Buck Showalter talks about Brooks Robinson

Brooks Robinson, the Orioles legend, Hall of Famer and owner of 16 Gold Gloves, turned 79 today.

Manager Buck Showalter wasn't going to forget. He had the date marked on the calendar in his office that's usually reserved for pitching matchups and important appointments.

"Thank God he was born," Showalter said.

"Wish he'd come out more."

There's a big gap in generations and not every player knows his baseball history, but the Orioles are quite familiar with Robinson and the mark he left on this game and this city. They get it.

"I think our guys do. Our guys do," Showalter said.

"He's as good a person as he was a player. And we know how good of a player he was. He just has a way of making people feel comfortable. He goes and gets coffee about a mile or so down the road from where I live."

Which leads to a classic Showalter tale of his encounter with Robinson shortly after becoming manager.

"When we were first looking for a place to live here, we were looking out where he lives," Showalter said. "It was a little too far out of the way. I'm driving down and it's starting to sprinkle and I see him and his wife walking. I said, 'That's Brooks Robinson.' So I stopped the car and said hello to him. He came over to the door and started talking about the team and everything.

"Now it's started to rain harder and harder and his wife said, 'Brooks, we've got to go.' He said, 'Oh, don't worry about it. I'll stay here and talk baseball.' And he stood there in the rain talking about the Orioles. It was really cool. And I felt bad, so I got out of the car and stood out there in it with him.

"He goes in the back of this little market and gets coffee. I try to go in there and catch him when I can. Just so unassuming. You wouldn't believe what he's accomplished, the way he's handled his success. It's no surprise he's made home here. He's a treasure."

Showalter invited Robinson into the clubhouse during the 2014 postseason and asked him to address the team. Players were in awe.

"Not anywhere to go after that," Showalter said.

"We've got a great picture of that in the clubhouse when he came in. What I love about the picture was the look on everybody's faces. That's what came to mind when you're asking me do the guys get it? Yeah, they get it.

"We actually started off, he didn't know we did kind of a montage film. Mike (Silverman) put something together with a picture of him with all the Gold Gloves. He got some oohs and aahs out of our group. Just a reminder of everything he had done."