Brooks Calbert Robinson, Jr. (born May 18, 1937) is an American former professional baseball player. He played his entire 23-year major league career for the Baltimore Orioles (1955–1977). Nicknamed "The Human Vacuum Cleaner", he is generally acclaimed as the greatest defensive third-basemen in major league history. He won 16 consecutive Gold Glove Awards during his career, tied with pitcher Jim Kaat for the second most all-time for any player at any position. Robinson was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1983.
Born in Little Rock, Arkansas to Brooks Calbert and Ethel Mae (née Donkey) Robinson. His father worked for a large bakery in Little Rock, Colonial Bakery, and then went to work for the Little Rock Fire Department (rising to the rank of captain ), while his mother at first worked for Sears Roebuck & Company, and then in the controller's office at the state capitol. His father played second base for a semi-pro team. Young Brooks Robinson, Jr., delivered the Arkansas Gazette on his bike, and also operated the beer and sold wine at Lamar Porter Field.
Roy Firestone (born December 8, 1953 in Miami Beach, Florida) is an American sports commentator and journalist. Firestone is a graduate of Miami Beach High School and the University of Miami.
Firestone began his career and as a sports anchor and reporter in Miami, working briefly at WTVJ, before moving to Los Angeles as a sports anchor for KCBS-TV from 1977–85. From 1980-90, he was the host of ESPN's interview program SportsLook, later renamed Up Close. He also served as a color commentator for the network's first season of Sunday Night Football telecasts in 1987. Currently, he is the host of HDNet's Face to Face with Roy Firestone and AOL's Time Out with Roy Firestone.
He appeared on the Late Show with David Letterman, Larry King Live, Super Dave Osborne and Nightline. He has also performed for numerous corporate clients including Anheuser Busch, Chevron, Nike, Whirlpool and Toyota.
Firestone also provided the voice of the classic cartoon character Egghead in the 1988 Warner Bros. compilation film Daffy Duck's Quackbusters, and appeared in the 1996 movie Jerry Maguire. He starred in a Married with Children episode and presented the Al Bundy Sport Spectacular. Firestone also made an appearance as himself in a 1997 episode of Everybody Loves Raymond, and the "Bart Star" episode of The Simpsons.
Manuel Arturo Machado (born July 6, 1992) is an American baseball shortstop for the Bowie Baysox, the AA affiliate of the Baltimore Orioles of Major League Baseball. He attended Brito High School in Miami. Machado was drafted by the Orioles with the third overall pick in the 2010 Major League Baseball Draft. He bats and throws right-handed. He stands at 6'2" and weighs 180 pounds. Keith Law, a writer for ESPN.com and the lead baseball analyst for Scouts Inc said that if Machado stays at shortstop, "you have a potential All-Star offensively who is no worse than average with the glove". Machado has been compared to New York Yankees third baseman, Alex Rodriguez. Machado said "it's a great honor" to be compared to Rodriguez, but he doesn't compare himself to anyone.
During his senior year of high school, he hit .639 with 12 home runs and 68 RBIs in 29 games.
Machado committed to play for Florida International University. Even if he hadn't signed with the Orioles he would not have been able to play baseball for FIU because he missed the deadline to enroll for fall classes.
Frank Robinson (born August 31, 1935) is an American former Major League Baseball outfielder and manager. He played from 1956 to 1976, most notably for the Cincinnati Reds and the Baltimore Orioles. He is the only player to win league MVP honors in both the National and American Leagues. He won the Triple crown, was a member of two teams that won the World Series (the 1966 and 1970 Baltimore Orioles), and amassed the fourth-most career home runs at the time of his retirement (he is currently ninth). Robinson was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1982.
Robinson was the first African-American hired to serve as manager in Major League history. He managed the Cleveland Indians during the last two years of his playing career, compiling a 186–189 record. He went on to manage the San Francisco Giants, the Baltimore Orioles, and the Montreal Expos/Washington Nationals.
Robinson attended McClymonds High School in Oakland, California, where he was a basketball teammate of Bill Russell. During the off-season while playing for the Reds in the late 1950s, he attended Xavier University in Cincinnati.
James Alvin "Jim" Palmer (born October 15, 1945), nicknamed "Cakes", is a former Major League Baseball right-handed pitcher. He played his entire 19-year major league baseball career for the Baltimore Orioles (1965–1967 & 1969-1984). He was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1990.
As of 2008, Palmer and his wife Susan have homes in Palm Beach, Florida, and in California. In 2006, Palmer also acquired a penthouse condominium in Little Italy, Baltimore, which he uses while in Baltimore for Orioles' broadcasts.
Palmer was born in New York, New York; shortly after his birth, Palmer was adopted by Moe Wiesen, a garment industry executive, and his wife Polly from Harrison, N.Y. After his adoptive father died in 1955, the 9-year-old Jim, his mother and his sister moved to California, where he began playing in youth-league baseball. In 1956, his mother married actor Max Palmer, from whom Palmer took his last name. Showing talent at the amateur level, upon graduating from Arizona's Scottsdale High School in 1963, Palmer signed a minor-league contract at the age of 18. Before heading to the minor leagues, Palmer was initiated into the Sigma Chi Fraternity at Arizona State University, where he graduated in 1967.