Roberts, Manfra to join O’s Hall of Fame
Infielder, broadcaster first selected since 2015; Cobb draws crowd
SARASOTA, FLA. — The Orioles announced Thursday that two-time All-Star second baseman Brian Roberts has been elected to the Orioles Hall of Fame and longtime radio broadcaster Fred Manfra will be inducted as this year’s Herbert E. Armstrong Award winner.
Roberts and Manfra will be honored at a luncheon at Camden Yards sponsored by the Oriole Advocates, founders of the Orioles Hall of Fame, on Aug. 10 at noon, as well as during an on-field ceremony before the Orioles’ game Aug. 11 against the Boston Red Sox.
Roberts is the first inductee into the Orioles Hall of Fame since 2015, a class headlined by infielder Melvin Mora that also included John Lowenstein, Gary Roenicke and Fred Uhlman Sr.
“So many memories,” Roberts said. “CamdenYardscertainly is afondplace for me and the fans, and everyone that gave me so much support and my family so much support over the years. I just feel blessed to have had the opportunity to be alongside so many great Orioles. I just felt incredibly blessed to have the opportunity to play so long in Baltimore and be a part of the community for that long.”
A first-round draft pick in 1999 who made his major league debut with the Orioles on June 14, 2001, Roberts made his first Opening Day roster in 2004 and led the team with a .314 average a season later. He made his first All-Star appearance in 2005, then another in 2007.
Roberts, 40, hit .278with1,452 career hits, leading Orioles second baseman in every major statistical category. Roberts is also among the club’s overall career leaders in stolen bases (second, 278), doubles (fourth, 351), runs (sixth, 810), triples (sixth, 35), extra-base hits (seventh, 478), walks (seventh, 581), hits (ninth, 1,452), at-bats (10th, 5,214), total bases (10th, 2,149) and games (12th, 1,327).
Roberts was a wildly popular player for a string of Orioles teams that struggled in the 2000s, but his career was not without potholes. He was named in the Mitchell Report on performance-enhancing drugs in baseball, and admitted later to using steroids in 2003 but only once. His career was cut short by injuries, including a concussion, that limited him to 192 games over the four-year, $40 million contract that began in 2010. He played in 2014 for the New York Yankees before retiring that October.
Roberts will provide analysis for select games on the Orioles radio network this season, having previously served as a guest analyst on MASN in 2016 and on Fox, as well as in-studio on MLBNetwork.
Before retiring this past season, Former Oriole Brian Roberts hit .278 with 1,452 career hits, leading the franchise’s second basemen in every major statistical category. Manfra spent 24 years with the Orioles radio network. The East Baltimore native and Patterson graduate joined Orioles radio broadcasts in 1993. He was on the call the nights when Cal Ripken Jr. tied and broke Lou Gehrig’s consecutive-games record.
Manfra will be 20th recipient of the Herbert E. Armstrong Award, an award established in 1995 to honor nonuniformed personnel. Other winners include broadcaster Chuck Thompson (1995) and head athletic trainer Richie Bancells (2011), who retired last fall. Plans for Cobb: Manager Buck Showalter said new right-hander Alex Cobb threw a bullpen session behind Ed Smith Stadium on Thursday, and drew quite a crowd while doing so.
Between that showing and the meeting Cobb had with the manager, pitching coach Roger McDowell and bullpen coach Alan Mills, Showalter said he has a much better idea of how the Orioles will get the starting pitcher up to speed after he signed in the final week of spring training.
“We sat down with him today for an extended period, Roger and Alan, and got a really good feel for what he’s thinking, what he’s been doing, and kind of putting the program together,” Showalter said. “We’re not set in stone with it. It’s obvious watching himtoday he’s been throwing a lot. He’s not that far away. We want to make sure that, muchlike Zach [ Britton], we don’t get ahead of ourselves. We’ve got a couple days in mind.” Yacabonis to be tried as starter: In optioning right-hander Jimmy Yacabonis to Triple-A Norfolk on Thursday, the Orioles did so with the intent of stretching him out to potentially become a starting pitcher.
Yacabonis had a strong spring training, posting a 3.38 ERA (three earned runs over eight innings) and more importantly refined his mechanics to take stress off his throwing shoulder, which gives the Orioles optimism that he has starting potential.
After pitching all one-inning outings this spring, Yacabonis will open the season at Triple-A Norfolk with the assignment of pitching multiple innings.
He allowed three earned runs in seven Grapefruit League innings, striking out seven and walking two. Flaherty on the market: Former Orioles infielder Ryan Flaherty exercised his opt-out clause Wednesday and was released by the Philadelphia Phillies onThursday, makinghimafree agent again.
Flaherty, 31, had signed a minor league deal with the Phillies, and hit .351 with a .904 OPS in 37 spring training at-bats, but couldn’t break camp in a crowded utility infield situation.
The Orioles haven’t declared any of ÉngelbVielmaorLuisSardiñasashis heir on the bench, and have discussed taking Danny Valencia as a utility infielder given the middle infield coverage they have among their starters.