(image culled from Orioles Hangout.com)
Orioles 2B Brian Roberts returned to active duty Tuesday night after multiple concussions kept him from the lineup for over a year. Roberts was sporting the sort of dual flap helmet often seen in the batting cages near my local mini golf emporium, but explained to the Baltimore Sun’s Eduardo A. Encina, ““After talking to my doctor, we just decided, you know we’ll go with function over looks.” How many times have managers said the same thing about David Wells?
Roberts, who played his first major league game in nearly 13 months Tuesday after battling multiple concussions, is wearing a helmet with double ear flaps to add protection at the plate and on the basepaths.
“The double ear flap looks funny, doesn’t it?” Roberts said before Wednesday’s game against Pittsburgh. “I just decided, ‘Why take a chance of getting hit on the side that doesn’t have a flap.’ It’s their newest version. It can take a little more velocity.”