For Mansolino, managing the Orioles started with a college course

BALTIMORE—It’s certainly been a different vibe around the Orioles since Tony Mansolino became the team’s interim manager on May 17^th. Mansolino has freely expressed his desire to listen to people around him, players and coaches.

“It’s just making sure that people feel loved, that the players feel loved, that the staff feels loved, everybody feels heard, and that takes a lot of time and a lot of effort to listen and talk,” he said last week.

That aim has resonated with the team. Starter Zach Eflin, who’s played on a World Series team in Philadelphia, experienced a jarring managerial change when Rob Thomson replaced Joe Girardi in June 2022, a move that paid off when the Phillies made it to the World Series.

“I think it’s incredibly important,” Eflin said of Mansolino’s vow. “I’d say it’s probably the number one thing as a manager is communication, the trust in the players, the belief of being on the same page and everything. I think he has that, and he’s shown that, kind of the same thing with Rob Thomson in Philly.

“He was the same exact way. He came in and said, ‘I want to be a part of you guys’ lives, every part of it.’ It creates that trust. It’s easy to go to war with people like that, a lot of fun to play for.”

Mansolino, who described himself as “a bad minor league player,” played just seven games at Double-A in a career that ended in 2010 in Independent ball when he was 27.

As a graduate of Vanderbilt, Mansolino earned a degree in Human and Organizational Development, something he’s rightfully proud of.

“When I went there, my mom had convinced me to major in political science, so naturally I signed up for that, and I got a call from the baseball coach there, and he said, ‘hey you probably want to do Human and Organizational Development,” Mansolino said. “I think at the time, it was probably maybe the easier one at that school because there are not a lot of easy ones.”

His major has helped him run a big league team.

“I don’t know that I could have picked out anything better for the job I’m sitting in right now,” he said. “It’s people’s communications, it’s the psychology of an organization. It’s the environment in the clubhouse, it’s all the things you would possibly need and want walking into the job I’m sitting in, or even as a coach, that’s that major. I’m very thankful that they pushed me that way.”

Players are glad that he’s absorbed those lessons.

“We spend a lot of time together throughout the course of the season, and you’ve got to like the guys that you’re around,” reliever Andrew Kittredge said. “If it’s not that way, if it’s hostile or if it just doesn’t feel like there is any kind of care, it’s hard to maintain a good clubhouse for 162 [games].”

Kittredge appreciates Mansolino’s goal to make everyone feel valued.

“I think that is really important,” he said. “I think that’s a very fair statement. From the clubhouse, you want it to be united, there needs to be that attitude.”

Kittredge never played a regular-season game under Brandon Hyde, and didn’t join the Orioles until Mansolino had already managed four games.

“I think it’s probably hard to say at this point, being that it’s so fresh, but I do like how much he communicates,” Kittredge said. “He’s around, he’s talking with guys. It doesn’t always have to be about the game. He’s very good at communicating. That’s so far what I’ve noticed and sticks out, just in the brief time he’s been running it.”

Eflin said it’s too early to judge Mansolino, but he worked under his father, longtime major league coach Doug Mansolino, who ran the Phillies’ minor league system when the pitcher was in the system a decade ago.

“I had a tremendous amount of respect for him, very old school, very professional, really did a good job of teaching all the young guys in that organization how to become men and deal with adversity,” Eflin said. “I see a lot of that in Tony. He’s a very personable person, a lot of fun. He’s got an old-school personality blended with new school, just an all-around great dude.”

Note: Cooper Hummel, the utility player who was on the Orioles roster on Sunday before he was designated for assignment on Monday, has elected free agency instead of accepting an outright assignment to Triple-A Norfolk.

Call for questions: I answer Orioles questions most weekdays. Please send yours to: Rich@BaltimoreBaseball.com