Davis calls it ‘breaking point’
Slumping 1B regrets charging his manager
BALTIMORE — Orioles first baseman Chris Davis said he reached a “breaking point” when he charged at Baltimore manager Brandon Hyde in the dugout Wednesday night, and expressed his regret during a lengthy conversation with Hyde Friday.
The flare-up occurred in the fifth inning of Baltimore’s 14-2 loss against the New York Yankees. Hyde walked over to Davis and said something that the first baseman clearly didn’t like, and Davis attempted to charge at the manager before being restrained.
“It happened. Brandon and I have talked,” Davis said Friday before the lastplace Orioles played host to Houston. “I knew right after it happened we were going to be fine, and we are.”
Davis is batting .182 with nine homers and 31 RBIs, not the production expected from a slugger in the middle of a $161 million, seven-year contract. Last season, he batted .168, the worst average in major league history by a player with enough plate appearances to qualify for the batting title. Davis has taken consolation from his fielding, but Wednesday he lamented being unable to snag a bouncing throw before a home run.
“For me, that was really kind of the breaking point,” Davis said. “It all boiled over. It wasn’t just from that play. For me, it’s been the last couple weeks.”
His reaction to that play in the field, his struggles at the plate and the beating the Yankees were inflicting on the Orioles triggered the ugly scene.
“He came off the field really frustrated about his play, and I got frustrated how he was responding,” Hyde said. “I thought some things were inappropriate and I called him out on it. I wish now that I would have pulled him down in the tunnel, but that was just me being reactionary to something I didn’t think was right.”
Davis regretted charging Hyde and that it came in the dugout.
“I think it just made it worse for everybody involved,” Davis said. “We addressed it. We’re moving forward. We have so much to look forward to; I don’t want this to be made into something it’s not.”
The Orioles are in the beginning stage of a major rebuild, and Hyde often speaks proudly about how the players have remained upbeat and positive during a season in which Baltimore has been in the AL East cellar since April 20. For that reason, Hyde’s highly visible, lamentable clash with Davis was tough to take.
“I don’t like that being the spotlight of what our club is about, which is the exact opposite,” Hyde said. “That really bothered me.”
First-year general manager Mike Elias agreed, adding: “For me, the unfortunate aspect of it is that it drew undue negative attention to what I think has been one of the bright points this year, the environment here in the clubhouse and on the field,” Elias said.