RIP Eddie Brinkman

Subject: Eddie Brinkman Sun Oct 28, 2007 11:22 am

The following from: http://www.detroit-tigers-baseball-history.com/brinkman.html

Eddie Brinkman was involved in one of the most one-sided trades...

... in Detroit Tiger, no make that- MAJOR LEAGUE BASEBALL HISTORY!... was another big favorite of the 1972 Eastern Division Champs. Eddie was known as just about the best shortstop around... best arm, best range... set records for errorless games. Steady Eddie couldn't hit much, but still knew how to help with the bat in the clutch... and his biggest moment, a cult classic, was when he was interviewed right after the Tigers clinched the '72 championship- more about that later!

Brinkman was signed right out of a Cincinnati high school and broke into the bigs at age 19... got a big signing bonus too, over 60 large, and played for some pretty bad Washington Senators teams (quick- what team is the Senators now?).

Brink's only really good years with the bat were under the hand of Ted Williams... Teddy ballgame got him to stop hitting the ball in the air so much... instead to start slapping it around... his power went down, but he hit in the .260s in 1969 and 1970. Never got close to that again!

He was part of one of the most ONE SIDED TRADES IN BASEBALL HISTORY in the fall of 1970. The Tigers sent a washed-up Denny (31-6) McLain to the Nats along with the Coyote (Don Wert) and Elliott Maddox for.... get this ... Ed Brinkman, Joe Coleman, Aurelio Rodriguez and a reliever, Jim Hannan. Any ONE of the first three would have made that a great deal, but we got a great shortstop, a gold-glove 3rd baseman, and a guy who won 20 games. Biggest rip-off in years.... Washington never recovered from that one and ended up moving to the great state of Texas a couple of years later.

An old manager in Washington had said "A contending club could carry Brinkman for his glove and never worry about his bat." Eddie proved it in spades as he led the Tigers to that division championship... named Tiger of the Year while hitting just .203! That's the kind of leather he threw!

Ed was known as a great needler, always picking on Frank Howard, Norm Cash, Dick McAuliffe ... a great clubhouse guy... 72 games in a row without an error from a guy with great range. Northrup said after it was broken "The Brink-o-Meter has finally stopped running."

Oh yeahhh... After the '72 clincher, Larry Osterman was interviewing Eddie LIVE on the Tiger TV network, only Eddie didn't know it was live. "What do you think of this Tiger team, Eddie,' Larry asked... "It's the best ****ing bunch of guys I've ever played with" was his off-color reply... ]INSTANT LEGEND STATUS!

Years later I heard a gentleman at an exhibition game in Florida joking with Brinks... "Hey Eddie, Do you still use those words on TV?" Not missing a eat he laughed and said "Not since my kids know what they mean!"

Subject: Re: RIP Eddie Brinkman Mon Oct 29, 2007 9:17 am

I was gonna say Rangers but you gave it away.

What team did the Washington Nationals used to be??

Subject: Re: RIP Eddie Brinkman Mon Oct 29, 2007 12:40 pm

Subject: Re: RIP Eddie Brinkman Mon Oct 29, 2007 3:27 pm

And the Seattle Pilots became the.........??

Subject: Re: RIP Eddie Brinkman Mon Oct 29, 2007 3:30 pm

Subject: Re: RIP Eddie Brinkman Mon Oct 29, 2007 4:17 pm

Go ahead....answer away!!

You KNOW it!!

Subject: Re: RIP Eddie Brinkman Mon Oct 29, 2007 4:20 pm

Milwaukee Brewers?
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Subject: Re: RIP Eddie Brinkman Mon Oct 29, 2007 4:22 pm

Who were the Twins before they were in Minnesota?

Subject: Re: RIP Eddie Brinkman Mon Oct 29, 2007 4:23 pm

The Walter Johnsons...err Washington Senators.
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Subject: Re: RIP Eddie Brinkman Mon Oct 29, 2007 4:25 pm

You are TOO good at this. You know way more than me.....

2 fer 2!!

Subject: Re: RIP Eddie Brinkman Mon Oct 29, 2007 4:30 pm

We're about out of team....
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Subject: Re: RIP Eddie Brinkman Wed Oct 31, 2007 6:25 pm

That Eddie Brinkman sure could cuss!!

Subject: RIP Eddie Brinkman Wed Oct 01, 2008 1:47 am

Brinkman dies
(from the Detroit News, September 30, 2008)

Former Tiger Eddie Brinkman died in his hometown of Cincinnati, the Chicago White Sox announced Tuesday. He was 66.
Brinkman joined the Tigers in 1971 as part of the trade that sent Denny McLain to the Washington Senators.

Brinkman won the Gold Glove in 1972, the same season he finished in the Top 10 for Most Valuable Player, and was named to the American League All-Star Team in 1973.

After his playing career, Brinkman was a coach and scout for the White Sox from 1983-2000.
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There are three things in my life which I really love: God, my family, and baseball. The only problem - once baseball season starts, I change the order around a bit. ~Al Gallagher, 1971

Subject: Re: RIP Eddie Brinkman Wed Oct 01, 2008 3:55 am

Brinkman dies

Former Tiger Eddie Brinkman died in his hometown of Cincinnati, the Chicago White Sox announced Tuesday. He was 66.

Brinkman joined the Tigers in 1971 as part of the trade that sent Denny McLain to the Washington Senators.

Brinkman won the Gold Glove in 1972, the same season he finished in the Top 10 for Most Valuable Player, and was named to the American League All-Star Team in 1973.

After his playing career, Brinkman was a coach and scout for the White Sox from 1983-2000.

