Roberts to miss FanFest to avoid stress, Duquette wants him to reconsider

[Barnaby Graves]

I particularly enjoy how you cherry picked a quote from his wife to fit your view, but completely disregarded the context of that quote. You should be ashamed of yourself as that quote had nothing to do with any potential signs of depression Brian may or may not be showing, but rather how she was afraid he might hurt himself by falling due to a dizzy spell. Here's the article that quote is from for anyone that's interested: http://articles.baltimoresun.com/2011-11-22/entertainment/bs-sm-roberts-recovery-20111125_1_concussion-test-brian-roberts-bat/2

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And here's the context, i.e. the two paragraphs before that.

Over the next several months, Diana says, her husband — a man she says chafes at being indoors too long — had to shut himself inside the house for days on end, and she was scared by the transformation that caused in him.

His eyes often looked vacant and had bags, his mood was always low, and he was more lethargic than she had ever seen him.

Cherry picking? You are delusional.

[apollod]

And here's the context, i.e. the two paragraphs before that.

Cherry picking? You are delusional.

Yes cherry picking. You cherry picked by omitting the entire section before that where it was discussing how Brian couldn't even go grocery shopping or walk his dog with getting dizzy. The whole point of him staying inside was to avoid that issue. No where in the entire 4 page article is depression or depression like (or suicidal for that matter since you're the source for that absolutely disrespectful assertion) symptoms even mentioned.

Edit just so everyone sees the content you conveniently omitted before what you quoted above:

The couple relocated to their new off-season home in Sarasota, where Roberts continued avoiding strenuous activity, per doctor's orders. But he found it was ordinary stuff that caused the trouble.

When he pushed a cart down the grocery aisle, Roberts feared he'd hit the displays. The sidewalk seemed to move when he walked his dog. Driving made his head pound.

In nearly every case, a screaming headache would hit full force within hours, and he'd miss another night's sleep.

Over the next several months, Diana says, her husband......

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[solarkkg]

And here's the context, i.e. the two paragraphs before that.

Cherry picking? You are delusional.

It's the offseason! Let the man be depressed if he so inclined. I would be too. But we owe him the benefit of the doubt that he'll be eager to get to Spring Training. He is Brian Roberts! We owe him so much. Stop speculating for now. Speculate all you want after Spring Training if he is not ready to go. I will give you that and will hang myself on a cross for you to stone me. But please give him some respect. PLEASE.

[solarkkg]

And if you do speculate that his career is over please don't mention suicide. That is horrible to suggest.

[fansince71]

Time for the lockdown. I can only say that no one would be worse off if this thread disappeared.

I think your right, as a Brob fan you have to be embarrassed by the level of stupidity in this thread.

[Barnaby Graves]

And if you do speculate that his career is over please don't mention suicide. That is horrible to suggest.

Without getting into my personal life I'd just say I'm intimately familiar with someone getting their brain knocked around and the kind of psychological damage that follows. And I get really angry when I see a bunch of people ***** about FanFest autographs or his contract status or (the worst) doubting what he's going through.

I didn't bring up suicide casually. My point is that his issues are infinitely more serious than baseball at this point. His wife's comments, what I know about Brian Roberts the competitor and ambassador, and from what I've seen from concussion victims I know, he's probably in the darkest place he can possibly be.

There's a certain feeling that comes with these injuries. It's like your life is broken and you've had your purposes taken away because you just can't follow your passions anymore. And $20 million can't buy these things back.

[solarkkg]

Without getting into my personal life I'd just say I'm intimately familiar with someone getting their brain knocked around and the kind of psychological damage that follows. And I get really angry when I see a bunch of people ***** about FanFest autographs or his contract status or (the worst) doubting what he's going through.

I didn't bring up suicide casually. My point is that his issues are infinitely more serious than baseball at this point. His wife's comments, what I know about Brian Roberts the competitor and ambassador, and from what I've seen from concussion victims I know, he's probably in the darkest place he can possibly be.

There's a certain feeling that comes with these injuries. It's like your life is broken and you've had your purposes taken away because you just can't follow your passions anymore. And $20 million can't buy these things back.

Thank you. I agree with you tenfold. FanFest is not the place he should be at right now. We have no idea if he's holed up in his bed refusing to get out or can't make it to the kitchen for some juice. But what we also don't know is whether he's actually working out daily and getting himself in a better position to compete for a starting job on this club come next month. No one has interviewed him or his wife in a few months. Maybe he has made some progress. Maybe he has not. But can we please shelve this conversation until we know more? It's really not fair to him. Start another thread about Fielder or something. Anything. But let's see what happens in March and go from there. This really isn't fair to my favorite Oriole.

