after coming up and was a big part of the 66 team that won the World Series. And you know, he played in six World Series. Think about that. You know, Jim Palmer didn't retire until after the 84 seasons. So he played in 1983. Was not a starter, but had some key relief appearances in 83 when they won the World Series in five against the Phillies. Tim Kirchen has covered baseball for many years. He's just a little older than I am grew up watching Brooks Robinson play and probably got to know Brooks pretty well over the years, even though when Tim became a sports writer, Brooks was retired. But last night on ESPN, he delivered, I think, a really moving tribute to Brooks Robinson. The voices that you'll hear here that you may not be able to identify, Faye Vincent, the former commissioner of baseball and Johnny Bench of the Reds, who also wore number five. And was on the opposing team in that 1970 World Series. Throughout my career, I was committed to the goodness of this game. That feel my love for the game of baseball overrode everything else. I keep asking myself, how could anyone man have been so fortunate? Brooks Robinson was one of the greatest third baseman of all time and statistically the best third baseman ever. Robinson was a second baseman when the Orioles signed him out of Little Rock Arkansas, but he was soon converted to third base. He played his entire 23 year career in Baltimore where he won two world championships, made 15 All-Star teams and won the American League MVP in 1964. Robinson was never the fastest, strongest, or best athlete on the field, but no one worked harder. Brooks Robinson never couldn't run. I hit in the more double plays, almost anyone in the history of the game. I had a very average arm, but I sincerely believe that the reason that I succeeded and did as well as I did was because baseball was a passion to the point of obsession. I mean, that was my life. Robinson perfected the bare-handed butt play and won 16 gold gloves at third base, only pitcher Greg Maddox with 18 won more at any position. Robinson was also one of the best clutch hitters of his time, amassing 2,848 hits, 268 home runs, and 1,357 RBIs. He was at his best in the biggest games. He won the MVP of the 1970 World Series against the Reds by hitting 429 with two homers and arguably had the greatest defensive performance in World Series history. Nobody is going to show me plays at third base that will equal what Brooks Robinson did in that series. Gosh, he was so good. Knowing Brooks Robinson, as I've known him over the years, he's one of the finest gentlemen to ever wear a uniform at a represent baseball. Robinson retired after the 1977 season. He was elected into the Hall of Fame on the first ballot in 1983. In 1999, he was named to Baseball's All Century team, which honored the best 25 players of the 20th century. No player was more beloved in a town than Brooks Robinson was in Baltimore. At a banquet in the late 1970s, a sports writer said, quote, in New York, they named a candy bar after Reggie Jackson. Here in Baltimore, we name our children after Brooks Robinson. And just to follow up on that really nice piece written by Dave Schein in the post today, he at one time was the Orioles beat writer. And I think has lived in Baltimore for over 20 years. He wrote a nice tribute to Brooks today, including that part of Gordon Beard in 1977, noting that Reggie Jackson got a candy bar named after him when he was in New York. In Baltimore, people named their children after Brooks Robinson. And this is what Schein and Wright's celebrity is not the same thing as decency. And not every hero is worthy of memorializing with something as personal and eternal as a child's name. But Baltimore Orioles legend Brooks Robinson, who died Tuesday at 86, absolutely was. Baltimoreians of a certain age can recite the numbers by heart, Robinson's 23 seasons in an Orioles uniform. The 18 All-Star appearances, the 16-goal gloves is arguably the greatest defensive third baseman in history. He was the most beloved figure of the most successful era in Orioles history, the 1966 to 1974 teams that went to four World Series one, two of them, and made two other playoff appearances. And as Schein and Wright's the most beloved figure was not the best player on those teams. The best player was also named Robinson. So Brooks Robinson wasn't even the best Robinson on those teams. Frank Robinson, who came to the Orioles in a trade, the Cincinnati Reds. And there's perhaps some racism that was involved in this. He'd been the MVP, and the owners thought his skills were fading. So incredibly, they traded him to the Orioles from Milt Papis, who was a journeyman pitcher. And he won the Triple Crown in 1966 and was the unquestioned leader of that team. Now remember, he comes in, you know, Brooks has been there for 10 years. But Brooks understood what a leader Frank Robinson was and how much he admired him. This is a kid who grew up in Arkansas, segregated Arkansas, and understood