Baltimore got another chance to say, "Thanks, Brooks"

It seems Orioles fans never tire of letting Hall of Famer Brooks Robinson know how much they love him and today was yet another chance. In a ceremony this afternoon that was wonderfully done and emotional at times, the Brooks Robinson statue was unveiled across the street from Camden Yards on the plaza between Washington Boulevard and Russell Street. The statue, standing nine feet tall, shows Brooks preparing to throw out a runner at first base. Brooks is actually pointing in the direction of first base at Camden Yards and that is fitting. Click here to see the statue and the story of today's ceremony from MASNsports.com's Pete Kerzel. Henry Rosenberg, Brooks' long-time friend, spearheaded this project and Joseph Sheppard, a Baltimore native and world-renowned artist, created the sculpture in his studio in Italy. Speakers today included Gov. Martin O'Malley, U.S. Sen. Barbara Mikulski, Rosenberg, Sheppard and Jeff Idelson from the Baseball Hall of Fame. Baltimore native and actor Josh Charles was asked to speak on behalf of the fans. He represented them with a beautiful speech. Click below to hear what he said. Josh Charles speaks at Brooks statue ceremony by smelewski Also click below to hear two comments from Brooks. Brooks address the crowd by smelewski Brooks gets emotional at the end of his speech by smelewski I remember the night that Brooks dubbed Cal Ripken Jr. as "Mr. Oriole." With all due respect to the IronMan, Brooks will always be "Mr. Oriole" to a lot of us. His amazing talent on the field was equaled by his humility, kindness and humanity off it. He was honored in a fitting way today and the ceremony was just amazing. Brooks shed a tear or two today and so did most of us that attended. It's been 41 years since he led the Orioles past the Big Red Machine in the World Series. I think he means more to us today than he did even then.