Brooks: The Biography of Brooks Robinson

Wilson (The Bird: The Life and Legacy of Mark Fidrych) writes definitively about the man who manned third base for the Baltimore Orioles from 1955 to 1977, arguably the greatest player at that position in major league history. This is not an authorized biography and Wilson did not interview his subject. He clarifies that he didn't want to "blindly apply another coat of polish to the statue of a legend," yet Robinson appears to have had no enemies, was beloved by his Orioles teammates, and respected by opponents. A native of Little Rock, AR, where he played baseball with black players during volatile years of segregation, Robinson treated others as he wished to be treated. Readers encounter not only the man and the only team he played for but also the presteroid age of baseball. Wilson does not ignore that the era had other issues, especially relating to racism in the game and to racial and economic inequality in Baltimore, but he also chronicles the difference that his subject could and did make on and off the field.