October 21, 2011

On Saturday, the long-anticipated Brooks Robinson statue – depicting the Orioles’ Hall of Fame third baseman – will be unveiled during a ceremony that is expected to begin at noon.

The nine-foot, 1,500-plus-pound bronze statue of Robinson about to make a throw will be located directly across from the northwest side of Camden Yards.

A friend of Robinson’s, Henry A. Rosenberg Jr., has spent 30 years trying to make this happen, and it finally will. The statue will be gifted by Rosenberg and the Babe Ruth Birthplace Foundation to the City of Baltimore.

As cool as that is – and for a Baltimoron like myself, it is pretty cool – I’m sure some of you are grousing that the statue is not inside the actual baseball stadium.

Well, fear not, oh Orioles traditionalists.

Robinson and the other five Orioles Hall of Famers – Earl Weaver, Cal Ripken Jr., Frank Robinson, Jim Palmer and Eddie Murray – will be honored similarly at Camden Yards this year.

Apparently, the Orioles have been planning a special tribute – a statue or monument, not sure exactly what, but something inside the park – to the Hall of Famers for a while now. Instead of doing it this season, it was decided to unveil that project in conjunction with the 20th anniversary of Camden Yards next season.

The specific plans will not be announced for a few weeks, but I’ve been assured that there will be a tribute of significance in 2012 at the ballpark.