More from Davis at FanFest

One of the lasting images for me at FanFest on Saturday was first baseman Chris Davis sporting his usual winter beard and a smile that hadn't been seen by reporters in almost five months.

We also hadn't heard from him since the Game 4 loss to the Royals in the American League Championship Series, when he politely declined comment. He sat silently on a couch as we filed in, staring at one of the televisions, and later hugged a few teammates before heading for the exit. That was it.

Davis was back to his former jovial self at the Baltimore Convention Center, dropping a Marshawn Lynch reference that brought laughter from the group. Fortunately for us, he didn't mimic the Seahawks running back and defiantly give the same answer.

Why wait so long?

"The biggest thing when I came back is I didn't want to take away from what the team was doing," he said. "Obviously, I wasn't able to go in the clubhouse, so it was hard for me to really let you guys know what was going on. When I came back in October, I didn't want to take away from what the team was doing. I didn't want it to be a sore spot that everybody was going to look at when the team was doing so well. For me, it was more about respect for my teammates, respect for the organization.

"Even in Kansas City, I wanted to talk to you guys, I wanted to tell you what was going on, but at the same time it was tough to lose the last game and it just wasn't the right time."

Davis spoke of the frustration of not being able to address his Orioles teammates as a group after news of his suspension broke on Sept. 12.

"I think the toughest thing for me was not being there," he said. "To me, the biggest thing you can do when you screw up is face the problem, and not being able to look those guys in the eyes and tell them what had gone on, and for them to find out the way they found out, I wasn't really happy about that, but that was kind of the way things went with the doubleheader that day. It was an early game. And the way I found out how everything played out, I wasn't able to go out to the field that day, which bothered me, but it was good to come back in the postseason even though I didn't want to be a distraction.

"I wanted to see everybody and kind of talk to them and let them know how sorry I was and I was still behind them no matter what. I think all that was addressed toward the end of the season last year and I'm looking to move forward."

Davis confirmed that he's received an exemption for Adderall this season. One can only wonder why he was turned down in the past.

"I was denied in 2013," he said, adding that he couldn't recall whether he was evaluated the previous year. "There are a lot of things I obviously can't talk about, a lot of the details, but I had to go through a lot of things this offseason to get it and I have it for (the 2015 season).

"When you're ADHD, your focus isn't the same as someone who's not. You can use it the wrong way, but for me, and I've said this before, it was never a baseball issue. And when I went in to get evaluated for the first time in 2008, it was more about my everyday life. Things were disorganized. And that's how I've used the medication. It was never about baseball. It was lack of focus, starting things and not finishing them."

Davis said he used Adderall "a couple of times" last season.

"I wasn't using it for baseball last year," he said. "It was more about the off-the-field stuff, and the way I was taking it when it was first prescribed, it wasn't even about baseball."

Davis was lost at the plate, batting .196/.300/.404 while his home runs dropped from 53 to 26 and his RBIs from 138 to 72.

"I think the biggest thing for me is just to stay healthy," he said. "Last year, at the beginning of the season, I had an (oblique) injury and I tried to play through it and I just wasn't the hitter I knew I could be. There were a lot of things going on, obviously, off the field that I was dealing with, but the biggest thing for me is to stay healthy, and I know that if I can stay, I'll be the player I know I can be.

"I really didn't realize how much of an impact it had on me until this offseason, until I had time to recover and start hitting again and feel the difference between the beginning of last season and now. It was something where it's an injury you can't really prevent and there's not much you can do for it besides rest, but at the time I wanted to continue to play and I wasn't the same player."

As his numbers eroded, so did his confidence.

"I think anytime you start struggling, especially for a power hitter that's so much up and down, you know you're not 100 percent. ... And my biggest thing was I couldn't drive the ball the other way," he said.

"You guys all know that's kind of my sweet spot, so it did bother me and I tried to do certain things to cope with it and I think even all the work I did in the cage or with (then-hitting coach Jim Presley), in the back of my mind I couldn't take the same swings."

Davis has been working out with hitting coach and close friend Scott Coolbaugh in Dallas.

"He's going to be huge, and not just because of my relationship with him. Just what he brings to the table. He knows hitting really well," Davis said.

"I was obviously sad to see Pres go. I had a lot of success with him in the past, but Cooley is a guy that I've been with for a number of years. I came up in the Rangers organization with him as my hitting coach. He's a guy I hit with in the offseason every year and I'm just excited that he's here and I think the guys are really going to like him."