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For those who don't know, Brian is the son of former University of North Carolina baseball coach Mike Roberts. When Brian was still nursing, Mike took over as the Tar Heels' coach and led them to a third-place finish at the College World Series in 1978. The following summer, on a family vacation, baby Brian contracted pneumonia, which produced a heart defect that required open-heart surgery when he was just 5 years old. By then, B.J. Surhoff was playing for the Tar Heels, and all he remembers is that one spring, the little kid who was hanging around all the time wasn't there anymore.

Despite the setback and lack of stamina, little Brian returned to hanging out with his dad's team the following season, watching the likes of Surhoff, Scott Bradley, Walt Weiss, and later Scott Bankhead and Paul Shuey. Eventually, Roberts joined them in the UNC record books as college freshman of the year in 1997 and ACC player of the year in 1998, setting school records for hits and steals in a season.

When Mike Roberts was let go after 21 seasons in Chapel Hill after that 1998 season, Brian transferred to South Carolina, where in 1999 he again led the nation in steals. The Orioles drafted Brian Roberts in the first round. His dad went on to coach at UNC-Asheville and currently coaches the Cotuit Kettleers in the Cape Cod League. A former All-ACC catcher, Mike Roberts is a master at what it takes to have stolen base success. He even hired the Carolina track coach to work with Brian in his collegiate days.

So how much of Brian's hard-earned success in 2005, seven years after he last played under his father, is still owed to his upbringing? During a recent rain delay in Boston, we talked about it.

Clubhouse Confidential: "How has your relationship with your father changed over time as you developed as a ballplayer?"

Brian Roberts: "Greatly. ... He was my dad, but he was also my coach, 100 percent, all the way, from day one until probably a couple of years ago, and it was difficult at times. Anybody who's had the father-son/coach-dad relationship knows how it can be good at times and it can be hard at times. When we were in college, I think it helped a lot because we finally got to be around each other more than we probably were for a while when I was in high school. ... But then when I left and went to pro ball, that was when it got kind of hard because he still wanted to coach a lot. And he wasn't around me that much, so he didn't really ... it's hard ... I know where he's coming from, because when I struggled, he hurt for me and he wanted to try and help, but at that point I was just kind of frustrated with the whole dad/coach thing. And it got to the point where I said, 'Dad, I just want you to enjoy this. Enjoy my career. You helped me get here, now kind of let me go on my own and see what happens.' "

Clubhouse Confidential: "Did that end it or are there still times when he ...?"

Roberts: (laughs) "It took a long time. A lot of conversations. You know, I think it takes time to change any relationship, whatever it might be. And when you have somebody who cares that much about you like your dad does, it makes it that much more difficult. But, it's gotten a lot better over the last couple of years and myself getting a chance to play every day, and go through ups and downs. I mean, he played pro ball, so he knows a little bit about what it's all about. But you switch from college and playing 60 games to go into 160 ... when you're in college, you don't go through the 0-for-15s very often, or ever. I was fortunate. I didn't go through a whole lot of that in college, so he got frustrated, I got frustrated and it kind of strained our relationship for a while. But it's working now, where he enjoys watching me play and we can just have a dad/son relationship."

Clubhouse Confidential: "Was that tough growing up that you felt like he always related to you and you always related to him in terms of baseball?"

Roberts: "I was on Cal Ripken's show the other day, and he expressed some of the same interests. I mean his dad was his coach in the big leagues, so I think any time your dad has been a coach and it's in his blood and that's what he loves, that's what it's going to be for a long time. I still go to him, but for the most part I said, 'OK, this is a time in my life where I want to develop a better relationship personally with my dad.' It's not worth it at this point because I'm surrounded by great coaches and great veterans, like when Cal was here, and so many other guys that you can lean on for help. I know what my dad would tell me by heart. I could recite everything he was going to tell me. I just said, 'You don't have to tell me, I already know.'"

Clubhouse Confidential: "I know you were very young when it happened, but what do you recall of the time you went through open-heart surgery, and your relationship then, and how it may have changed things?"

Roberts: "Yeah, I was only 5, so I don't remember a lot about it. One of the memories I have is being wheeled off into the operating room and how hard that was for myself and my parents. I can remember holding on to both of them crying and just not wanting to leave because I probably didn't comprehend what was going on with the surgery at that point, obviously. But my parents did, sure, and any time you send a child into an operation, especially open-heart surgery at age 5, it's a difficult thing. I think he learned at that point that life was more important than anything else, especially with your children. The most important thing is that your child's healthy, and so to get through that, it probably helped a lot."

Gary Miller is a reporter for ESPN's major-league baseball coverage.

