Tag: Brooks Robinson

Jackie, Brooks, Frank, and Mrs. Glenn

| by delsandy | Sandy's 2018 Legislative Diary | No Comments

This is the prayer I gave at the start of today’s session of the House of Delegates.

This is the earliest Opening Day in Orioles history.

Fifty years ago, Opening Day was delayed one day.

The day before, the funeral service was held for Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

Among those in the funeral march was Jackie Robinson.

In 1968, there were two Robinsons in the Orioles starting lineup.

Brooks had graduated from Little Rock Central High School in 1955, two years before federal troops were needed to enforce a court order to desegregate the school.

When Frank Robinson arrived in the segregated Baltimore of 1966, he was initially denied a decent home to rent.

I told that story in my Opening Day prayer two years ago.

Later, at the game, I met a woman who had read my prayer online.

Mrs. Glenn and her husband have season tickets in my section.

We have become baseball friends.

Two future Hall of Famers hit home runs on April 10, 1968 – Brooks and Reggie Jackson. The Orioles beat the Oakland A’s, 3-1.

I don’t remember if I was at Memorial Stadium that day.

I may have been across the street in a City College classroom.

My parents, unlike the Speaker, did not always give me the day off from school on Opening Day.

Play ball!

Put me in coach, I’m ready to pray

| by delsandy | featured, Sandy's 2014 Legislative Diary | No Comments

I traditionally give the opening prayer when the House of Delegates goes into session on Opening Day of the baseball season.

A traffic jam in Annapolis made me late for the 7 pm session.  So I gave my prayer the morning after.

He went 2-for-4 in his September debut against the Washington Senators and thought he’d arrived. He went hitless (0-for-18, with 10 strikeouts) the rest of the year.

“Lesson learned,” Brooks Robinson said.

What does Brooks consider the highlight of his career? 

It’s not the 1971 World Series, when he was named MVP.  It’s the 1966 Series, the first championship for the team and for Brooks. 

“We knew how to play before 1966, but Frank Robinson taught us how to win,” Brooks told us at Fantasy Camp.

For twenty consecutive Opening Days, 1957-1976, Number 5 was the Orioles starting third baseman. 

On Opening Day in 1966, Brooks batted cleanup and went 3 for 6 with a two-run homer and 3 RBIs

The Orioles beat the Red Sox, 5-4, in 13 innings. 

Yesterday’s hero was making his first and perhaps only Opening Day appearance as an Oriole.  

Nelson Cruz made a big play in left field, his alert base running led to a run, and he hit the game-winning home run. 

As Ernie Banks might say, “Let’s play 162.”

Government Informers and Number 18

| by delsandy | featured, Sandy's 2013 Legislative Diary | No Comments

When a newborn displays the effects of prenatal drug use or fetal alcohol disorder, should health care providers be required to inform the government?

House Bill 245, introduced by the Department of Human Resources says yes.

I awaited the next question.

“Shouldn’t we determine if the mother is an abuser when the child is still in the womb?” asked one of my colleagues.

I tried to make the point that doctors and health departments encourage pregnant women to avoid drugs and alcohol.

Then I spoke of the substance abuse treatment offered to women when they apply for welfare benefits and upon their annual renewal visit.  I helped create and fund that treatment option.

I also emailed a pro-choice lobbyist.

—-

Michael Phelps took some batting practice swings at the Orioles spring training camp today, wearing an orange Orioles jersey with No. 18 on the back.

“Hey, that’s my number!” I emailed some friends.

I wear 18 because like Brooks Robinson and Reggie Jackson, I was born on May 18.

I don’t know when Michael Phelps was born, but he won 18 gold medals.

http://www.baltimoresun.com/sports/orioles/blog/bal-michael-phelps-takes-batting-practice-with-orioles-20130221,0,6181298.story

 

October 26 – Seeking a remedy and idolizing Brooks Robinson

| by delsandy | Sandy's 2011 Legislative Diary, Sandy's Legislative Diary | No Comments

99% of the time, it’s the little guy who wants to change the law.

The consumer who needs protection, the employee who’s been discriminated against in the workplace, or the tenant who’s living in unsafe housing.

The business community tries to kill the legislation or to weaken it with amendments.

Those roles will be reversed in response to Monday’s court decision that held unconstitutional the immunity provision in the Lead Risk Reduction in Housing Law.

Landlords must still abide by the provisions of the law requiring them to clean up the lead hazards in rental properties built before 1950. However, they will no longer be immune from lawsuits on behalf of children suffering from lead poisoning if they do comply with the statute.

I was the principal legislative sponsor of House Bill 760 in 1994. My objective – then and now, is to reduce the number of children poisoned by lead while maintaining decent, safe, and affordable rental housing for lower-income families in Baltimore City and elsewhere in Maryland. This law and other public health measures have resulted in an extraordinary reduction in the number of poisoned children in Maryland.

Landlords will be seeking a legislative remedy to the court’s decision.

We will be offering amendments that strengthen the preventive measures taken on behalf of vulnerable children.

—-

Lots of Orioles Fantasy Campers choose number 5 for their uniforms because that was Brooks Robinson’s number.

I’m a fan of Brooks, but my number is 18. We were both born on May 18.

You could walk up to Brooks and tell him that you idolized him growing up, and he would respond as if you were the very first person to say that to him.

I don’t know if that was the case for the person whose picture I took after the unveiling of the Brooks Robinson statue this past Saturday.

But it’s pretty likely.

  • My Key Issues:

  • Pimlico and The Preakness
  • Our Neighborhoods
  • Pre-Kindergarten
  • Lead Paint Poisoning