[scOtt]

Couldn't this all be a communication breakdown in the Twitter age?

Connelly gets information from sources that Brian may not show, then calls DD to ask if he expects Roberts to post. DD, not having heard anything from an undecided Roberts, makes the quote about not knowing why he couldn't sign for 10 year olds.

Off of three tweets, I can't see the need to get upset with either Roberts or Duq.

^^^^

I'm on it.

[sangar]

From what I've seen Roberts has always been an upstanding guy. If he says he doesn't feel like he is up to this event, I'll take him at his word.

[Eutaw]

From what I've seen Roberts has always been an upstanding guy. If he says he doesn't feel like he is up to this event, I'll take him at his word.

Agreed...I've seen nothing to the contrary.

It's a shame some posters on here have learned so little about how hurtful our words can be whether we truly mean them or not. Yes, a lot of users are saying things in anger. The "what else can go wrong with the Orioles?" thought comes to all of our minds. The once storied franchise which is now a laughing stock for a never-ending list of reasons. But Brian Roberts is a person like anyone else. He bled black and orange for years.

I really wish the team would just state that he's not coming back so we can all move on without these nonsense posts about Mr. Roberts making a deal with the organization/he self-inflicted the injury/etc. Let it go. A contract is a contract. Yes it's unfortunate, yes it sucks for the team, but no one is to blame.

[Tony-OH]

Tony have you heard anything at all about Roberts and if he's even considering retiring at this point?

I haven't heard anything, sorry. Personally though, his comments lead me to believe we may have seen the last of Brian Roberts as an effective major league ball player.

[mattman0182]

I haven't heard anything, sorry. Personally though, his comments lead me to believe we may have seen the last of Brian Roberts as an effective major league ball player.

I am willing to give him a mulligan as far as missing fan fest. He has obviously done a lot for this team and community over the years. And this for a team most players would be happy to

steer clear of. But if he will be a detriment to this team because of whatever ails him, he should retire. It will be sad, but I will almost be relieved if this is what he decides to do. Its a shame we could not win for him while he was here.

[Roll Tide]

You can't be serious. This is in no way analogous. Did the insurance co. void Kendry Morales' injury because it was "self inflicted"?

I dont know Gordo ,... As I've never read the contract language.... I have life insurance and Aflac insurance...And even the accident policies have pretty defining language about hurting yourself on purpose as oposed to by accident...Yea I know Roberts didnt mean to give himself a concussion ...But striking yourself with a bat is well pretty stupid as well as self inflicted.

[Tony-OH]

I'm somewhat amused at everyone posting about how he should retire and give up the money and "do the right thing". MLB contracts are guaranteed; it's just the way the business is. I don't see why he should feel an obligation to give up money he's entitled to as per his contract. The organization knew the risks while negotiating the deal. To say he owes it to the fans to retire and pass the money back to the organization is kind of asinine, in my opinion.

Do I agree with fully guaranteed contracts? No. But, as his contract was negotiated fairly under the rules and regulations agreed to between the owners and the MLBPA, I see no reason why he should feel any obligation to pass up a portion of his contract.

Since MLB contracts are 100% guaranteed you are correct that Roberts has every right to every penny in his contract. However, calling people's opinions asinine is pretty immature. Roberts has already been paid $20 million over the last two years for little production. Some people believe if you can no longer provide the service that you are being paid for you should "do the right thing" and retire. I fail to see why that's an asinine point of view. Roberts is contractually guaranteed that money, but if he knows he can no longer perform he should retire and live off his considerable wealth he's garnered while not performing over the last two years.

[Tony-OH]

I really do feel bad for Brian, and I do believe his brain injury is very real and that he is not slacking. I also believe that we need to move on from his situation. Some year, we can give him a job like Mike Bordick just got. I hear that Jim Hunter is the guy to call.

I highly doubt the organization is going to give Roberts a job after baseball if he decides to collect $30 million of his $40 million contract for doing basically nothing. Afterall, he caused this injury to himself. This is no different then a pitcher smashing his pitching hand and being unable to pitch again. I bet some of the people who are playing lawyer for Roberts would be up in arms if this was about a player like Gregg who smashed his hand and was unable to pitch.

If Roberts is unable to perform over the next two years and he continues to hold the team's 40-man roster hostage by one spot while collecting the money he's not earning, I'm going to go out on a limb and say his days as a valued member of the organization is over. Albert Belle is the only other player I can think of who has done this and no organization will touch Belle with a 30-foot pole.