The Orioles debuted a brand new celebration prop Monday evening, and inside hours, Ben Roberts and his 12-year-old son, Owen, had plans to convey their very own model to Oriole Park on Tuesday evening.
Roberts, an Orioles fan from Severna Park, ordered a hose on Amazon late on Monday and swung by a greenback retailer Tuesday to buy a funnel and duct tape. The end result: A replica of the orange-and-black “homer hose,” which Orioles gamers now drink water out of to have fun residence runs.
“It’s a lot of fun,” Owen, who requested Austin Hays to autograph the hose, mentioned of coming to video games. “I told [my dad] tonight — I was like, ‘We need to keep on coming.’”
The Orioles (6-5) put collectively an enthralling, come-from-behind victory Tuesday evening towards the Oakland Athletics (2-9) for his or her newest dramatic win.
It’s exhausting to outline “fun,” but when residence runs and steals are the barometer, there aren’t many MLB groups extra enjoyable than the Orioles proper now. Baltimore has mixed for 35 homers and steals by way of 11 video games this season, which trails solely the still-undefeated Tampa Bay Rays.
Throw in dugout celebrations, and the Orioles could possibly be in a league of their very own.
After a single, Orioles gamers mime the movement of turning on a faucet. After a double, they do a “sprinkler” dance as gamers within the dugout squirt water out of their mouths. And, now, after a house run, they drink water out of the “homer hose.”
The latest addition has include criticism, nonetheless. Since it debuted Monday night, the dad and mom of some younger Orioles followers have expressed disapproval on social media, noting that the hose celebration mimics binge-drinking habits. Players say the celebration is supposed to be paying homage to consuming from a hose when taking part in out on the street as children — however, for a lot of, it appears like chugging alcohol. Some dad and mom have shared that they hope the celebration doesn’t proceed.
Roberts, the daddy of Owen, mentioned he sees nothing improper with the workforce “having fun.”
“It’s water,” he mentioned. “We all understand what it’s implying, whatever. It’s fine. I saw people saying, ‘Oh, think about the kids.’ It is what it is. When they go to college, they’ll figure it out anyways.”
Regardless of views on the celebration, the workforce’s play on the sphere has definitely been fascinating. With speedsters like Jorge Mateo and Cedric Mullins, the Orioles are tied for second in MLB in steals (17) and, with a number of younger energy hitters, are tied for third in residence runs (18). Ryan Mountcastle — whose 9 RBIs Tuesday tied a Baltimore document — is tied for essentially the most residence runs within the huge leagues.
As followers streamed out of the ballpark after the sport, one pointed at a tv exhibiting Mountcastle being interviewed. “There’s our guy!” he known as out.
The slugging first baseman was Tuesday’s singular hero, however to date this season, it’s been the bats, usually, which have carried the workforce. Austin Hays, one other Oriole who’s hitting the ball effectively, praised the workforce’s balanced offense.
“We can draw walks when we’re not getting hits, we have the ability to hit homers on a pretty consistent basis and we’ve got a lot of speed in our lineup and guys can get into scoring position,” he mentioned. “It’s just a really prolific offense that can score a lot of runs quick.”
The Orioles are among the many majors’ finest to date in scoring and among the many worst in stopping runs. That’s made for some irritating losses, but additionally some high-powered wins.
“We’ve played in a lot of weird games, high-scoring games. I think the credit goes to our offense, obviously,” supervisor Brandon Hyde mentioned Tuesday evening. “I want to believe that we’re going to improve on the mound, I want to believe that we’re going to improve in the bullpen. I think we played good defense tonight. That’s going to continue to improve.”
The offense has been thrilling, however so, too, has been the prospect of younger expertise. On Tuesday evening, three gamers who followers have adopted for years whereas they had been within the minor leagues — Adley Rutschman, Gunnar Henderson and Grayson Rodriguez — had been all within the beginning lineup in Baltimore for the primary time.
“The page is definitely turning,” mentioned Orioles fan Josh Nagel, who, alongside along with his 9-year-old daughter sported a Rodriguez T-shirt jersey from the pitcher’s time with the High-A affiliate Aberdeen IronBirds.
Fans in attendance Tuesday obtained a Rodriguez-themed T-shirt as he made his first Camden Yards begin; the shirt featured an image of a gasoline can and the phrases “Gas ’em up!” — a nod to the younger pitcher’s flamethrowing capability.
But for all the eye on the pitching phenom, it was, as soon as once more, the offense that carried the Orioles. They trailed 7-3 after a disastrous fifth inning during which Rodriguez and reliever Austin Voth allowed 5 runs, however bounced again with crooked numbers within the fifth and seventh innings.
“The offense had my back,” Rodriguez mentioned. “That’s something that I guess this team is about to be known for.”
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Source: www.bostonherald.com