Talk about one heckuva whirlwind for Roberto "Robbie" Alomar. In a matter of a week, he had two significant accomplishments bestowed upon him -- induction into the Baseball Hall of Fame and the retirement of his No. 12 jersey in Toronto.
Now, I am a huge baseball fan, and remember the '92 and '93 World Series as if it happened yesterday while feeling as if they occurred an eternity ago, but having Robbie Alomar take the stage in the last week has heightened the baseball senses to a whole different level. With his face and highlights gracing the sports packages, one cannot help but conjure great memories of him -- as arguably the greatest 2nd baseman of all time; arguably, and widely recognized, as the greatest Blue Jay of all time; and one whose graciousness and adoption of the city of Toronto made Torontonians feel as if he were one of their own. It reminded me how fun and great things were during those times and for a few short days made me forget about salary caps and divisional disparities and all that is wrong and what has plagued baseball the last little while (I suppose we can stretch back to the '94 strike).
For it is Robbie who put the Jays and Toronto baseball on the map. Sure we had Bell and Stieb and since have had Halladay, but none of them had the impact that Robbie has. He was the turning point. His stellar plays, his clutch hits (who will ever forget the homerun off of Eckersley?), his sheer love of the game -- he is who helped pack the SkyDome with 50,000+ each and every night. And it was only fitting that on both the hot day in Cooperstown he was recognized with his bronze plaque and the day his number was raised to the SkyDome rafters, he was greeted with the same amount of joy and enthusiasm by the many fans for whom he brought just as much of those traits to them.
Congrats Robbie...it's well deserved. You will always be THE Blue Jay legend and you now have multiple forms of proof to show for it. Finally, and simply, thank you.
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