what Frank Robinson meant to this team. And he seated leadership to him. And Frank was the unquestioned leader of that team, became a manager. Brooks, you know, as great a player as he was, he did not stay in baseball as either a coach or a manager. He never pursued that. He did television for about 15 years. But it was a limited schedule. It wasn't like, you know, nowadays where they do every game. He did a package of games on, it was channel two. And then we saw them as an affiliate here on channel 20. I don't think he did any work for HTS. HTS started in the early 80s. So I'm gonna say 83, something like that. It was Mel Proctor and John Lonestein all those years. But some of the games were done with Scott Garso. And also, I think they had Vince Bagley doing some games as well. But he was, he was Baltimore. He spent the rest of his life there after playing. And he had businesses, sporting goods, restaurants. There's no one more revered than Brooks Robinson. And there should not be anyone more revered than Brooks Robinson. And even, you know, such an unassuming guy, even the way he left baseball. His skills were fading in 1977. And rather than, you know, retiring at the end of the season and having the big send off, he looked at players who were coming off the DL who were going to be, you know, more valuable to the team. And he retired at midseason, you know, he was a very, very unselfish person. And just a wonderful, wonderful man. And I'm sure there will be many, many tributes in the days to come. You've probably heard a bunch of them already. But the Jim Palmer crying last night on the pregame show told you a lot about how he thought about Brooks Robinson and how much he revered him. All right, little football here. Sean McVeigh, the coach of the Rams, was on the Rich Eisen show yesterday. Now, you remember last year, at the end of the last season, with what was going on with Prime and Al Michaels and everything else and they had a crappy package of games. And Jeff Bezos with all the money in the world, there were reports that Sean McVeigh was offered as much as $20 million a year to do television. And he did apparently think about it. But ultimately, he went back and coached the Rams, who, you know, probably are not going to be a team that's going to be good for a while because they mortgaged everything to win that Super Bowl. So there's not a lot of young talent there. There's not a lot of draft picks. But he's come back and won the opener. They did lose the other night. But this was before that game. And McVeigh was on with Eisen, Rich Eisen. And they talked about his flirtation with television and how he was so glad that he stayed with the Rams. Last year was a really humbling year for me, Rich. And a year that I lost a lot of perspective, but it was really beneficial for me. I've been so fortunate to be a part of this organization going on my seventh year. And, you know, you don't take for granted how much of a blessing it is to be able to do this. And I love this. And for whatever reason you get, whether you get caught up a little bit too much in your own ego or you lose your values and principles that have guided why you love this so much, you get a little bit too caught up in the results instead of loving, you know, the people in the process. And it seems so silly. And I'm so grateful that I had people around me to help kind of gain that perspective to really be able to reflect and get humbled in a way that forces you to say, like, all right, it's one thing to read books about. It's another thing to go through it and say, man, this isn't the leader. This isn't the person you want to be. And you have an opportunity to be able to rectify that. And I can't even believe that was a thought, but it was something that I can be a stubborn guy, Rich. And I think going through last year, while it was not the most enjoyable, it was very necessary to continue to grow, to mature, to try to be more the man that I want to be, whether that be as a coach, a husband or a friend, or hopefully sooner than later a father as we know. So I'm loving this. I love this sport. I love coaching this sport. I love working with players and coaches and, you know, love working with less and Kevin and Tony and Mr. Crockian. I laugh. It's almost funny to ever think that was a consideration, but it was something that when you go through some challenging times, you can learn a lot. And I do feel like that was what occurred for me. Well, you're just taking the losses too hard. You just worry. I think so. And I think sometimes you're internalizing it. And again, as embarrassing as it to admit, you tie up your identity or yourself worth in those things. And you realize like, hey, who the heck have I become as a result of this chase? Instead of pouring into the guys doing the best that you can, loving the opportunity to compete, but it was almost like as a result of so many things going well, you just lose total perspective and you think anything less than