Subject: Re: RIP Eddie Brinkman Sat Oct 04, 2008 3:59 am

10/03/08 5:47 PM ET
Former All-Star Brinkman dies at 66
Defensive stalwart won Gold Glove with Tigers in 1972
By / Associated Press

CHICAGO -- Eddie Brinkman, a record-setting shortstop during a 15-year career in the Majors and a former high school teammate of Pete Rose, has died. He was 66.

Brinkman died Tuesday in his hometown of Cincinnati. The Chicago White Sox, for whom he was a longtime coach and scout, held a moment of silence for him before their American League Central tiebreaker against Minnesota. The team did not give a cause of death.

Brinkman made his big league debut at 19 in 1961 with the Washington Senators and played in an era when shortstops were known for their gloves, rather than their bats. The only two times he hit over .240 came when Hall of Famer Ted Williams personally worked with him.

"Steady Eddie" was traded to Detroit after the 1970 season in a deal that included Denny McLain. Brinkman solidified his reputation as "good-field, no-hit" more than ever in 1972, the year he won his lone Gold Glove.

Brinkman batted just .203 with six home runs and 49 RBIs for the AL East champion Tigers, but set the league record for shortstops with 72 straight errorless games -- a mark Cal Ripken broke in 1990.

Brinkman's glovework in 1972 earned him a ninth-place finish in the AL MVP voting. No Detroit player did better in the balloting that championship year -- Mickey Lolich, a 22-game winner, came in 10th and Al Kaline, who hit .313, was 24th.

Brinkman was an AL All-Star in 1973. The next year, he set career highs with 14 home runs and 54 RBIs.

Batting eighth for most of his career, Brinkman hit .224 with 60 home runs and 461 RBIs. He spent most of his days with Washington and Detroit, and split his last year with St. Louis, Texas and the New York Yankees in 1975.

His best year with the bat came in 1969, when he hit .266. That was Williams' first year as manager of the Senators, and the great slugger made Brinkman his pet project.

Williams worked on improving Brinkman's mental approach at the plate. The result was a career-high average for Brinkman, coming after successive seasons in which he hit .188 and .187.

Brinkman missed much of the 1968 season while serving in the National Guard. A week after the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr., Brinkman was stationed in the left-field seats on opening day in Washington.

Brinkman was a prep star, pitching on the same team as Rose. Their high school, Western Hills in Cincinnati, also produced Don Zimmer.

Brinkman's brother, Chuck, was a backup catcher in the Majors from 1969-74.

Despite making his mark at shortstop, Brinkman started his big league career as a third baseman in September 1961. He started out 0-for-9 before singling in the next-to-last game at Griffith Stadium. He shifted to shortstop in 1962, when the Senators moved to D.C. Stadium, later renamed RFK Stadium.

Brinkman was the infield coach for the White Sox from 1983-88. He then became a special assignment scout for the team until retiring in 2000.

Copyright 2008 The Associated Press. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.

Subject: Re: RIP Eddie Brinkman Sat Oct 25, 2008 9:29 am

He was the best Censored

guy. I will never forget the Censored

day he said the Censored

F word in that Censored

famous

interview he did on Censored

TV!!

PRICELESS!!

Subject: Re: RIP Eddie Brinkman Sat Oct 25, 2008 9:57 am

when was that?
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There are three things in my life which I really love: God, my family, and baseball. The only problem - once baseball season starts, I change the order around a bit. ~Al Gallagher, 1971

Subject: Re: RIP Eddie Brinkman Sun Oct 26, 2008 12:48 pm

Early 70's (I think 1972)...my young ears couldn't believe it.

Don'tcha just LOVE live TV??

Subject: Re: RIP Eddie Brinkman Sun Oct 26, 2008 1:14 pm

nothin' like it! Big Smile

_________________
There are three things in my life which I really love: God, my family, and baseball. The only problem - once baseball season starts, I change the order around a bit. ~Al Gallagher, 1971

Subject: Re: RIP Eddie Brinkman Sun Jan 04, 2009 5:59 am

Memories of Eddie Brinkman

Posted by cmundy@citpat.com October 03, 2008 19:18PM

Eddie Brinkman, who died Sept. 30 at his home in Cincinnati, was one of the best defensive shortstops in Detroit Tigers history.

He was part of the haul the Tigers got when they dealt Denny McLain to the Washington Senators, and in 1972, when the Tigers won the AL East Division, Brinkman set the league record for shortstops with 72 straight errorless games -- a mark Cal Ripken broke in 1990.

Yet, it was a comment made after the Tigers clinched the division title in 1972 that has stuck with fans who remember it.

During the celebration, Brinkman dropped an F-bomb on live television. He said something like, "I love these ----ing guys." It became part of Tigers lore.

Fast forward to the summer of 1997. The Yankees were playing the Brewers in Milwaukee on a Sunday night, and I was in the stands at County Stadium. I looked over one section and saw Brinkman, then a scout, watching the game alone.

I approached Brinkman and introduced myself as a Tigers fan and asked if I could sit with him. He was very pleasant, and we talked baseball most of the game.

Near the end of the game, I could not resist asking Brinkman about the infamous F-bomb. He laughed.

"I am asked about that more than any other thing I did in my career," Brinkman said with a smile.

That's a shame. Brinkman accomplished quite a bit in his 15-year career in the big leagues.

So, I'd like to remember Brinkman as a slick-fielding shortstop who, in 1972, finished ninth in the voting for the AL MVP despite batting just .203 with six home runs and 49 RBIs. He was that solid defensively, and he finished higher in the MVP voting than any of his division-winning teammates that year.

Eddie Brinkman was a character, and he was a decent ballplayer. R.I.P., "Steady Eddie."