‘I have so much respect for Buck Showalter’
Hyde says he looked up to predecessor as coach; FanFest tickets on sale
New Orioles manager Brandon Hyde said Baltimore’s baseball tradition is part of the reason he took the job, noting his new office has pictures of legendary baseball men such as Earl Weaver and Cal Ripken Sr. on the walls.
He’s also coming to the role with a healthy admiration for Buck Showalter, the man he is replacing after parts of nine seasons leading the Orioles, who left a big mark on the city and the club.
“I have so much respect for Buck Showalter,” Hyde said Monday at his introductory news conference. “As a young coach, that was somebody I looked up to on TV. That was Buck Showalter. Listening to him doing ESPN, when he was on ESPN, I would always listen to him. I have so much respect.
“We also have close friends who are ... a couple of my close friends are close friends of his as well, so there’s some mutual respect there. And everybody says such great things about him. I’m going to be me, but I definitely have a ton of respect for who’s been in that chair for the last eight or nine years.”
Hyde was selected from a six-candidate field by new executive vice president and general manager Mike Elias, who said it wasn’t intentional that no one previously with the organization was part of that group of finalists.
Elias said he views “outside perspective and outside experience as a plus,” and there’s expected to be some holdover with coaches remaining in the organization. But the idea that Showalter became almost as synonymous with the Orioles’ success and goodwill as anyone on the team didn’t influence the decision in how to replace him, Elias said.
“I didn’t take it into account,” Elias said. “The past era here was hugely successful. It was done against a lot of odds and a lot of expectations. I’m incredibly impressed by what the last group did here. It came to an end the last year, and this is a new era of Orioles.
“I’m new. He’s new. It wasn’t part of my thought process. It was just getting the right person for this next era, what team we have now, how we’re going to approach things, what we’re going through. That was really what was on my mind.”
FanFest tickets on sale: Tickets are on sale now for Orioles FanFest, to be held Saturday, Jan. 26, at the Baltimore Convention Center.
The annual event will feature appearances by current and former Orioles players and coaches, as well as clinics, exhibits and games, the team said.
Among the other advertised activities are question-and-answer sessions with players as well as Elias and Hyde, player games and demonstrations, and a tour of the Orioles clubhouse.
As in the past, autograph vouchers will be sold separately, with advance purchase required and all proceeds going to the work of OriolesREACH, though a separate, free children’s autograph station will run throughout the day.
Tickets are free to Birdland members, and can be redeemed through email with their Orioles account manager. For those in the general public seeking tickets, go to orioles.com/fanfest, visit the Camden Yards box office lobby, or call 888-848-BIRD. Adult tickets are $12, while children 14 and under and seniors 60 and over can get tickets for $6.