Orioles get bird’s-eye view of Ravens’ practice

BALTIMORE—A number of Orioles took a field trip to Owings Mills Wednesday to watch the Ravens prepare for Saturday’s preseason game at M&T Bank Stadium against the Atlanta Falcons.

Saturday will be a busy day for Baltimore sports fans. In a rarity, both teams will have a home game. The Falcons-Ravens begins at noon, and the Orioles moved back their game against Boston, which was scheduled for 4:05 p.m., to 7:05 p.m.

“Might be a doubleheader,” manager Brandon Hyde joked. Hyde, who’s developed a friendship with Ravens coach John Harbaugh, was joined by Gunnar Henderson, Craig Kimbrel and Cedric Mullins along with major league field coordinator/catching instructor Tim Cossins, assistant general manager Eve Rosenbaum, bullpen catcher Ben Carhart and manager of team travel Charles Escalante, who impressed Hyde with several barefooted 35-yard field goals.

A longtime San Francisco 49ers fan, Hyde also has become a Ravens fan since coming to Baltimore in 2019 and has attended some games, including last January’s AFC Championship Game against the Kansas City Chiefs.

“I have some Ravens secrets,” he said with a smile. “I stood there with John behind some 11-on-11 drills. I watched Lamar [Jackson] do his thing. The size and the speed is so cool when you’re that close, and John’s just an amazing person that’s incredibly generous. We were sharing culture stuff.

“We were talking about our season, and he’s really excited about his team.”

Harbaugh returned the compliment.

“I have so much respect for Brandon—I think he’s a great coach—a great skipper,” Harbaugh said. “What a job they’ve done; the team’s so exciting.  Having those guys here [at practice]–they were right there behind—we got them right there behind [the line of scrimmage] with the players.

“They were 15 yards away from the play, and I think they were really enjoying it, just like our guys would like to be right on the dugout rail if you could be.”

Hyde spoke with some of the Ravens’ assistants and found out they were big Oriole fans.

“A lot of these guys watch Orioles games on a nightly basis,” Hyde said. “A lot of players came up. We watch Ravens games. They’re there watching us and following us and fans of what we’re doing here. It was a fun afternoon.”

BaltimoreSports.com Ravens writer Todd Karpovich contributed to this story.