For most of Brooks Robinson’s life, the spotlight has been focused on his long, successful Major League career with the Baltimore Orioles.
Considered by many to be the greatest third baseman in baseball history, the Little Rock native set an impressive list of records while playing for the Orioles from 1955 to 1977. He was named the 1970 World Series Most Valuable Player, and he’s been inducted into the Arkansas Sports Hall of Fame, the National Baseball Hall of Fame and is a member of Major League Baseball’s All-Century Team, which honors the 25 best players of the 20th century.
His most recent success, however, has played out more privately.
Robinson finished the last of his 39 radiation treatments for prostate cancer earlier this year. Now, with a clean bill of health, he speaks out about the disease, urging other men to consider screenings.
Prostate cancer accounts for 25 percent of all new cases of cancer among U.S. men, according to the American Cancer Society. This year, an estimated 2,140 men in Arkansas will be diagnosed with prostate cancer, and 340 will die. Nationally, prostate cancer accounts for 192,280 cases and 27,360 deaths. The good news is that early detection greatly improves the chance for survival.
Robinson was diagnosed early after seeing his doctor for what he thought was a pulled groin. Results from a blood test showed an elevated level of the prostate-specific antigen. A biopsy later confirmed his doctor’s suspicions.
“I was at home when they called me and said there were cancer cells,” Robinson recalled. “I said, ‘Ok, let’s go. Let’s get rid of them.’”
Robinson started radiation treatments in February at the Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore, where he lives.
While many treatments are available, including chemotherapy, radiation, surgery and hormone therapy, Robinson’s doctor recommended external beam radiation treatments over the course of eight weeks, five days a week.
“The treatment wasn’t bad. I didn’t feel any different,” Robinson said. “But there’s the mental aspect too. After five or six weeks, you think ‘How long am I going to do this?’”
Humor and a positive attitude helped him cope. He saw the same patients every day, often signing cards and baseballs for them.
“We all showed up every day and went into rooms to change clothes, like going to the gym. There’s a big sign in the hospital that says ‘Real Men Wear Gowns.’ I made some good friends, and so many of those people were so much worse off than me.”
Robinson completed radiation treatments in April, but did not publicly announce his cancer until a May 21 luncheon in Baltimore honoring patrons of the American Cancer Society’s Navigation Program, which provides newly-diagnosed cancer patients and their caregivers with information and resources.
“I really didn’t want to talk about it until I was all finished,” said Robinson, who focused on his health and getting well.
Robinson was cancer-free at his three-month check-up in July and hopes for the same good news at his six-month check-up next month. “The six-month check-up is deemed the most important one,” he said.
In the meantime, he takes care of himself. He walks for one hour, five days a week, has eliminated dairy from his diet and scaled back on eating red meat.
"The toughest part is the meat," he said. "I cheat a little, but I've been pretty doggone good. My wife is vigilant, too. She watches what I eat."
Robinson hopes that sharing his experience will help raise awareness of prostate cancer.
This summer, he recorded a public service announcement for the Great Prostate Cancer Challenge in Baltimore, urging men to get check-ups and to be vigilant about their health. He has also urged his sons to get checked.
Having a father or brother with prostate cancer more than doubles a man's risk of developing the disease (Robinson said he had no known cancer in his family). Age is the strongest risk factor, with two-thirds of all cases developing in men older than 65.
The American Cancer Society recommends that men, beginning at age 50, talk with their doctor about the benefits of screenings, which include the prostate-specific antigen (PSA) blood test and a digital rectal exam. African-American men, who are more likely to develop and die from prostate cancer than men of other races, should consider screenings beginning at age 40.
With treatments now behind him, Robinson keeps busy. He is president of the Major League Baseball Players Alumni Association and serves on the board of directors for the National Baseball Hall of Fame. He also co-owns four independent baseball teams that are part of the independent Atlantic League. The teams are in Camden, New Jersey; Waldorf, Md.; and York and Lancaster, Pa., which require him to travel often.
Still, he manages to catch an Orioles game three or four times a year and often visits friends in Arkansas. “Anytime I can get home, I do,” he said.
For more information about Robinson, log onto
brooksrobinson.com; for more information about prostate and other cancers, log onto
cancer.org.