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added: May 5th 2005
Orioles welcome Roberts' early offense

By Mel Antonen, USA TODAY

Brian Roberts had a streak of 1,544 consecutive at-bats — his entire big-league career — without getting anything but a first-pitch fastball from opposing pitchers.

That all changed when, in his 42nd at-bat this season, Roberts saw a first-pitch slider from the New York Yankees' Mike Mussina, indicative of the difficulty in shutting down the Baltimore Orioles second baseman.

On a club with power hitters including Sammy Sosa, Rafael Palmeiro and Miguel Tejada, Roberts is the toughest out in Baltimore's lineup this first month of the season. The 178-pound infielder is a big reason why the Orioles are atop the American League East and why the defending champion Yankees are last.

Roberts leads or is tied for first in the AL in five offensive categories, including home runs — his seven are two more than his season high. Not bad for a switch-hitting leadoff batter.

And he opened with a 14-game hitting streak, including nine RBI and 14 hits as the Orioles won five of six against the Yankees.

"If he keeps going like this, he might hit 70 home runs," Sosa says. "I'm impressed. He's awesome. Anything he eats, I'm going to eat."

Roberts — the AL player of the week for April 11-17 — was a career .264 batter before this season. He partly attributes his hitting surge to being entrenched as the second baseman (rival Jerry Hairston Jr. was traded) and to an offseason training program at Athletes' Performance in Tempe, Ariz.

Orioles catcher Javy Lopez saw early signs of Roberts' power: "You know how guys rake (hit) in spring training and then don't when the regular season begins? Well, he was raking in spring training, and he's continuing to do it during the season."

Boston Red Sox pitcher David Wells was the first to hold Roberts hitless, and he said it wasn't easy. Wells said he changed locations and knew that Roberts was locked in when he threw him a pitch a touch above the belt, which he says batters usually go after.

"But he didn't even sniff," Wells says. "That's saying he's seeing the ball well."

Team vice president Mike Flanagan, a former Oriole who won the 1979 AL Cy Young Award, says Mussina's first-pitch slider is a compliment to Roberts because pitchers like to be sure to retire the players around the big hitters.

"The slider is telling Brian, 'You are part of that club,' " Flanagan says, referring to the heart of the Orioles' order. That would be Melvin Mora (.310 average), Sosa (.295, seventh all time with 578 home runs), Tejada (.341 with 25 RBI) and Palmeiro (off to a slow start at .247 but 10th all time with 552 homers).

Roberts understands the philosophy: "Who would you rather pitch to, me or anyone in the middle of our order?"

Security is a relief

Roberts has always been a strong defensive player with good speed. A year ago in spring training, he was slated to be a backup infielder until Hairston, the Orioles' regular second baseman and one of Roberts' closest friends, broke a knuckle on his right ring finger.

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added: May 5th, 2005
Roberts named AL Player of the Month

In six games last week, Roberts batted .500 (12-24) with two home runs, eight RBI, two triples and a .600 on-base percentage. The O's leadoff man led the AL with nine runs scored and six stolen bases while collecting 22 total bases. Roberts hit safely in all six Orioles games including five multi-hit games helping Baltimore to go 5-1 for the week. On Saturday, Roberts' seventh inning three-run home run finished off a dramatic four-run comeback win over the New York Yankees. This is the first career Player of the Week Award for Roberts.

Other candidates included Roberts' teammates, Miguel Tejada (.375, 13 RBI) and Melvin Mora (.478, .826 SLG); Toronto's Gregg Zaun (.467, .609 OBP, 7 BB) and Shea Hillenbrand (.414, 20 TB); Hank Blalock (.379, 2 HR) and Michael Young (.300, 9 RBI) of the Texas Rangers; and New York's Gary Sheffield (.500, 2 HR, 8 RBI).

Pitchers on the ballot included Boston's Tim Wakefield (2-0, 0.69 ERA, 10 SO) and Gustavo Chacin (2-0, 14.0 IP, 1.29 ERA) of the Blue Jays.

What was your welcome-to-the-big-leagues moment?

I was called up in midseason, and I went straight from the airport to the locker room. Our manager [Mike Hargrove] said, "You're playing shortstop and hitting second. Don't get nervous." That was impossible. There were 45,000 people there, and Cal Ripken was playing third. I almost [peed on] myself.

What's one thing fans don't realize about playing in the majors?

The number of games. From February to October we have about 15 days off.

If I were commissioner for a day, I would ...

... go back to a balanced schedule. It's not fun to face the Red Sox and the Yankees 18 times a year. We're not exactly on a level playing field. They can go over the salary cap and pay the tax. We should play more teams outside our division. It would mean more travel, but it would be worth it for a better chance at the playoffs.

If I weren't playing baseball, I would ...

