After 13-month layoff, Brian Roberts returns to Orioles

At the outset, Collins didn’t think about preparing Roberts to play baseball.

“It’s an incredibly frustrating process. Sports was not ever on the radar,” Collins said. “He was in a dark place. But now, I’m proud and excited of where he’s at. He feels confident. It’s a special time.”

Collins had lunch with Roberts on Tuesday and intended to be at the game that night.

There’s no telling what lies ahead for Roberts, who loves to dive for balls and slide head-first into any base.

“I think the head-first dive will come when it’s right, at the right time on the bases,” he said, “but I’m also not going to say that I’m not going to consider sliding feet-first more than I used to.”

Asked to consider the biggest challenge moving forward, Roberts replied, “”Let’s hope getting hit in the head isn’t one. I’d be happy to stay away from having to clear that hurdle, I guess, but other than that, there’s not a whole lot of mental hurdles I have to clear.

“The only thing left to do is get out and play in a major league game. That’s the only thing I haven’t done. There’s going to be a different amount of excitement and energy involved in that, which will be the very last thing I think I’ll have to overcome.”

He joins a club that has been one of the biggest surprises of the year. After struggling through 14 straight losing seasons, the Orioles are contenders in the AL East.

“Hopefully I can come back and add something to the team,” he said. “I’m so thankful to have the opportunity to run back out there one more time. For a long time, I never thought that that would actually happen.”

Copyright 2013 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.