Indians.com writer Anthony Castrovince has a piece up about the relationship between Mark Shapiro and his super-agent father Ron. Nothing too groundbreaking here, but there is one tidbit I have to excerpt for you. Read on.
Ron’s involvement with ballplayers happened merely as a byproduct of him being a Baltimore Orioles season-ticket holder in the late ’60s and early ’70s. The O’s requested that he help Robinson with some bankruptcy issues, and soon Shapiro had become Robinson’s agent.
“I remember Brooks Robinson wanted to give my dad his 15th Gold Glove [as a thank you for his assistance], and my dad wouldn’t take it,” Mark recalled. “[Robinson] rang our doorbell and ran away, and there was a Rawlings Gold Glove at our front door.”
If the image of Brooks Robinson scampering away from the Shapiro household like he just left a lit bag of dung on their step — except, ya know, it’s a Gold Glove — doesn’t cheer up your day, I don’t know what will.
This article appears in Nov 25 – Dec 1, 2009.
I picked up your article off a wire service. I ‘ve lived in Maryland my entire 60 years. I’ve met Ron Shapiro once, I have been with Brooks Robinson a dozen times. Brooks is a friend and a great guy. I’m always giving him books, newspaper articles, magazines. He has autographed over twenty five items for our family. I love the guy like a brother. Thanks for the story. Tom Blazucki Belair, Maryland