... be a radio or sports broadcaster. In college at South Carolina, I did some stuff with the radio station and really liked it.

Last Week
Roberts, 27, came to camp as the clear-cut starter for the first time. After seeing Sammy Sosa club homer after homer in batting practice, Roberts said, "It was fun to watch."

This Week
The O's open their spring schedule with Thursday and Friday games against Florida.

Issue date: March 7, 2005

For the first time in his four years as a big league player, Brian Roberts is going to spring training knowing that he has a job.

He is the second baseman for the Baltimore Orioles. No questions asked: No “what ifs.” No “who elses.” No “if onlys.” The position is his. Roberts will not have to prove himself this time. He will not have to face competition from his long-time friend and fellow second base aspirant, the departed Jerry Hairston.

Or from anyone else. He will not have to worry about whether he will be on the bench or in the Opening Day lineup. He won’t have to wonder if he will be wearing the uniform of the Baltimore Orioles or some other major or minor league club.

When the Opening Day lineup is handed by manager Lee Mazzilli to the umpires, Brian Roberts’ name will be on it as the Oriole second baseman — barring injury, of course.

“It’s very different this time,” Roberts acknowledged, as he was packing up his belongings at his winter home in Scottsdale, Arizona, a week before his scheduled arrival at the Orioles’ spring training camp in Ft. Lauderdale. “In my five previous years of going to Ft. Lauderdale, I’ve never had the opportunity to go to spring training and know I’m going to get the chance to play every day and know that the position is mine. It really gives me a peace of mind going into spring training this year.”

That peace of mind, of course, can work two ways.

It could absorb some of the stress off Roberts, who is 27, and help him concentrate more on his game instead of worrying about earning and keeping a job. Or the lack of competition could take the edge off Roberts’ approach to the game.

Roberts insists that the fact that he no longer is competing for the second base job with Hairston, who was traded to the Chicago Cubs in February for Sammy Sosa, will not alter his approach to the way he plays.

“I think 75% of big leaguers are people who know they are going to have regular jobs, so I don’t think the job performance goes down,” he explains. “We’re professionals. I don’t think we let down — if you have any pride.”

The Orioles’ co-general manager, Jim Beattie, believes it will be up to Robert s to show how he reacts to being assured of having an everyday major league job for the first time in his life. “He needs to keep pushing himself,” says the Oriole official.

A year ago Roberts came to spring training, once again, in fierce competition with Hairston for the second base job.

The rivalry didn’t last very long. In the very first exhibition game of 2004 in Ft. Lauderdale, Hairston, playing second base, led off the bottom of the first inning with a single. He stole second. Then he immediately stole third, but while sliding into the bag, he broke the knuckle of his right index finger.

So much for Baltimore’s battle for the second base job. Hairston went on the disabled list for two and one half months. By the time he returned to the Orioles, Roberts was ensconced at second, hitting .305 and playing great in the field. He hadn’t made an error by the time Hairston returned to the lineup on May 11. Roberts’ performance had convinced manager Lee Mazzilli that it made sense to keep him at second. So Hairston primarily served as an outfielder or DH (although he again landed on the disabled list for the last seven weeks of the season after injuring an ankle trying to make a play in the outfield).

Ironically, although they have been rivals for the second base job ever since the Orioles decided after the 2001 season that Roberts was better suited for second than for shortstop — the position he played in the minors — Hairston and Roberts are good friends.

Second base is not the only interest they have shared. They both are religious Christians and make their winter homes in Scottsdale, Ariz., where they have worked out together the past several years.

This past winter Roberts and Hairston spent six days a week with workout and athletic performance guru Mark Verstegen and about two dozen other major and minor leaguers, including Oriole teammates Jay Gibbons and Darnell McDonald. Every Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday from mid-November up until a week before spring training, Roberts would go to Vestegen’s workout center in Tempe, Arizona, from about nine in the morning until four in the afternoon. On Wednesdays and Saturdays they put in a half day’s work. On the full days Roberts would undergo physical conditioning twice a day, sandwiched around baseball workouts.

When the program ended this year, and it was time to depart for spring training, Roberts and Hairston headed in different directions for the first time, Roberts to Ft. Lauderdale and Hairston to the Cubs camp in Mesa, Arizona. “It’s going to be weird, because we’re used to being on the same team,” says Roberts. “I think we’re both excited to have this [competition] behind us. We’re both pretty confident people and feel we deserve the right to play regularly. I think we both are happy for each other.”

Roberts says he doesn’t think the competition between the two friends was a bad thing.

“It made us both stronger players,” he explains.

“We learned a lot from it. I think we learned from each other. I know I learned a lot from him. He played second before I did. I learned a lot from being able to talk to him and watch him.”

