O's Trebelhorn Balances Work, Wife's Health

FORT MYERS, Fla., March 23 -- Quietly, Baltimore Orioles bench coach Tom Trebelhorn slipped on his shoes and then stared blankly at his locker. Trebelhorn normally would be the first person out of the visitors' clubhouse at City of Palms Park, yelling instructions in the high-pitched voice that often makes his players giggle. But these days Trebelhorn's thoughts alternate between the woman he loves and the sport he cherishes, so he mostly stays quiet.

For almost 37 years, Trebelhorn has been involved in professional baseball and never has his dedication to the sport been as tested as it is now. Almost one month ago, his wife, Elizabeth Black, 61, suffered a stroke, the result of a ruptured aneurysm in her brain, putting her in critical condition. Black's condition has improved dramatically, but she's hasn't recovered. For most of the spring Trebelhorn has traveled between Florida and his home in Arizona to help care for Black, but soon he'll have to make a difficult decision about his future in baseball.

"It's a tough situation because when I'm here I'm concerned about there and when I'm there I'm concerned about here," Trebelhorn said. "She's doing a little better, but not as well as we'd like. You always feel like you're neglecting something when you're one place or the other. . . . I hope I get through this year, but I don't think it's a sure thing that it will be a normal season. The future will answer all the questions. There will be logistic problems. There might be career decisions even this year. You just don't know."

One day in mid-February, Black was scheduled to meet a friend near the couple's home. Though Black was often late for appointments, her tardiness that day worried her friend, who called an ambulance when Black did not answer her phone. Paramedics found Black passed out in her home. On Feb. 20 Black had surgery to repair the aneurysm.

"After the surgery they had hoped that within 24 hours they'd see some improvement and after 48 hours they hadn't seen anything," Trebelhorn said. "The doctors were concerned that anything was going to happen. We were going to have to make some decision as to what to do, whether to keep the life support system, whether to keep the ventilator on or turn it off to see what happens. Those were tough decisions we certainly weren't looking forward to. But that changed dramatically and quickly."

At 3 a.m. on Feb. 23, Black regained consciousness while a nurse was giving her a bath. A few days later Black was able to communicate with nods and shoulder shrugs.

Several days after that, Black's feeding tube was removed. Now she's able to talk on the phone with Trebelhorn, though she's still mostly disoriented. Black quickly forgets conversations she has earlier in the day and imagines she has been visited by people she hasn't seen in years.

"There were two days there we were making entirely different plans from what it looked like it was going to be," Trebelhorn said. "And then bam, in the middle of one night she wakes up. From then until now she's made terrific improvement. We just hope that happens, too, that there's continued improvement. I told her that by the all-star break she's going to be going to the ballpark again. Will it happen sooner than that or later than that or not at all? We don't know."

Trebelhorn is an almost irreplaceable member of Manager Sam Perlozzo's staff. He organizes most of the team's practices, helps hit fungoes on the field and helps suggest game strategy.

"Treb is one of my favorite people around and for him to even be out here is huge for us," outfielder Jay Gibbons said. "He's a motivator. He's got more energy than anybody on this team, without a doubt. You think he's a 20-year-old kid."

Before regular season games, Trebelhorn runs laps around the field. In the spring he's usually bouncing from one corner of the clubhouse to another. But his passivity the past few weeks has been noticeable. He rarely shouts anymore, and often seems sapped. Even he concedes it may be time to leave one love for another.

"He's got a lot on his mind, I'm sure," Perlozzo said. "There's times when I believe this is a good outlet for him at this particular time. And I know he's calling [her] on a regular basis. I'm sure he's torn."