Major League Baseball

Brooks Robinson by the numbers: Orioles icon was revered on and off the field

Published Sep. 26, 2023 9:57 p.m. ET

Brooks Robinson, considered by many to be the greatest third baseman ever, has died, the Orioles and his family jointly announced Tuesday.

Robinson, a Hall of Famer and the 1970 World Series MVP, was mourned throughout the baseball community.

Robinson is one of the most decorated players in MLB history with 18 All-Star nods and 16 consecutive Gold Glove awards. Aside from pitchers, no other player has over 13 career Gold Gloves in total. No other American League third baseman won the award between 1960 — Robinson's first full year in the major leagues — and 1975.

When retroactively applying more advanced defensive metrics, Robinson's 293 zone runs saved, by far the most in MLB history, is more than active third base leaders Nolan Arenado, Evan Longoria and Manny Machado have combined in their entire careers. Robinson is also first all-time among MLB third baseman in games played (2,870), double plays turned (618), putouts (2,697), assists (6,205) and defensive wins above replacement (39.1).

Robinson's .485 batting average in the 1970 playoffs, his World Series MVP year, is also the highest single-postseason average in MLB history.

He also was named the American League MVP in 1964 and the All-Star Game MVP in 1966. That makes him just one of two players all-time to win the MVP, All-Star MVP and World Series MVP since the All-Star Game began handing out the award in 1962. The only other player is his former Orioles teammate Frank Robinson, also a Hall of Famer.

Brooks Robinson is one of just two players to play at least 23 years in the majors with one franchise (Carl Yastrzemski of the Red Sox is the other) and the only player in MLB history to make 20 straight Opening Day starts at the same position for the same team.

Robinson was not only a legendary player but was also garnered near-universal admiration off the field. That was seen in the outpouring of tributes following the announcement of his death from fellow MLB legends, longtime media members and especially those around the Orioles.