Roberts had his best season in 2004. He batted .273 with four home runs, 53 RBIs, and 107 runs scored. He also led the American League with 50 doubles—the most in Oriole history—and stole 29 bases, the fourth highest total in the league. Roberts’ fielding has improved immensely since he first arrived in the big leagues as a shortstop in June of 2001 to replace the injured Mike Bordick. Last year he had the third highest fielding average of any AL second baseman, .988, with eight errors in 159 games.

Still, it is his ability to get on base and his speed as a leadoff hitter, in front of power hitters like Miguel Tejada, Sosa, Rafael Palmeiro and Javy Lopez, that represent his greatest assets as an Oriole.

“He brings us speed and the ability to get on base and make things happen,” says Mazzilli. ”He can create havoc on the bases. And it’s a plus that he’s a switch hitter.”

Roberts is still young as a major leaguer, and the Orioles expect him to improve this year.

“Brian has all the talent he needs to be a very successful major leaguer,” says Beattie.

What does Roberts expect from himself for the 2005 season?

He sets no specific goals.

“I don’t want to restrict myself,” he explains. “I don’t know what I can do yet. I think I’m still learning, still growing, still getting better.”

But while the Durham, North Carolina, native (his father was coach of the University of North Carolina baseball team) offers no personal goals, he does have one for his team.

“First and foremost, I want to play for a winning team,” Roberts says. “I’m tired of losing.”

Losing, unfortunately, is something Roberts has been accustomed to as an Oriole. They’ve haven’t had a winning season in the four years he’s played at Camden Yards.

But with the added bat of Sosa, the year of experience of the young pitching staff, and the fact that he and Larry Bigbie now have a complete season of regular, big league play under their belts, Roberts believes the Orioles finally can end their seven-year streak of losing seasons.

“I definitely think so,” says Roberts. “I think everyone knows we can score runs. We can win. That would be awesome.”

Roberts, 27, hit .531 with eight doubles, 10 runs scored and 25 total bases. He raised his batting average 17 points to .279 as the Orioles went 4-2 in six games.

It's been quite a month for Roberts, who is hitting .393 and serving as an offensive sparkplug for the surging Orioles, who are 20-11 since the All-Star break.

"You know, I didn't even know there was an award for this," he said Monday afternoon. "So yeah, it was a big surprise. But I think it's just a reflection of how the team is going. A lot of other guys could have won the award."

Roberts is right. He edged out teammate Melvin Mora, who hit .310 with three homers and 11 RBIs; Boston's Jason Varitek (.522, 10 RBIs); Chicago's Carlos Lee (.379, four homers, 10 RBIs); Cleveland's Ben Broussard (.450, 11 RBIs); Detroit's Nook Logan (.500); Oakland's Erubiel Durazo (.500, two RBI), and the Yankees' Bernie Williams (.357, three homers, eight RBIs).

But the honor could be a testament to his endurance. It has not been an easy season for Roberts, who's had to deal with a second base controversy since Jerry Hairston returned to the active roster in May. There have been some tough stretches; Roberts hit .236 in May and June as Hairston flourished as an all-purpose player.

Roberts' resurgence has coincided with that of his team. He is hitting .350 since the All-Star break and has emerged as the productive leadoff hitter the organization projected when he inherited the second-base job in Spring Training.

"Brian has done everything well," manager Lee Mazzilli said. "He has been a sparkplug. The award is well-deserved."

And the diminutive Roberts is showing he is more than just a singles hitter. He is second in the AL with 39 doubles, two behind Cleveland's Ron Belliard, and has doubled in seven straight games.

"That means he is driving the ball to all fields," Mazzilli said. "Some of those balls he hit probably were just short of triples. He has played great for us."

The Orioles enter Monday seven games behind Boston in the Wild Card race and have won 11 of 13 games, making this stretch of games against Oakland, Toronto and Texas crucial.

"It's good to be playing games that mean something, we have been waiting six years for this," he said. "I think some folks may take this for granted, but I am not. I am just glad to help the team. So I look at this as a team award."

B. Rob

No Second Thoughts For O’s For Lead-off Man Brian Roberts

When he was in his first two years of high school, Brian Roberts toyed with the notion of giving up baseball.

It wouldn’t have been an easy step for him to take.

Baseball was Roberts’ life — and far more so than for most basseball-infatuated kids his age.

His father, Mike Roberts, was the baseball coach at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

Brian was reared on baseball, almost from the time he wore diapers. His father took the helm of the UNC baseball program in 1979, when Brian was just one year old.

The Roberts family has photographs of Brian, at the age of two, standing on the beach garbed in full catcher’s gear.

“It’s all I ever knew,” he says of baseball during his childhood. As a young boy, he would hang out on the baseball field with his father at UNC and even accompany the Tar heels when they played at other schools. “I pretty much lived on that field,” Roberts relates.

