Drew Robinson’s inspirational comeback continues as the 29-year-old has made the Giants’s Triple-A roster on the Sacramento River Cats.
A little over a year ago, Robinson lost his right eye in a suicide attempt. He shared his story with ESPN’s Jeff Passan in hopes that sharing his story could help those who are going through similar struggles with their mental health.
“I’m supposed to help people get through battles that don’t seem winnable,” Robinson told Passan. “[Surviving the suicide attempt] was completely supposed to happen. There’s no other answer. It doesn’t make any sense. It was supposed to happen.”
Six months after the incident while recovering from the self-inflicted gunshot, the outfielder signed a minor league deal with San Francisco. Robinson landed a spring training invitation and a late surge in his performance made him a candidate that the Giants couldn’t overlook.
He shared a long message via Twitter on Wednesday morning after the roster announcement was made public.
“I’m officially a one-eyed professional baseball player,” Robinson wrote. “I’m lucky enough to say that I’ve made the Giants Triple-A roster for the Sacramento Rivercats. And the fact that we open our season in my hometown of Las Vegas just really can’t get anymore full circle. For real though, my first games back, after everything that’s happened, are at home in front of all the people that got me through my incident and this last year as a whole? It feels like I’m living out a movie.
“I really can’t believe it and have a hard time putting it into words how much this means to me, my family, my circle of people, all the doctors that put me back together, and the doctors that work with me on a weekly basis. I kind of started baseball again hesitantly and worked hard just to see what could happen. Plenty of times I went down the road of not thinking it was possible and that I was wasting my time. But here I am, getting ready to play another professional season, with an astronomical amount of meaning attached to it. This is so much bigger than me. I’m excited, nervous, empowered and more importantly, ready for a magical experience.”
Robinson has played 100 MLB games. He previously played for Texas and St. Louis. He last competed in the Majors in 2019 with the Cardinals.
If you or someone you know is having thoughts of suicide or is in emotional distress, contact the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-TALK(8255) or at suicidepreventionlifeline.org.
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