Manny Machado: ‘I’ll always be an Oriole at heart’

Manny Machado is both one of the greatest and most polarizing players in Orioles history. He was the third overall pick in the 2010 draft, joined the team in August 2012 and played with the Orioles until his July 2018 trade to the Los Angeles Dodgers. He was a four-time All-Star, a two-time winner of the Gold Glove. He won the Platinum Glove in 2013.

Machado is now in his eighth season with the San Diego Padres. This past weekend, he talked about his time in Baltimore, J.J. Hardy, Adam Jones, Jonathan Schoop and Buck Showalter, and his feelings for the Orioles.

This interview has been edited for brevity.

Question: What does it mean to play here?

Manny Machado: “It’s special. This is what I knew for a long time, right? I got drafted here in 2010, came up through Bowie and Frederick, this whole area here. I made my major league debut here. I played many years. It’s special. It’s always going to be a part of my heart and part of my family. It always brings back great memories.”

Q: What are those great memories?

Machado: “Man, my first hit, making the playoffs in 2012. ’13, making my first All-Star Game. Obviously, the injuries. I know it’s not a great memory, but it’s part of my career. Winning the division, playoff games.

“I think my favorite one is every time, and I still miss it. I still do it every once in a while, but the national anthem, hearing the ‘O!’ I think that’s probably number one.”

Q: Who were the teammates in those years who stood out?

Machado: “J.J., Adam, Schoopy. Me and Schoopy went way back when we came up together. I think the biggest impact was probably J.J., and then right behind him, Adam.”

Q: Do you ever talk to Hardy?

Machado: “I still talk to him. I see Jonesy all the time. I see J.J. in spring training. He always tries to come by and see a practice and brings the kids around. I [talk] with a lot of guys, not most of them, but there’s still quite a few that I keep in contact with.”

Q: You had an interesting relationship with Buck. What was he like to play for?

Machado: “He was awesome. Obviously, what he did for the organization. He changed it. He changed this organization for great. To come up here and learn from him, he taught me a lot about baseball. I was a kid that came up, 19 years old, and all I wanted to do was play baseball, right?

“Catch the ball, hit homers and enjoy the game that I’ve always played. He gave you a different perspective of a baseball game, made you learn and made you be a high IQ guy. Learn the game.

“I think that was the biggest thing from him. Everyone could catch the ball, but what could you do behind the scenes?  What can you be better at? Better than someone else in different areas, and I think it was huge learning from him, trick plays that I still do, be the cutoff relay when there’s a guy on second base.

“Just thinking about the little things in baseball that go unnoticed and make it a big highlight. I still do it to this day. That’s through him.

Q: Do you still think of yourself as an Oriole?

Machado: “Yeah, yeah. I still do. It’s crazy because the other day I was looking back. I’ve already been in San Diego more than I was in Baltimore. It’s even crazy to think about that. I [thought] I spent 10 years there, even though it was only six. It’s crazy to think about because that’s how much it meant to us.

“I’ll always be an Oriole at heart. I’ve obviously been in San Diego a lot more and the city has been amazing and bringing me in, just like Baltimore. I’m lucky to be in those two organizations and be part of the history of both.”

Q: When you play here, you hear some cheers, but you also hear a lot of boos, what do you think?

Machado: “It’s kind of interesting hearing it. I think of it as they’re fans. I’ve been a part of this organization. This organization, the fans loved their players. They love winning. This is a sports town. I love this city and how much they cared about their sports, Ravens, Orioles. They don’t want me to beat them.

“They know what I can do. Deep down inside, I know that a lot of them, looking up in the stands, there’s a lot of fans that saw me when I was here. I still talk to them. I still wave at them. They’ve seen me since I was a kid playing here.

“It’s fun to come back and see them and how much they still love the game and they still follow me … The boos, I’m a visiting player, right? They don’t want me to beat them and they’re cheering their team on, which is nothing but respect.”

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