“He was always around,” recalls B.J. Surhoff, now a teammate of Roberts but in the 1980s a college star on Roberts’ father’s UNC teams. “He was a little kid. He made road trips with us. He’d take ground balls and come to batting practice in his uniform with his glove and bat.”

But by the time he reached high school, Roberts began to wonder if baseball was the right course to pursue. His father was a hardcore baseball tutor, a disciplinarian, and he could be tough on his son. The intensity of constantly being around the game, combined with his father’s rigidity, caused Roberts to lose some of his desire to play. “I was sort of burned out,” he explains. “It was all I did my whole life.”

Plus, there was the natural rebelliousness of a teenager against a father who was a constant and at times overbearing figure in his baseball life.

“I wasn’t that motivated,” says Roberts. “I didn’t put the work in.” But he stuck with it, and not only remained on his high school team, but also enrolled at UNC and played under his father for two years.

He might have opted to go to another college, or even turn pro after high school. But there weren’t many real options.

At 150 pounds and standing about 5-foot-8, he was considered too tiny to play above the high school level.

So he joined his father’s team at UNC.

“It was tough at times,” he says of playing under his dad. But that awkwardness of playing for a coach who happened to be a domineering father didn’t impede his progress as a baseball player. As a freshman at UNC, Roberts batted .427 with eight home runs and 44 RBIs and broke the school’s record for hits (with 102) and steals (with 47). That performance earned him the nation’s college Freshman of the Year honors. The next year he stole 63 bases, but was playing under a cloud. His father had been informed by the Tar Heels’ new athletic director that he would be fired at the end of the 1998 season.

Once Mike Roberts left UNC, so did his son. Brian transferred to the University of South Carolina, where, in 1999, he led the nation in steals with 67, hit .353 with 12 home runs, and also, finally, sparked the interest of major league scouts. Within a month of completing his junior year at USC, he was playing infield for the Orioles’ Delmarva farm club.

Ironically, the Orioles were able to pick Roberts as a ‘sandwich’ selection between the first and second rounds of the June, 1999 draft, because of the defection of their previous second baseman, Roberto Alomar. When Alomar left Baltimore to go to Cleveland as a free-agent before the 1999 season, the Orioles were awarded the sandwich pick as compensation.

Despite his size — he’s still only 5’8” (thouggh the Orioles list him as 5’9”) and weighs about 170, if that — Roberts obviouslly has plenty of baseball talent compacted into his small frame.

He made it to the big leagues in 2001, just two years after he was signed. The Orioles promoted him when shortstop Mike Bordick went on the disabled list. Though it was a heady experience for Roberts to put on a big league uniform at the age of 23, he now concedes that he wasn’t really prepared to play in the majors.

“2001 was great, to get the opportunity when I did,” he says. “But I wasn’t ready. I had played only 150 games in the minor leagues. I don’t think you realize the importance of those games until you reach this level. It’s hard to balance everything going on when you get to the major leagues.” By that he means not only the play on the field, but all the attention a player suddenly gets from the public and the media. “Everything’s more intense,” he explains. “In the minor leagues, there’s not that kind of pressure.”

At first Roberts responded well to that pressure. He played errorless shortstop for more than two weeks, tied an Oriole rookie record by hitting in 15 c onsecutive games, and was batting .301 through almost 40 games. But then the errors began to proliferate, and the hits began to dissipate. He ended the year hitting .253 with 16 errors in less than half a season. “I struggled real bad at shortstop,” he acknowledges. “I wasn’t experienced enough to do the job.”

Roberts began the 2002 season back at Rochester, but was called up three times that season, usually because of injuries on the big league roster.

And then, although neither of them wanted it to happen, Roberts’ career as an Oriole became intertwined with that of Jerry Hairston. Both young Orioles were seen as major league caliber, but only at second base. Roberts’ stint filling in at short for Bordick in 2001 convinced the Orioles that he was better suited for second than short. His defense has improved dramatically since then, but he doesn’t have a strong enough arm to play regularly at short. The same goes for Hairston, in the minds of club officials.

That presents the Orioles with a dilemma. If Roberts gets the nod to play second, they likely will trade Hairston. If Hairston wins the second base job, Roberts is likely to be dealt. Over the past two years, the Orioles have been treading water on this decision, in part because of serendipity. In both 2003 and 2004 (in spring training) Hairston was injured. That allowed Roberts to handle second base chores. When Hairston came back from his broken finger injury this season, Roberts stayed at second, and Hairston served as DH or played in right field, a new position for him. Hairston has gone along with the arrangement without complaint. But he does not want it to continue. He wants to play second. So does Roberts.

