Baseball's new galaxy
DETROIT – In case you missed the finer points of the first half of the MLB season – distracted, perhaps, by the NFL draft, the NBA playoffs or NASCAR – here is a brief summation of the surprises of spring.
Washington not only has a team but it is also in first place.
New York still has two teams, but neither is in first.
There are a slew of young stars about to take over the game, evidenced by the 20 first-time All-Star selections (12 of them starters) and 18 second-timers assembled here for the Midsummer Classic.
"There is a lot of great young talent in the game right now," said the San Diego Padres' Jake Peavy, one of those first-time All-Stars who are set to overwhelm Tuesday's game at Comerica Park in downtown Motown.
But as good as National League starting pitcher Chris Carpenter of the St. Louis Cardinals or Triple Crown threat Derrek Lee of the Chicago Cubs have been, maybe no one has combined amiability, capability and sheer valuable play than Brian Roberts.
Yes, Brian Roberts. Second baseman. Baltimore Orioles. The one who happens to lead the American League in batting, ahead of Johnny Damon, Vladimir Guerrero and even far more acclaimed teammate Miguel Tejada.
Like most of these new guys, you may not know about him. You may want to start.
"It's been a fun ride so far," the 27-year-old Roberts said Monday on the eve of starting for the AL.
When you have a swing so sweet it makes honey jealous, a stat line that reads .345 with 15 homers and 49 RBIs for the surprise team of the brutally competitive AL East, what hasn't been fun? And what isn't fun about Roberts?
Here is a guy who admits, "Last year I was just worried about playing every day." Who at 5-foot-9 and 178 pounds says with a smile that he idolized Ozzie Smith because "Hey, I liked small switch-hitters."
And a guy who – when AL manager Terry Francona of the Boston Red Sox explained that his guy, Damon, would be batting leadoff and not Roberts – told Francona he wouldn't have stood for any other decision.
"I have a ton of a respect for, well, he tells me not to call him Mr. Francona, but Mr. Francona, for him to feel he had to do that is more than he should have," said Roberts, who will bat ninth. "Johnny has been around a long time. He's way more deserving. I'm in the lineup; that's all I care about.
"I told [Francona] if I had seen a [lineup card that had Roberts leading off] I would have told him to change it."
Said Francona: "He's an awesome kid."
Everyone seems to love Roberts. Humble doesn't begin to describe him. Neither does respectful, old school or pro's pro. It shouldn't come as a surprise that he is the son of a coach, former University of North Carolina skipper Mike Roberts.
"I wouldn't be here without him," Roberts said.
We could print a laundry list of people Roberts spent time claiming were responsible for his All-Star appearance: his coaches through the years, his teammates through the years, his friends, family – he even may have snuck a couple of groundskeepers in there.
All Roberts knows is that a year ago he hit .273 with just four homers (although he did club 50 doubles) and suddenly has one of the hottest bats in the majors. So this would rank as a surprise, right?
"If you say yes, then you are arrogant," Roberts reasoned. "If you say no, then you don't believe you can do it again."
We'll spare Roberts the shame of being "arrogant." Just know this doesn't look like a one-year thing.
"He can play," said Orioles teammate B.J. Ryan, a pitcher who also is a first-time All-Star. "He's playing at a high level with a ton of confidence. He's finally showing what he can do. He's taken his success in stride."
It seems Roberts would love to hold off the pack and win a batting title, although he didn't talk much about that. He clearly is more interested in helping the Orioles erase a two-game deficit to Mr. Francona's Red Sox.
But that starts Thursday. In the meantime, he's just amazed he's here.
"I'm very blessed," he said.
That's a lot of humility for a guy with more than two million fan votes.
"I didn't know anyone knew my name," said Roberts, still a bit baffled by it all. "Let alone two million of them."
Just wait. With Roberts and a bunch of baseball's new young stars, it's only getting started.
