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Ex-Pasco Star Shields Overcomes Bad Break

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By BART O'CONNELL

Tribune correspondent

Published: July 25, 2008

There is perhaps no better place for a college baseball player to launch hopes of a professional career, earn the respect of scouts and play against the best in the country this time of year than on the fields of the prestigious Cape Cod League in Massachusetts.

For Robbie Shields, a former Pasco High standout infielder who graduated in 2006, it was the opportunity and experience of a lifetime. But what was shaping up to be Shields' dream season ended far sooner than it should have. And the strength of his resolve, not his skills, has been the biggest test he's faced this summer.

"He was really thrown for a loop," said Shields' father, John. "He thought everything he'd worked for was gone."

Prior to the June 14 opening day, he joined his host family in Cotuit, a small town nestled near Nantucket Sound, 30 minutes from the main ferry port to Martha's Vineyard, and he immediately fit in with his host parents and their three young boys, all baseball fans.

On the field, playing for the Cotuit Kettleers, Shields appeared headed for a breakout season despite having to make the adjustment to wood bats for the first time. With scouts watching his every move, among mostly Division I players, the standout from Division II Florida Southern was hitting .429, second-best in the league, through 10 games.

During the seventh game, he drove a ball deep into the right-center field gap, and he wasn't thinking about a double. After rounding second and digging for third, he slid hard into the base and both arms got caught underneath his body. He suffered a broken right wrist and a partially torn ligament in his thumb.

Shields played five more games, with the pain intensifying each day. He went into a batting slump, understandably, and finally began to suspect something serious had happened. His host mother accompanied him to the doctor's office, where an MRI revealed the damage. The initial prognosis was multiple torn ligaments, which could have permanently affected his ability to grip with his right hand. The team doctor said his career might be in jeopardy.

"I was a little bit depressed because I couldn't show the scouts everything I could do for the entire season," Shields said. "I wanted to prove to all those coaches that passed on me out of high school that I had the ability. ... At first it was kind of hard just to figure out what I was going to do. No one sees an injury like this coming."

Cotuit manager Mike Roberts, a former coach at the University of North Carolina and the father of Baltimore Orioles second baseman Brian Roberts, wanted a second opinion, as did Shields and his family. Shields flew back to Tampa and was examined by Douglas Carlan, an orthopedic specialist who shares a practice with Koco Eaton, the orthopedic surgeon for the Tampa Bay Rays.

The diagnosis was much more optimistic: a hairline fracture and slight ligament tear, and no surgery was necessary.

"That let him have his life back," John Shields said.

But because the injury was expected to sideline him through mid-September and the deadline for postseason rosters was looming, Shields was released from the team and briefly returned home. Nonetheless, as of today, his average (.349) is 67 points higher than any other Cotuit player with at least 12 games played.

Sure, Shields has had disappointments before. He thought he should have been recruited by Division I schools after hitting .553 with 18 homers as a senior at Pasco. But for a player who has stood out everywhere he has been and finally was poised to get the respect he thought he deserved, this setback, though not as severe as once thought, was still devastating.

After receiving advice and encouragement from his family, friends and coaches back home, which lifted his spirits, Roberts gave him an opportunity to rejoin the team to provide moral support.

"He wanted me to fly back up, just to be around the guys," Shields said. "He thinks I'm a good influence on them."

Shields accepted the offer and is back in Cotuit, with the same host family, for the rest of the season. He will return home for a doctor's appointment Aug. 13, and he expects to do his rehabilitation and treatment in Lakeland with the rest of his Florida Southern teammates.

The Moccasins have a scout day to showcase their players in October, and Shields is optimistic that he'll be able to play by then.

"I feel like I put myself on the scouts' radar the first 12 games," he said. "The best 220 college players in the country are here, and I was doing well."

Correspondent Bart O'Connell can be reached at boconnell@pop.tampatrib.com.

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