Baltimore Orioles: Anthony Santander Provides Highlight Of The Year

Baltimore Orioles outfielder Anthony Santander made a bunch of new fans on Sunday afternoon at Camden Yards.

In case you needed a reminder of how much fun baseball can be, Baltimore Orioles outfielder Anthony Santander provided one of the more memorable moments of 2019 in Sunday’s game vs the Toronto Blue Jays.

It wasn’t a diving, highlight-reel catch, it wasn’t yet another Eutaw Street home run for the 24-year-old outfielder, and it wasn’t his throw from the warning track to cut down Lourdes Gurriel Jr.in the first inning to save a run in what could have been a disastrous first inning for Jimmy Yacabonis and his fresh hair cut. It was a simple act of tossing a baseball into the left field stands.

Thousands of scouts from the United Kingdom took in Sunday afternoon’s game, filling up the lower sections of the left field stands and finding themselves a new friend in Santander. After throwing a ball into the stands as a souvenir, the large contingent of scouts roared with excitement each time a flyball found the glove of Santander.  Each applause became more passionate with every flyball caught and souvenir thrown into the stands.

In a season where fans have had little to cheer for at Camden Yards and where attendance has often been sparse, thousands of kids became Anthony Santander fans for life and brought smiles to many fans watching their interactions. Nothing beats that scene shown in the tweet above. That’s exactly what baseball is all about.

Santander has made more and more fans as the season has progressed with his production at the plate and aggressive play on the defense, leading many, myself included, to believe he can be a contributor on this Baltimore Orioles team moving forward. I think the “Official International Anthony Santander Fan Club” would agree.

At the time of publishing, the Orioles led the Blue Jays by a score of 6-5 in the 7th inning. Santander was 1-3 with a walk and run scored.