I was surprised at how much the loss of Frank Robinson last week affected me. Maybe I shouldn't have been. On January 23 I lost my youngest brother to cancer. He was only 58 and left a wife and three kids, two of them 16 years old. I remained stoic through all the services. I'm not the emotional type, I try to focus on the fun times in the past.
Anyway, when I got news of Frank Robinson's passing I was pretty down and it still saddens me. Even going to the TriStar show on Saturday didn't lighten the mood. I think it's been just the suppressed emotion bubbling up.
But things get better over time and I'm ready to roll again. I'm working three days this week and that'll be fun. I dug out a few Robby items for scanning today. That's a Dexter Press postcard up top. Both their cards and postcards are really sweet. Very under-appreciated collectibles.
Frank has several books that have been issued with his name on the cover. I can't speak for the others but this one, co-authored by Al Silverman, definitely rang true to Frank's voice. He didn't shy away from discussing his earliest professional days as a black man traveling through the South in the 1950s. I read the original edition back in the day. My copy was lost over time and I later replaced it, thanks to a good friend, with an autographed copy of the updated edition.
As the title implies, Frank lived the game his entire adult life. He changed the culture of the sport in Baltimore when he arrived. He brought the team two World's championships. He gave me one of the most remarkable moments of my life as a fan. RIP, Frank.
I had a few other songs in mind for this final entry. I realized that I hadn't included either George Jones (my favorite vocal artist) or the anything by the great Isaac Hayes. One of these days I'll toss a few more music vids into posts to remedy that. Meanwhile here is something I was listening to this afternoon while driving...Miles Davis in a live performance of one of the great jazz standards, Stella by Starlight.
Fantastic. Miles teamed up with John Coltrane (two guys who would interpret songs from opposite ends, as it were) and the result was these performances in Paris and Stockholm in 1960. Here's the concert which was later released as Miles Davis & John Coltrane – The Final Tour: The Bootleg Series, Vol. 6.
My thoughts go out to you and your family. Can't imagine what your nieces/nephews are going through after losing their father. I can relate to how Robinson's passing hit you though. I remember when I heard that Gwynn passed away. It was like a punch to the gut all day.
ReplyDeleteSorry to hear about your brother. Every time I read about another ‘75 player passing it reminds me the era is shifting away from living history. Lot of complexity on this topic that I likely can’t sum up very well right now.
ReplyDeleteI'm very sorry to hear about your loss. It's amazing the different ways people grieve or get hit by something like that. I lost my own younger brother in November, he was only 32 at the time, and in some ways I don't even know if it's fully hit me yet even though it's been three months. My condolences on your loss Commish...
ReplyDeleteLike the others who have commented so far, I'm sorry to hear about your brother, Bob. 58 is awfully young, and cancer is such a bitch, I've lost multiple family members to it.
ReplyDeleteOn a slightly more positive note, despite my lack of commenting, I've really enjoyed this series, and wouldn't mind seeing you turn it into a regular thing - or, at least bring it back again at some point in the not too distant future.
Bob, so sorry to hear about your brother; sad for sure. If we live long enough I guess we all experience loss.
ReplyDeleteI can surely relate on the loss of Frank since he was one of my favorites and I was caught unexpected. The difference he made to the Orioles gave me some awesome memories.