“If we’d like to choose the best situation possible, we’d both like to be on different teams playing second base,” says Roberts. “But you can’t always get what you like.”

The funny thing is, Roberts and Hairston are close friends. They both have moved to Scottsdale, where they work out together every day in the offseason at Mark Verstegen’s Athletes’ Performance training center. They are religious Christians. They truly like each other.

What they don’t like, though, is being asked to talk about the situation that pits them against one another when it comes to the second base job.

“I don’t really think about it any more,” says Roberts, although he can’t avoid the subject when the media continually bugs him about it. “Two years ago, I thought about it a lot. Now, we’ve both established that we can play every day. And we have been in the lineup together. There are situations like this on every team. So people may be making a bigger deal out of it than on other teams.”

Roberts and Hairston have discussed the situation between themselves. “It hasn’t affected our relationship,” says Roberts.

But in the back — or maybe even the front — of their minds, bothoth Roberts and Hairston know that one of them, at some point, is likely to be traded. Yet they try to play baseball without letting that thought interfere with their performance.

“At this point we’re half way through the season,” Roberts observes. “The last thing we worry about is where we will be tomorrow. The more you realize that you have to let go of things you don’t have control over, the better off you are.”

For Roberts, the 2004 season has been, in his own words, “up and down.” He began the year hitless in his first 16 at-bats. But then he went on a tear, raising his average over .300 and, for a brief spell, leading the American League in stolen bases. His average then plummeted again, and at the end of June he was hitting .258.

“I feel like I’ve made improvements,” he says, particularly on defense. “You take the bright spots and work hard on the tough areas. There’s still a long way to go this year. I could end up at .310 or .210. Your average is going to fluctuate 30 points all the time.” When I was 0-for-16 at the beginning of the year, I’m sure everybody panicked. Then I went to .310. As long as you keep your confidence, you’re okay.”

Hitting leadoff, Roberts can be a catalyst for the Oriole offense. When he gets two or more hits a game, the Orioles play .565 baseball. When he doesn’t, the team has a .373 winning percentage.

But speed is the attribute that Roberts really contributes to the offense. Through the first three months of the season, he ranked second in the league in stolen bases. In games in which Roberts has stolen a base, the Orioles are 14-4.

“I love running the bases,” he says. “I enjoy being given the green light and stealing bases, but it’s also important to be smart about it, knowing when it will help your team and when it won’t. Running went by the wayside over the last 10 years, as home runs became so popular. But I think it’s coming back, and a lot of managers see value in it.”

One reason Roberts moved to Arizona in the winter is because he hates the cold. He also loves golf, and Scottsdale has a golf course virtually every other block. In his spare time, Roberts also enjoys going to movies and reading books, particularly those involving religion or biography. “I just like reading about people,” he says. “We go through hard times, so I like to read how other people handle the situations they go through.”

Today Roberts is the Orioles’ starting second baseman, but he’s smart enough to know that a major league job never is really secure. “Playing at this level, you just can’t take it for granted, or it will jump up and bite you,” he says. “You have to take it seriously and work hard. What I didn’t understand at first was when people would say, ‘The hard part is not getting here but staying here.’ Now I understand that.”

Although he’s only 26 Roberts also knows that his baseball career won’t last forever. He’s contemplating completing his degree work in radio broadcasting. Roberts already has had plenty of experience on one side of the camera and microphone as a player. One day Orioles fans might find hims on the other side as a broadcaster.

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B. Rob: Brian Roberts Steps in at Second Base for the Injured Jerry Hairston

A mere week after being recalled from frigid Ottawa—the Orioles' own private Siberia—Brian Roberts was beaming. He stood in the Orioles clubhousee surrounded by a handful of reporters trying to help them understand how he—all 5-feet-9, 172 pounds of him—had hit two grand slams in the past seveen days off the defending world champion Anaheim Angels.

Roberts wasn't in Ottawa anymore. The owner of exactly zero career—and that means since birth—grand slams prior to that evening summed things upp thusly: “It's just something you can't explain.”

It's much easier to explain how Roberts found himself in front of a major league locker, even if he was at a loss to describe his long-ball heroics. When the Orioles broke camp in the spring, Roberts was dispatched to Canada, although many thought he was ready for the majors; the team even toyed with the idea of using Roberts in the outfield as a rationalization for keeping him on the roster. But, as the logic usually goes in such cases, it was decided that another year of seasoning in the minors would better serve Roberts than irregular play off the Baltimore bench.

But all of that changed on May 21 when regular O's second baseman and Roberts' friend Jerry Hairston broke a bone in his foot. Roberts was summoned from the land of the Mountie to take over for Hairston, who was off to a stellar season. It was clear Roberts, who had only 242 at-bats above Single-A before his bi g league debut in 2001, was more prepared for this stay in the majors than he had been in stints over the two previous seasons.

