NEW YORK—The night before managing his first major league game, Brandon Hyde admitted to nervousness.
“I didn’t sleep much last night,” Hyde said about two hours before Thursday’s opener.
“This is the real deal. If you can’t get up for this, you can’t get up for anything. This is a special day, more so Yankee Stadium, with all the tradition.”
Hyde got to Yankee Stadium around 7, and his routine wasn’t what he went through as a coach.
“It was a lot of talking, a lot of talking, more than I’m used to,” Hyde said “I’m used to being ultra-prepared and preparing and sitting there and going through the game with [Chicago Cubs manager Joe Maddon] or coaching the bases. This was a little more communicating with everybody and not doing as much physical work, but it was a great day, and I wish we could have come out on the other side.”
Hyde’s first day as Orioles manager ended with a 7-2 loss to the Yankees.
Andrew Cashner, Mike Wright, David Hess and Paul Fry combined to walk eight batters and hit another as the Orioles trailed, 4-0, after three.
Hyde had his wife, children, his parents, wife’s family and friends from Santa Rosa, Calif., on hand. Lots of tickets and airfares for the new manager.
“I’m coaching for free today,” he joked. “It’s a lot of people, but it’s so worth it.”
Hyde admitted to getting emotional, especially when his name was announced and he ran on the field, and then shaking hands with his New York counterpart, Aaron Boone
He spent an extended time at home plate when he brought out the lineup card, listening to home plate umpire Fieldin Culbreth explain the ground rules.
The control issues were highlighted in the fifth inning when Cashner began by walking his final two batters, Brett Gardner and Aaron Judge. Wright walked Giancarlo Stanton and hit Luke Voit with the bases loaded. Another run scored on Miguel Andujar’s fly ball.
Voit hit a three-run home run against Cashner in the first.
Trey Mancini, who went 3-for-4, noticed Hyde’s demeanor on his first day.
“He had great energy the whole game, even when we were down,” Mancini said.
“If something good happened, he’s right there, pumped up and it was very, very loose and a very calm atmosphere out there, a guy you’d want to run through a brick wall for.
“…It was pretty cool to see him in his managerial debut and go through the whole introductions and the big show that goes on for Opening Day. Everybody enjoyed it for sure, but it would have been nice to get a different result.”
The Orioles go into the season with low expectations, and the clubhouse, once full of large personalities, is no longer.
“The dugout seemed a little quieter than normal and I think that will loosen up and guys will start getting a little bit of a rhythm and a feel,” Hyde said.
“I want to believe [they’ll] gain confidence. And that comes with experience and it comes with time and games played and success and all sorts of things. I thought the dugout was good. I felt like it was quieter than normal because of some jitters from some younger players.”
The Orioles’ oldest player, Chris Davis, was hitless in three at-bats, striking out each time. Left-hander Aroldis Chapman was pitching in the ninth when Davis was due up, but Renato Nunez batted instead.
“Everybody wants to get off to a good start,” Hyde said. “I’m sure he’s hoping to get a better game offensively, but they pitched him well. I thought he had a couple of calls that didn’t go his way, but it’s part of the game, and you come back in a couple of days and do it again.”
Hyde put Davis in the seventh position and explained why.
“I want Chris to get off to a good start, so I’m going to try to do everything I can to take pressure off of him,” he said “I want to see him succeed as well as everybody else does…Chris is going to be a big part of our lineup.”
At game time, the temperature was 48 degrees, 30 degrees cooler than it was three days before at the Orioles’ final Grapefruit League game in Sarasota.
“I didn’t think bad weather affected anything today,” Hyde said. “I didn’t think it was bad at all, to be honest with you. I’ve seen a lot worse on opening day. Guys had the adrenaline going. I thought the conditions actually were pretty good for what they could be.”
After a day off on Friday, the Orioles return to play the Yankees, and they’ll use Nate Karns as the opener. The reality is that the Orioles have 37 more games to play against the Yankees and Boston Red Sox, nearly a quarter of their schedule.
“That’s a great team over there, a great lineup, and they showed it,” Mancini said.
“…Look at our division. There are some great teams there. You’re lying to yourself if you say anything differently. We’re not going to go out there and play scared or anything else We all see ourselves as major league baseball players, and that’s what they are. So, we’re going to go out there and play hard and try and compete with these guys.”
Hyde refuses to be intimidated by the Orioles’ competition.
“I look at it as a challenge,” Hyde said. “I’ve never backed down from anything. I think it’s awesome, to be honest with you. It means great competition.
“This is the atmosphere you want to play in, this is what you want to feel on a nightly basis, and that’s how you’re going to get better, that’s how you’re going to be able to look in the mirror and see who you are as a player.
“These are the kind of places you want to go in and compete. I love the fact that we’re in the AL East and I love the fact that there’s some really good clubs in our division and we’ve just got to grow and get better.”
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I know it’s just the first game but anything positive come to mind while watching the Orioles play? The defense? Any particular plays?
