Brian Roberts

Brian Michael Roberts (born October 9, 1977) is an American former professional baseball second baseman.

During Roberts' freshman year in 1997, he batted .427, with 102 hits, including 24 doubles, and 47 stolen bases.

His batting average was the second highest in the ACC.

He was named to the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association's (NCBWA) Second Team and the Collegiate Baseball Third Team.

During his sophomore year, he hit .353, with 13 home runs, 49 runs batted in (RBIs), 21 doubles, 63 stolen bases and was named to the NCBWA First Team, The Sporting News Second Team and the Collegiate Baseball Second Team.

His 63 stolen bases were more than any player in college baseball that year.

He became the fifth Tar Heel to be named ACC player of the year, and was a first team All-America.

In 1998, he played collegiate summer baseball for the Chatham A's of the Cape Cod Baseball League.

Mike Roberts was fired after the 1998 season.

After the firing, Brian opted to transfer to the University of South Carolina, to continue his college baseball career with the South Carolina Gamecocks baseball team.

Starting at shortstop, Roberts was named the best defensive college player by Baseball America.

Playing in the Southeastern Conference (SEC), he batted .353, hit 12 home runs, and collected 36 RBIs.

He still owns the school and SEC record for stolen bases in a season with 67.

He again was named an All-American and was a member of the All-SEC team.

Roberts was drafted by the Orioles in the first round (50th overall) of the 1999 MLB draft.

He played for the Delmarva Shorebirds of the Class A South Atlantic League in 1999, where he appeared in 47 games and hit .240 with 21 RBIs.

In 2000, he started with the Gulf Coast League Orioles, batting .310 with a home run and 3 RBIs in nine games.

He also played 48 games with the Frederick Keys of the Class A-Advanced Carolina League, hitting .301 with 16 RBIs.

He made his Major League Baseball (MLB) debut with the Baltimore Orioles in 2001, and played for the team until 2013.

In 2001, Roberts spent parts of the season with the Triple-A Rochester Red Wings and the Double-A Bowie Baysox, batting a combined .277 with two home runs and 19 RBIs in 66 games.

Roberts made his Major League debut for the Orioles on June 14, 2001 against the New York Mets, starting at shortstop and finishing the game 1-for-4.

He played 75 games for Baltimore, batting .253 with two home runs and 17 RBIs.

In 2002, he played 38 games with the Orioles and batted .227 with a home run and 11 RBIs while stealing nine bases on 11 attempts.

He also played 78 games with Triple-A Rochester, batting .275 with three home runs and 30 RBIs.

In 2003, he started for Ottawa, playing 44 games and hitting .315 with 15 RBIs.

In late May, he was called up for injured second baseman Jerry Hairston Jr.. He hit his first Major League grand slam in his second game (and his first in any sort of professional play) in the ninth inning against the Anaheim Angels to win that game.

He finished with a .270 average, five home runs and 41 RBIs in 112 games, and stole 23 bases on 29 attempts (tied for eighth in American League).

The Orioles season started spring training in with both Hairston and Roberts on the roster.

Hairston fractured his finger in spring training, however, and Roberts became the Opening Day starter.

After Hairston returned from the disabled list, he was moved to right field, leaving Roberts at second base.

In August, Roberts batted .346 with ten doubles in 107 at-bats.

During the second week of August, Roberts was named the American League Player of the Week for hitting .531 over a span of six games.

He played his final season for the New York Yankees in 2014.

Roberts was born in Durham, North Carolina, to parents Mike and Nancy Roberts.

He lived in Chapel Hill.

At the age of 5, Roberts underwent open heart surgery to repair an atrial septal defect.

He graduated from Chapel Hill High School.

Roberts enrolled at the University of North Carolina, where he played college baseball for the North Carolina Tar Heels baseball team in the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) of NCAA Division I.

His father, Mike Roberts, was the head coach of the Tar Heels.

No other Division I baseball program offered Roberts a scholarship.