“I think Brian understands his game and how it relates to the big league team better now,” says manager Mike Hargrove. “He's much more comfortable with his abilities and realizes that he doesn't have to do anything extra to be able to compete and succeed at the big league level. All players have to have that realization at some point in their career, and it looks like Brian may have reached that point. We'll see.”

Roberts is confidently succinct: “This year I feel like I'm ready.”

A life-long shortstop, Roberts shifted to second base only a year and a half ago. So, in addition to the usual adjustments that come with moving rapidly through the minors to the big leagues, he also had to contend with the shift to a new position. To gain more experience at second, following the 2002 season, he headed to the Puerto Rican Winter League, where he tied for first in the league with 57 hits and 12 stolen bases and was second with a .417 on-base percentage.

“Turning a double play is completely different from that side of the bag,” says the 25-year-old, “which has taken me a little while to get used to. I feel like I've gotten pretty comfortable with everything over there now. People always say if you can play one, you can play the other, but it's definitely different if you've never been over there before.”

“Since the time he got here we pretty much broke him down and rebuilt him,” says Orioles bench coach Sam Perlozzo, who has worked extensively with Roberts on his transition from short to second. “I think the biggest thing was this winter he went down in winter ball and he had a real good year, got his confidence back. When he came back to spring training this year, I went over to him and I said, ‘You've got all the parts. You can't do anything better than we're doing. Go ahead and express yourself, relax and I'm going to leave you alone.'”

Even though he had made progress, Roberts did not make the team out of camp and was sent north to endure Ottawa, the Orioles new Triple-A home. Despite the cold weather, long road trips and sparse fans, he made the most of the situation, hitting .315 while leading the International League with 36 runs, placing second with 19 stolen bases and third with 56 hits.

“We had a great team up there, we had a lot of fun and that helped a lot,” Roberts says of the Lynx, who were battling for the division lead at the time of his promotion. “We had a couple of guys that knew we could all be [in the majors], we just weren't at the time.”

Roberts also experienced first-hand the new stricter player conduct rules instituted by first-year minor league director of operations Darrell “Doc” Rodgers. “Honestly, our organization needed some discipline,” he says. “I would agree that we definitely needed some changes. Whether all of them are the right ones, who knows?”

While he yearned to be in Baltimore, Roberts realizes the wisdom of the decision to send him where he could play every day, even if it required a passport and a parka.

“The stadium, the fans, the trips, all that made it difficult, definitely. But that's part of minor league baseball. You just deal with it. It was definitely better than me sitting here on the bench. Who knows? When Jerry went down I might not have been prepared to play every day at that point if I'd been sitting for two months.”

Roberts' promotion was bittersweet because it came as a result of Hairston's injury just as his friend was finally fulfilling his potential and posting numbers that at the time made him the team's likely All-Star representative. Roberts and Hairston got to know each other in 2000 in Sarasota, Florida, when they both were rehabbing following surgery. At the time, Hairston was establishing himself as the everyday major league second baseman and Roberts was still a shortstop in the minors; the two envisioned a time when they would form a big league double-play combination.

“That was our goal,” recalls Roberts, “let's play together in Baltimore.”

“We got to be pretty close there,” remembers Hairston, who is expected to be out of action until at least mid-August. “Now we work out together in the offseason in Arizona. It's a good relationship.”

Roberts has seized the opportunity to take over for Hairston.

“I'm very comfortable at second now,” he says. “It's become more natural.” “You can tell he's a lot more comfortable out on the field and more sure of himself,” observes the hobbled Hairston. “It's really been good to see. He's really contributed to this team, and he keeps getting better.”

“I think he's doing a great job,” adds Perlozzo. “He's really relaxed out there. He turns the double play really well. We're just going to let him go.”

Roberts, a switch-hitter since he was three years old, has also settled in as the leadoff hitter and provided some unexpected punch. After hitting safely in the first seven games after his recall, including the two slams, Roberts soon pieced together another seven-game streak. Overall, he hit safely in 22 of his first 28 games with the Orioles, including 10 multi-hit games.

“If there was anybody I'd like to come in and replace me right now,” says Hairston, “it would be him. It's good to see he's getting that shot.”

F5: Your dad is a college baseball coach...how have you benefited from having a father who is in the game of baseball?

BR: Well, I think that I wouldn't be here today, for sure, if he didn't have that role. Growing up, I was able to be around the field all the time with him, and be around some great players such as B.J Surhoff and Walt Weiss. I really got to learn the game, and see the game played every day, or so it seemed like. Learning the little things about the game has helped me more than anything.

