A path from Santa Rosa JC to pro ranks

Brandon Hyde, the new manager of the Baltimore Orioles, nearly finished his opening statement before breaking down.

At Monday’s introductory news conference, Hyde had acknowledged his “amazing support system back in my hometown in Santa Rosa” and how his old buddies “continue to keep me grounded,” then started introducing his wife and three children in the room.

That’s when his voice cracked and his eyes teared.

“I was so worried that was going to happen,” Hyde said later in a phone interview. “I had practiced in front of them about 20 times

to make it numb, but obviously it didn’t work out the way I wanted it to.”

Hyde, 45, grew up a Giants fan in the Candlestick days and was a coach with the Cubs when they eliminated his hometown team in the 2016 Division Series. Now, he’s in charge of a different orange-and-black team and facing the task of reviving the anemic Orioles, who lost 115 games last season.

Hyde can’t draw from experiences as a big-league player — he played four years in the White Sox’s farm system — but can draw from a slew of other gigs in his career, including with the Marlins and Cubs, most recently as Joe Maddon’s bench coach in Chicago.

There’s also the Santa Rosa influence. Before playing at Long Beach State, Hyde played at Montgomery High School and Santa Rosa Junior College, which has become a baseball hotbed for pro-bound talent at many levels — nine alums currently are forging careers in coaching, scouting and front-office positions.

Hyde cited the junior college’s long-time coach, Ron Myers, as the common bond. Myers coached more than 20 years at the JC, and his longtime assistant and successor, Damon Neidlinger, won state titles in 2005 and 2016. “Ron was a tough guy to play for in a great way,” Hyde said. “He demanded a lot. He really helped me out from the mental side, being a little tougher, that it’s going to be a grind and understanding how to deal with adversity. We were hungry to learn the game.”

The Orioles need to round out their coaching staff, and among the possible candidates to join Hyde are three fellow former SRJC Bear Cubs: Brewers assistant hitting coach Jason Lane, Nationals assistant hitting coach Joe Dillon, and Cubs minorleague field and catching coordinator Tim Cossins.

“Absolutely, I’m considering all of them,” Hyde said. “I’m also realistic in the fact it’s almost Christmas and spring training is less than two months away, and teams don’t want to lose guys or reconfigure their coaching staffs right now, but I hope at some point down the road I get to work with all of them.”

Lane, 42, played seven seasons in the majors and hit 26 home runs for the 2005 Astros and another in that year’s World Series. He reinvented himself as a pitcher and, after six years out of the majors, pitched three games for the 2014 Padres.

Though he didn’t play with Hyde at Santa Rosa JC, Lane kept in contact with him over the years, which is common for this Sonoma County fraternity.

“I’m just really happy for Brandon,” Lane said. “I know he had been close for a lot of (managing) jobs. I knew it was a matter of time. He has built a reputation for himself, been part of winning teams and learned from a lot of great people in the game.”

Known as an excellent communicator, Hyde coached and managed in the Marlins’ system before elevating to big-league bench coach under Marlins managers Edwin Rodriguez and Jack McKeon.

In Chicago, Hyde worked under managers Rick Renteria and Maddon on a team that emphasized modern analytics on the way to the 2016 World Series title, much like new Orioles general manager Mike Elias came from a team, the Astros, that stressed analytics when taking the 2017 title. Now, it’s the Orioles’ future, and Hyde is all in, though he said “a player’s makeup still matters.” Hyde was at AT&T Park on Oct. 11, 2016, when the Cubs overcame a 5-2 deficit in the ninth to eliminate the Giants from the playoffs, a step toward the Cubs’ first World Series title since 1908.

“Obviously, that was a huge game because we were going home from there to face (Johnny) Cueto and (Madison) Bumgarner,” said Hyde, noting Cueto would have been the Game 5 starter with Bumgarner available in relief. “To avoid facing Cueto a second time in the series was a big deal. To be down three in the ninth and have that rally against their bullpen, that was absolutely something I’ll never forget.” The Santa Rosa alums support each other, and a prime example came in 2004 when Dillon, a top Royals and Twins prospect whose career was derailed by chronic back problems, tried a comeback after surgery. He called Hyde, who was working in the Marlins’ system with Cossins, and both put in a good word to farm director Marc DelPiano.

Dillon signed a minorleague deal and hit 39 home runs in 2004, mostly in Triple-A. He made his big-league debut a year later, at 29, and played four seasons in the majors and one in Japan.

“I thought he was done,” Hyde said. “It’s unbelievable. To his credit, he worked hard and was invited to minorleague camp and made a nice career out of it. He made us look good.”

Myers, the former Santa Rosa JC coach, has monitored his old players and last summer attended games in Washington and Milwaukee to visit with Hyde, Lane and Dillon.

“A lot of guys had success out of Santa Rosa,” Myers said. “They’re good, young men when they come in, and I just hope I mentored them a little bit to help them. It’s been a pretty disciplined program over the years.”

These days, the college continues to thrive. Eight players from the JC played in the minors last season.

Courtesy / Ron Myers Orioles manager Brandon Hyde (right), then of the Cubs, stands with Ron Myers (middle), his coach at Santa Rosa JC, and Brewers coach Jason Lane, who also played at the school.