Opinions to go Online

A lot of folks have been weighing in on the recent passing of Hall of Fame pitcher Robin Roberts. It’s eminently understandable. He was famous; he was a really nice guy; and he lived among us since 1977. He used to coach USF.

But please indulge one more perspective.

I “knew” Roberts, the former Philadelphia Phillies “Whiz Kid,” the way fans “know” hometown players. I grew up in Philly.

Roberts owned the town in the 1950s. That was the decade when he won 20 games or more for six consecutive seasons. One year, 1952, he won 28. He once pitched 28 straight complete games, an accomplishment that will never be duplicated. He was his own “closer.” He seemingly started every All Star game for a decade. He made the cover of Time magazine in 1956. His jersey number (36) was retired (in 1962) before he did.

Roberts was to Philadelphia what Stan Musial was to St. Louis, Ernie Banks to Chicago, Mickey Mantle to New York and Ted Williams to Boston. In a city notorious for booing Mike Schmidt and Santa Claus, the face of the Phillies’ franchise was never booed by baseball’s most obnoxious, fickle fans. That right there is a form of canonization in the city of brotherly mug. And that, in a career of HOF accomplishment, might be his most singular achievement.

Even Philly fans realized that Roberts represented more than a guy who won a lot of games for a home team that was usually not very good. He was also a guy who could hit and run the bases. But he always comported himself as a gentleman. No scandals, no DUIs, no “swagger,” no cheap-shot quotes, no excuses — even when having a bad team behind him provided plenty of material.  

He was also good-looking and well-spoken, one of the few college-educated (Michigan State University) players of his era. He would stay married to the same person for more than half a century. How old school. Thank you, Central Casting. Jimmy Stewart could have played the lead in the “Robin Roberts Story.”

I finally got the opportunity to meet him in 2003, the year his autobiography, “My Life,” was published. We met for two interviews.

He was humble, friendly and unassuming. It was like being in the company of a retired librarian, talking about all those great writers who lined the shelves. Only he was one of his own profession’s all-time greats.

He still loved a good, back-in-the-day reverie and genuinely appreciated that fans still remembered.  He didn’t bemoan the timing that his — by contemporary standards — talents and track record would have been worth hundreds of millions today. He earned $530,000 — over 18 seasons. He topped out at $57,500 — not even close to today’s major league minimum and pin money for less-talented pitchers who depend on specialists to finish what they start.

Roberts’ rationale: That was then, this was not, and context matters. “Remember that the average annual household income in the United States in the mid-’50s was less than $4,000,” he pointed out.

Of his “glamorous” life in baseball’s steadfast lane, Roberts offered this: “The ‘innocence,’ if you will, is real,” he said. “I was the kind of guy who went to the ballpark and then back to the hotel. I’m not pulling punches. That was my way of living.”

He won nearly 300 games and was one of baseball’s all-time good guys. And Philadelphia fans paid him the ultimate tribute.

It was 10 years in the waiting, but finally the U.S. women’s gymnastics team has a bronze medal for its performance in the 2000 Olympic Games in Sydney, Australia. The American women had finished fourth behind the Chinese, but the International Olympic Committee has finally ordered the Chinese to forfeit the medal for using an ineligible athlete.

While the Americans are pleased, they should temper their enthusiasm — and not just because this issue has been incubating for a decade.  There’s “cheating” — as in the use of performance-enhancing drugs or rigged scores. And there’s having a gymnast who’s — too young, a decided disadvantage in most sports. China’s Dong Fangxiao was really, really good and better than most of her American counterparts — but was only 14. Since 1996, gymnasts must turn 16 during the Olympic year to be eligible. Thus the disqualification.

Granted, there’s a good reason for a minimum age: the potential and actual exploitation of pre-pubescent athletes had become an ongoing concern. Even if Nadia Comaneci was only 14 when she won her gold at Montreal in 1976.

The bronze medal should have been left vacant.

Apparently former Bucs’ tackle Warren Sapp is acting as a tutor of sorts to the Bucs’ top two draft choices, defensive lineman Gerald McCoy of Oklahoma and Brian Price of UCLA. As a seven-time Pro Bowl selection, Sapp can certainly help by sharing technique tips. The former defensive tackle was one of the best.

But here’s hoping that’s all he shares. Sapp was also known as one of the more arrogant players off  the field. A helluva player, but no role model.

Finally someone in Pinellas government is speaking out sensibly on the Rays inevitable, if low-key, search for a Tropicana Field alternative. Pinellas County Administrator Bob LaSala risked sounding like a home-town heretic by acknowledging that the county might be of help in building a new Rays stadium — “probably not in downtown St. Petersburg.”

In a further blow to narrow-thinking parochialism, LaSala even intimated that he wouldn’t rule out the possibility of the county supporting a stadium in — drum roll, please — Hillsborough County. Make no mistake, the Pinellas County Commission is a major player with leverage. It controls the hotel tax that underwrites about half of the bonds on the Trop.

Deja view: As unlikely as it seems, for the second time in less than a year, somebody has pitched a perfect game against the Rays. This time it was the Oakland Athletics’ Dallas Braden, who did it last Sunday at Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum.

Notably, there were only 12,000 in attendance to see Braden’s performance for the second place A’s. That’s about what the Rays’ drew when the A’s were in St. Pete the previous week. It’s a reminder that these are the two MLB teams with more in common than winning records and Bay area venues. They are Exhibits A and B for franchises with serious facility and attendance issues — and consequently subject to “relocation” speculation.

For the record, the A’s, who play in one of those old-style, multi-purpose stadiums, are reportedly eyeing San Jose, the biggest city (950,000) in the country without pro baseball, football or basketball.