There was a beautiful double play. Sucre dropped a silo shot (no infield fly rule was called) and as a result there was a force out and a run down out. So, the blunder turned into something good, even it wasn't pretty.
Rickard made ESPN's top 10 plays last night. What do the say about the blind squirrel?
Well, maybe Chris Davis is a day nearer retirement.
I think the release is inevitable at this point. I have a hard time believing it doesn’t come this year. He’s looked clueless at the plate for the last year and it’s just continued into the spring. And was as bad as expected game 1. They’ve got to be kicking the idea around if this continues he has to be gone by the AS break. It can’t be fun for him to go out there and be this bad either.
Jbigle your right it cant be fun for him so why release him and pay him over 100 million he doesn’t deserve. Bench him until his ego asks for a buyout. I rather play with 24 men then Chris Davis as the 25 fifth man
Just a reminder, they are going to 26 man roster next year.
It’s angelos’ fault for giving him that ridiculous contract. The day players start giving money back is a bad day for baseball. Angelos made that money in the budget solely for Davis. That’s a horrible decision. And it’s also part of the reason why you hear about angelos’ hamstringing of his front offices. As much as Davis sucks I want him to get every penny and he will.
I really want MLB to go back to a balanced schedule. Nothing to do with the Yanks and Sox being good right now. I didn’t like it in 2014 when the O’s were kicking their butts. I just get tired of seeing the same four teams over and over and over. The Rays are such a snore fest, and the Bluejays are mostly bleh even when they’re good.
I agree but it's got EVERYTHING to do with the Red Sox,Yankees.
This whole "opener" fiasco will be fun to watch. The opening day starter looked like an "opener" with his short outing, so the gimmicky opener for game 2 ought to be an adventure.
The positives were Mancini and Villar hitting. The defensive play of the game was Rickard. The pitching overall was terrible. Way too many walks plus putting the Yankees batters into hitters counts. This resulting into a lopsided loss.
Sure looked like loss #116
Welcome to old Bal'more Mr. Hyde. (cue the Dr. Jekyll jokes)
Soooooo Davis is 3 for 3 in the strikeout department. I'd love to see a row of fans somewhere in park, holding up "K" placards for this bum, and another row of fans doing the same for our starting pitcher each night. Would make for a fun contest. Who's with me?
Oh, that's perfect! I'm with ya!
Played out exactly like we thought . Terrible starting pitching, our hitless catchers 0 for 4 and of course Mr Davis 0 for 3 with 3 strikeouts and it would have been 4 if he mercifully wasn’t pinch hit for. Joey Richard had a good spring but he has proven over and over again he is not a starting major league outfielder. Elias with all his analytics and brains is playing hit wrong. Hays and Sisco should have been starting yesterday. Diaz should be called up in June. Carroll , Phillips and Scott should be on the staff instead of Wright, and Arrujo. I won’t address this anymore even Rich said this spring in his articles that Sisco and Hays played their way onto this team. What did Servarino do to make this team. He has never hit at the ML level. Two bad you want to route for this team but not the team Elias bought up north. One last thing I know Hyde has to do PR but saying Davis got a few bad calls and will be a big part of this team are odds that any betting man would bet against.
Not sticking up for crash, there were two really bad outside called strikes, but battle, he surely didn’t seem like he was even trying, catching was appalling, Sisco probably laughing his butt off....
What stood out to me was that the O's seemed defensively capable(mandatory going forward) and the Yankees never swing at anything out of the strike zone. No pitching staff can pitch to plate discipline like that. Interesting comment--dugout seemed quiet. Liven up boys. Solemn,solitaire individuals won't help.
I tell you, what stood out to me was the total disparity in talent level between the 2 teams. It really shows that the new regime has a lot of work to do to develop an elite talent pipeline. I know a lot of folks have been saying that we sent down the wrong men, but I understand that Elias/Hyde want to see what they have in the players who have some major league playing time. It is only after they see that there just isn't a lot of talent to compete in the AL East that we can jettison some of our fringe ML talent (Davis included) and bring up the young guns (?) and start to develop them at the major league level.
Patience will not be easy!!
Don’t agree why wait. Our two catchers have never hit at the ML level. I like Joey but he also has never hit. Sisco and Hays should have been starting yesterday period
Don't agree that Rickard has "never hit" ... in 735 MLB at bats, Rickard has a .250 average, with 17 home runs, and 38 doubles ... respectable numbers, along with good defense.
Yes, Hays has more upside than Rickard, and he will probably be a more productive MLB hitter in the future, but I will trust Elias' judgement that some time at AAA (where Hays has never played) will help his development.
Birdman the numbers you quoted for Joey are good for a fourth outfielder not a starter
I agree with you ... I doubt that Elias projects Rickard as a long term starter, but I do think Rickard is a decent alternative as a starter at this point, while Hays and Diaz develop in the minors.
Rickard is the only outfielder on our roster who plays good outfield defense. Nobody thinks he’s a long term solution but the other guys could watch him play D. He actually knows what he’s doing out there. In all honesty I believe he’s a better CF than Mullins defenisvelyZ