Grayson Rodriguez didn’t pitch Friday, however he nonetheless garnered one of many loudest cheers throughout the Orioles’ dwelling opener.
Judging by the pregame participant introductions at Camden Yards, the highest pitching prospect, who made his MLB debut Wednesday in his dwelling state of Texas, is already probably the most widespread gamers on the crew.
“It felt like a dream,” Rodriguez stated. “Man, that atmosphere was awesome. It’s something I’ve really dreamed about, something I’ve really wanted to experience as a player. It was just fantastic.”
The pomp and circumstance of the day wasn’t dampened by the postponement of the unique dwelling opener Thursday, nor the chilly, overcast afternoon. It helped that the Orioles beat the New York Yankees, 7-6, to enhance to 4-3 on the season.
Baltimore followers nonetheless packed the park with a sellout attendance of 45,017 and carried out all the standard duties — shouting “O” throughout the nationwide anthem, booing rival gamers and rooting for the hometown crew.
As a 21-year-old rookie, Gunnar Henderson has by no means performed within the main league postseason. But he hopes the Orioles are enjoying video games at Camden Yards in October that really feel much like Friday’s.
“Hopefully, we make it to the playoffs and it’ll be just like that,” Henderson stated.
Oriole Park opened three hours earlier than first pitch, with followers trickling into the stadium to absorb a number of modifications, together with a brand new concessions operator, a brand new restaurant on Eutaw Street and a brand new bag coverage. The guidelines of baseball have been additionally completely different, with a brand new pitch clock promising a quicker tempo of play — although Friday’s sport nonetheless went over three hours.
The ballpark had all the same old festivities, with Orioles gamers and supervisor Brandon Hyde jogging out from heart area on the orange carpet as followers cheered. Some, after all, garnered extra thunderous applause than others, with Rodriguez, Henderson and Adley Rutschman incomes the loudest ovations.
“First off, don’t trip,” Rodriguez stated of what was going by way of his head as he ran on the orange carpet. “No, man, it was a lot of fun. It was a very cool experience. It’s definitely something I’ll remember for the rest of my life.”
While these cheers have been loud, a number of moments throughout the sport have been extra deafening: Henderson’s RBI double within the third, Ramón Urías’ go-ahead double within the seventh, Bryan Baker’s heroic maintain within the eighth and Félix Bautista’s thrilling save within the ninth.
“It was electric from the start,” stated Baker, who shut down the Yankees’ scoring risk within the eighth. “Feeding off their energy is something that we can definitely use, for sure.”
In the previous, particularly throughout the rebuild years, dwelling video games in opposition to the Yankees oftentimes had a somber undertone. It would really feel as if New York followers outnumbered these from Baltimore, with “Let’s go Yankees” chants breaking out a number of occasions a contest. But not Friday.
“I definitely have noticed that,” stated beginning pitcher Dean Kremer, who bounced again from a tough first begin to pitch 5 strong innings. “When they get on base, you hear Yankee chants. But today I think we definitely outnumbered them, and it was an awesome sight to see. I hope a lot of games are gonna be like that.”
“That was fun,” Hyde stated. “You could definitely feel the excitement. Sometimes we play the Yankees here the past few years there have been quite a few Yankees fans. Tonight was a definite Baltimore crowd all the way through.”
Every dwelling opener provides pleasure for a brand new season. But for the Orioles, who began a painful rebuild in 2018 after which handled the pandemic the previous few years, this 12 months’s opening day at Camden Yards was a return to normalcy.
Outfielder Austin Hays, who debuted with the Orioles in 2017, stated the 2020 season throughout the pandemic was “really weird,” as he noticed fewer jerseys as he walked across the metropolis.
“I was driving to the field this morning at 8:30 [a.m.], and there’s Baltimore fans and jerseys everywhere,” Hays stated earlier than the sport. “That’s what it was before the COVID days. To just see the streets of Baltimore be covered in Orioles jerseys again is really nice. I’m expecting to see that throughout the season, and I got to see a lot of that last year when we started to turn the corner. I think the city feels that, the fans feel that and we definitely feel their support as players.”
Hays contemplated earlier than the sport whether or not Orioles followers could be louder Friday than they have been throughout the 2022 season, through which the membership was the shock of the game by profitable 31 extra video games than the earlier 12 months. He hopes Friday’s ambiance is an indication of issues to come back.
“It was phenomenal,” Hays stated. “Sellout crowd, you possibly can simply really feel the excitement within the stadium. From begin to end, it was by no means quiet. Even when there was no cheering happening, there was nonetheless that fixed buzz of individuals speaking.
“It was an awesome atmosphere. I’m looking forward to a lot more of that this year.”
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Source: www.bostonherald.com