F5: You led the nation in stolen bases for a couple of years of college ball...the first two years of the pro game, the transition -and injuries - led to a decent number of steals, probably not what you expected or what was expected of you by others. Tell me about the baserunning adjustment process from the college game to the pro game.

BR: Some injuries obviously hurt me a little bit...last year, I felt that I was on the pace I wanted to be on, before I got called up. But there are differences, pro pitchers definitely are better at making adjustments when a guy is on who they think can run...they side step a little bit more. They'll pitch out in counts where they expect you to (steal), where in college sometimes they'll take it for granted (and let you go). For the most part, if I do my job and get on base, I'll have the opportunities.

F5: A first year, rookie ball horror story....every player has one - do you have one you can talk about?

BR: Yeah, probably my first weekend. I guess I really didn't realize what I was getting into. I was just drafted, and I was all excited and ready to play. We had a night game at home (Delmarva) when I got there that night...so we get done at around 10:30, and the bus leaves at 11:30, next thing I know we're driving about eight hours to...somewhere, I don't remember where we went that first trip. We didn't get in until nine o'clock in the morning. and then we had a game that night. It was kind like a wakeup call, "what am I doing," I almost wished I was back in college. Things like rest, a day or two between games, I think you take for granted in college. You don't realize how difficult pro ball is every day in, day out.

F5: Right now you're a a Triple-A starter, with a nice taste of big league time last year...when you come to work every day, do you have a specific objective or goal that you focus on for each day...or more of a general attitude you like to apply to your work habits right now?

BR: There a few specifics, but...I think it's more of a general outlook on what I want to do as a whole. One of the specifics this year I guess would be leading off, being a good leadoff man. This is the first year in my pro career that I've gotten to do that. So I 'm trying to focus on being patient, getting on base a lot and being able to score some runs. And then, big picture, obviously to improve in every aspect of my game as you come to the field every day.

F5: When a fan sees you in the parking lot, what kind of car are you getting in and out of these days?

BR: I have a 2000 Lexus GS 400.

F5: And what CD's are in your CD player right now?

BR: I have a whole mixture...Creed, Garth Brooks, some Christian rock,...I listen to just about anything you could put in there except for rap.

F5: How many items of Fubu clothing do you own?

BR: Zero.

F5: Robert Blake - innocent or guilty?

BR: Guilty.

F5: Where would someone most likely run into you around town when you're not at Frontier Field?

BR: My apartment.

F5: Let's talk about that for a second. Your roommate is Larry Bigbie, and without having a roster in front of me...Larry's like two feet taller than you. When you guys do laundry, do you ever accidentally go to wear a pair of the other guy's pants and if you do, how long does it take to figure out you've got the wrong pants?

BR: Actually, one day about two weeks ago Larry came in my room and said, "Hey I'm going to work out, do you have a pair of sweatpants I can wear?" And I looked at him and I said, "Are you serious?" So he started trying them on, and none of them fit, which I already knew, but for some unknown reason he thought they might.

F5: Do you own a laptop computer, and if so how often are you on the Internet?

BR: I do have one. I like the Internet a lot, but unfortunately my computer's been broken for about month now and I need to get it fixed....when it works, I like to be on it.

F5: Letterman or Leno?

BR: Used to like Letterman...probably like Leno more now.

F5: Conan O'Brien or Craig Kilborn?

BR: Craig Kilborn.

F5: World Wrestling Federation or Robot Wars?

BR: Robot Wars, I don't like wrestling at all.

F5: VH1 Behind the Music, or E! True Hollywood Story?

BR: Behind the Music.

F5: The Scooby Doo live action movie that's coming out.....do you think it's going to be a hit, or like the Flintstones, Rocky and Bullwinkle, and all the other great cartoons that were made into terrible live action films, do you think it's gonna be a bomb?

BR: I think it will be good.

F5: Favorite pre-game meal...right now you're snacking on what looks like a ham sandwich on wheat with some mustard, and some chicken nuggets.

BR: This may be my favorite pre-game meal, next to sushi.

F5: What takes longer: getting over the common cold, or you actually getting set in the batter's box when the Nickelback song is playing?

BR: Probably me getting set in the batter's box, I like to hear the song so I just let it play.

F5: Our website is designed to help fans all over the world follow you guys all season. You have a grandfather who occasionally sends you and me e-mails, to let us know he's checking out the site, and is very happy you're doing well. Tell me about Edd Roberts.

BR: He is incredible, he is 90, and he'll be driving next week from Tennessee to Chapel Hill, five hours by himself, to watch me play (in Durham). He listens to every game on the Internet, he's an incredible baseball fan. He's run his own business for 70 years or so. I know he loves what you guys do with the site, and he's very grateful for it.