Teaser for my next card. Story below from my dad
The True Tale that's come to be known in our family lore as "The Brooks Robinson's Underwear Story" - In honor of Blake's upcoming Topps Project70 Brooks Robinson card.
Background: In 1988, our family (me, Rebecca, Blake, and Tess-in-the-oven) moved from San Rafael, California to Englewood, Florida, surrendering the Oakland A's season tickets we'd held for several years. The following is a transcript from a letter I sent to family and friends in March 1989, edited only for length:
Hi Y'all,
Spring Training has arrived and Blake and I are beginning our first annual six-week fix of live major league baseball as practiced in the Florida Grapefruit League. The Texas Rangers train and play about fifteen miles from here in Port Charlotte. (Blake is learning geography, and when he points out the state most of us know as Texas on his U.S. map, he identifies it as Charlotte.) Both the Chicago White Sox and the Baltimore Orioles train in Sarasota, about thirty miles north of us, and another half dozen teams are located within a two-hour drive. We've got tickets to see twelve games, involving sixteen different teams, at six different ballparks during March....
Due I think to their proximity, Blake has decided to be a Ranger catcher--rather than an A's catcher--when he grows up. His new favorite player is Bill Futterer, a man from the area who participed in the Rangers' Fantasy Camp a couple of weeks ago....
One of the Fantasy Camp instructors was Brooks Robinson, the Baltimore Orioles' Hall-of-Fame third baseman. The day he was here, there was an article about him and his "magic" glove in the paper; Brooks Robinson was probably the best-fielding infieldier ever. Blake and I went out to the stadium to watch the campers practice, and, on the way out, I told Blake all about the magic glove. After the practice, Robinson signed a ball for Blake, and asked us if we'd give him a ride into town to his hotel. Of coures we said sure. Brooks sat up front with me, and Blake sat in back [in his car seat] with Brooks' equipment bag. As we neared the hotel, I noticed that Blake had the bag open and its contents scattered. Embarrassed, I told him it wasn't polite to open other peoples' things, and asked him what he was doing. He informed me that he was just looking for the magic glove. Brooks was flattered to find a four-year-old who had heard of the glove, and got a big kick out of the whole scene.
Love you all y'all.
P.S.: This morning Blake put on a fresh pair of white underwear, and advised me that they were just like Brooks Robinson's--right down to the two blue stripes around the waistband.