winning it again or doing certain things that you've been fortunate enough to do just doesn't make it even worth it because that's silly, but at the time, you know, you just lose perspective and you lose your way. And fortunately, I feel very confident that because of the people that I'm around and some of the things that you just have to be able to dive into and be honest with yourself, I feel a lot more like being, I feel like I'm a lot closer to being the man that the people that I love and care about deserve to be around. I'm going to take a shot. I don't know the answer to this question and normally as a paid professional that I am, Sean, I like to know the answers or at least assume before asking, but did you ever have a conversation with John Madden about coaching? Did you ever pick his brain? Because that, I know what I wish I did. I'm very familiar with Coach Madden's background. I've always been a huge fan of what he brought to this game he represented. And I certainly wish I did. I didn't get a chance to, but I have heard many stories whether it was through my grandfather or through other people. So I wish I did though, Rich. About, you know, starting up being a head coach at a young age and then getting success at a very young part of your career. And then after a while, just, he would say some of the things that you're saying right now, to be quite honest with you, Sean, you know, like that's what it sounds like. Yeah, and, you know, Dick Vermeel's been a great sounding board for me. You know, he had some similar experiences. And then so did Coach Walsh. You know, Coach Walsh went through a very similar. I think there can be sometimes a beautiful torment, but it's all about the perspective, not losing that. And I felt like I did and ultimately not fun, but it was a necessary thing. And I'm really grateful for those things that I learned because I know I learned a whole lot more last year and a lot of the reflection that it forced than what I did in any of those first few years, even if they were a lot better seasons in terms of the results. Okay. And let's finish up with the news again that you just alluded to moments ago. You're going to be a dad when? When's the due date here? The due date is later in October. That's some scary stuff. If he's anything like his dad, Rich, he's going to wear his mom out. But he is an active little guy in his mom's tummy. I mean, he's kicking and moving. And I wouldn't expect it any other way, but it's been a really smooth pregnancy. Veronica's been awesome. Yeah, exactly. What a blessing that's been. And so was able to go to the doctor yesterday and we're really excited to meet our little man here in about a month that's still hasn't hit me. She's got the nursery set up. She's ready to go. And sometimes I sit there and look at it and think, oh, this is scary, awesome stuff. Mosletov, Mosletov all around. How many coaches went a Super Bowl and become a first-time father a few years later? He was a head coach at the age of 30 for God's sakes. One thing I'm curious about, and this was a raging controversy 30 years ago, if you remember this. The Houston Oilers were playing a road game. And they had a tackle by the name of David Williams. And they asked him to go on this road trip when his wife was due to give birth. And he said, I can't do that. So we'll take you there in a private plane. No, I need to be with my wife. And this was a huge deal. Like, oh, there's only 16 games. How can he let his team down like this? What happens here, if early Sunday morning, Sean McVeigh's wife goes into labor. Does he skip coaching a game to be with her? Oh no, interesting. It's a lot different than it used to be. I was fortunate enough to cut the cord for both my kids. I was an unbelievable experience to be there in the delivery room in Sean McVeigh for the first time. Would he give up coaching a game? Ah, that's going to be something to keep an eye on. I think he said the due date was like the third or fourth week of October. He's got about another month on this. But if he coaches the game and he gets a text from his wife, hey, everything's OK, we'll see you after the game. Or I didn't even know what the schedule looks like. They could be on a road trip. They could be on the East Coast. In fact, let me look this up. Let me look up the Los Angeles Ram schedule to find out where they're going to be in late October because I think this could be interesting. I mean, nowadays they can induce. So maybe that would be something. But they have a game. Next game is October 1st. They're at Indianapolis. I don't think she'd go into labor that early. They're home against the Eagles, October 8th. October 15th, they're home against the Card. Oh, the schedule sets up nicely for them. If she delivers as late as the 29th, and I don't think that was the due date, he would be in Dallas. And Dallas to Los Angeles. I mean, there's tons of lights back. So that would be fine. If it goes as late as November 5th, now my daughter