For the first time since 1996, the year the Ravens came to Baltimore, the Orioles and Ravens will have a new manager and head coach.
John Harbaugh, who coached the Ravens for 18 years, even longer than Earl Weaver managed the Orioles, has moved on to the New York Giants. Jesse Minter, the defensive coordinator of the Los Angeles Chargers, will replce him.
Harbaugh, a baseball fan, welcomed new Orioles manager Craig Albernaz to the Ravens’ Owings Mills training facility last month. Now, Albernaz can welcome Minter back to Baltimore.
On Thursday night, Albernaz joined newly signed slugger Pete Alonso for a question and answer session at Baltimore’s Senator Theatre, giving fans a chance to bond with the new manager.
It’s the weekend of the Birdland Caravan, and despite the cancellation of Saturday’s events, Albernaz will participate in some activities. Despite the unfavorable forecast this weekend, it’s a chance to get fans excited about the upcoming season.
Albernaz is still an unknown in Baltimore. He made an excellent first impression at his introductory press conference and answered questions well at the Winter Meetings in Orlando last month.
He’ll have another meeting with the press at the Warehouse on Friday afternoon. It will be the first of many this year.
Working with the media is an important part of a manager’s job. Between pregame and postgame press conferences around each regular-season game as well during spring training, Albernaz could have some 360 availabilities this season.
It’s not easy to deal with daily questions about injuries and lineups. Managers generally disdain those.
Then there are repetitive questions from media members who aren’t regulars, and don’t realize the manager has already answered that question from someone else several times.
The hardest part of a manager’s media responsibility is to be polite and forthright after your team loses four straight.
While everything is positive now, we don’t know how Albernaz will react to his first losing streak.
One of his predecessors, Brandon Hyde, had plenty of practice. In 2021, the Orioles had losing streaks of 19 and 14 straight, and Hyde deftly handled those postgame sessions, which were on Zoom because of the pandemic.
Hyde had a great ability to handle adversity. In his first three seasons, the team lost 218 games in its two full seasons, 2019 and 2021, and weathered the pandemic-shortened 2020 season.
For eight years during Harbaugh’s reign, Buck Showalter deftly dealt with the press. He was so good at it that he’s part of the media at MLB Network.
Hyde’s interim replacement, Tony Mansolino, was an astute student of press relations and handled even difficult questions with aplomb.
Some of the Orioles new players — Alonso, Shane Baz, Ryan Helsley and Taylor Ward — come with excellent reputations from media members of their previous teams.
That will help Albernaz, who’ll try to learn how to navigate a big league clubhouse as a manager for the first time.
Managing the media is a daily chore. It’s easier on the road with a handful of regulars but is still time consuming and if the manager enjoys it, or at least pretends to enjoy it, everyone is happier.
So far, Albernaz has plunged into his obligations with enthusiasm. He had the advantage of coaching under Stephen Vogt in Cleveland. The Guardians’ manager attended Albernaz’s introductory press conference and has a good relationship with the Cleveland media.
Vogt was recently named as the 31st most admired person in sports by The Athletic, higher than any other manager in baseball.
Notes: Due to the impending storm, the Orioles canceled Saturday’s Birdland Caravan events.
The Oriole Bird and Mr. Splash Meet & Greet at Weis Markets Bel Air, scheduled for Friday afternoon, is canceled. Fans who secured access to Saturday’s paid ticketed events (breakfast with the O’s and duckpin bowling) will receive an email from the Orioles with information on a full refund.
The Orioles are also adjusting events on Friday night. Albernaz and Tyler Wells will appear at Arcade Happy Hour at GameOn while Samuel Basallo and Dylan Beavers will appear at Flight Night at Guinness Open Gate Brewery. Adley Rutschman, who was supposed to attend the Caravan was a victim of storm-related flight cancellations.
Call for questions: I answer Orioles questions most weekdays. Please send yours to: Rich@BaltimoreBaseball.com.