was nine days late. So you never know. Then he's in Green Bay, still Midwest. But you know, so be interesting. Be interesting to look at that. But the schedule does set up nicely for them with the three home games, the Eagles, the Cardinals, and the Steelers all in Los Angeles from October 8th to October 22nd. A couple of other quick football stories here. One, Lou Holtz, still got some fire in his belly. You know that he went on ESPN. And he questioned the toughness of Ohio State. So when Ohio State gets that last second touchdown to beat Notre Dame 17 to 14, day goes wacko in his post game interview. He says, I'd like to know where Lou Holtz is right now. What he said about our team, I can't believe it. This is a tough team. We're proud to be from Ohio. I've always been, it's always been Ohio against the world. And it'll continue to be Ohio against the world. So yesterday, Holtz shows up on the Dan Dockage podcast. And he said, yeah, that's his choice. I can understand why he did what he did. He doesn't want to talk about Michigan because he's going to. He doesn't want to talk about the big game coming up against Penn State and against Michigan again. He's a great coach, he's done a great job. He's a great offensive mind. He hired an outstanding defensive coordinator from Oklahoma State who's doing a tremendous job. Ohio State is a good football team. I don't think they're not a great football team. And he can go after me all he wants. Wow, how about that? I think in a cage match, I'd go with Ryan Day, but you never know, you know, Lou Holtz could fire this up. And then what is this guy thinking? This comes from not Brooklyn, New York, but Brooklyn, Ohio. Coach resigned, high school football coach resigned Monday after his team used racist and anti-Semitic language to call out plays during a game last week. Brooklyn High School, and their coach is Tim McFarlane, had his players repeatedly use the word Nazi as a play call and a game against Beachwood High School. Beachwood is a Cleveland suburb, roughly 90% Jewish, according to a last survey published by the Jewish Federation of Cleveland. The Brooklyn team stopped using the term in the second half when the Beachwood coach threatened to pull his team off the field according to a statement from the school superintendent. However, several Brooklyn players continued to direct racial slurs at Beachwood players during a game. Who in the hell would come up with a call that is Nazi unless, you know, he's looking at a mostly Jewish school and saying, yeah, we're going to throw him off their game? What a complete imbecile. What an imbecile. And I hope this McFarlane guy never coaches again. He did hand in his resignation, saying he expresses his deepest regret and that he apologizes for hurtful and harmful speech. Okay, fine, but my God. I mean, there's just certain third rail words that you stay away from. I remember this, this is going back about 15 years and I think he would be under really a lot of pressure nowadays. Bill Parcells was describing surprise plays that you pull it a game as JAP plays, you know, referring to the bombing of Pearl Harbor on a Sunday morning in 1941. Furthermore, it was JAP plays, as we call them, JAP plays. And he did get some pushback nowadays. I don't know how that would go. But what coach in his right mind thinks, oh yeah, let's use a play call that's Nazi. Yeah, it's like the old Gilbert Godfried routine Hitler. Who said anything about Hitler? He just should be some common sense there. He just don't do that. You don't do that. Want to thank Kyle Gibson for coming on for Orioles preview. Thanks to Rex Middtern for running the show. Thanks to all of you. Listen, Tony is coming up next. Then I'll see you back here tomorrow morning at 9 AM. Get an inside look at Hollywood with Michael Rosenbaum talking with the Phillips brothers. My gym I go to here is owned by a lot of Polish guys. I don't really fit in a bit lean as shall we say. And this guy waddles over to me one day. And he said, I was back in Poland at visiting my family and my niece said, you're going to have to see this program. Lawson, I see you when I he's at my gym. My niece wouldn't believe me. So I had to refer to it with this guy who's these names that she tank as well. Inside of you with Michael Rosenbaum, wherever you listen. We're all juggling life, a career, and trying to build a little bit of well, the Brown Ambition podcast with host Mandy and Tiffany, the budget needs to can help. If I do even consider lending, I always ask myself, will this solve the problem? So I know you don't have your money for more because you don't have a job. So what happens next month? Oh, I don't know. I'm going to have to think about the next month. Now it's one another thing. If you're like, hey, Tiffany, I have $1,000 left to pay on my car, and then I'm car no free. And I'll be able to pay you back, you know, the three months I used to pay my car no. That solves the problem. Brown Ambition, wherever you listen.