Craig Albernaz frustrates fans with limp response to Padres beanball

Perhaps the most basic duty of an MLB manager is to have their players' backs. When Baltimore Orioles manager Craig Albernaz spoke to the media after the Padres intentionally hit Gunnar Henderson with two outs in the ninth inning, he hung two of his own players out to dry in the name of projecting an old-school tough guy persona.

In the top of the fifth inning on Saturday's game between the Orioles and the Padres, Orioles starter Trey Gibson lost control of a two-seam fastball and hit Padres Shortstop Xander Bogaerts in the head. This was obviously terrible, and even though it was an accident on Gibson's part, the Padres were right to be upset about it. Later in the game, two different Padres pitchers intentionally threw at Gunnar Henderson until finally they hit him.

Craig Albernaz seemed to approve of the Padres intentionally hitting one of his players

There's plenty to discuss about "should" teams throw at each other on purpose, but that's not what this article is about. What's more important to the Orioles is how their manager responded to the whole thing.

In Albernaz's post-game press conference, he was asked about the Padres throwing at Henderson and gave the following response:

"I get why they're mad, I mean, the ball hit him in the head, and he had to come out of the game. I'm not saying the ball to Gunnar was on purpose, but it was done the right way, and that's why there were no gripes from us and Gunnar was fine with it, and we just took it to first base."

This is a weird thing to say about another team intentionally throwing a fastball at your best player. As far as specifically what's weird about this quote, there are a couple of small things and a big thing.

The first small thing is: Why can't he say that they threw at Henderson intentionally? It was obvious that they did; they did it three times, and the umpires, the arbiters of justice on the field, instantly judged it to be intentional and ejected the pitcher without a warning. You can say they hit him on purpose, but you are not going to be sued for defamation and have to prove intent in a court of law. If you think they threw at your guy on purpose, just say that.

The next small thing is the "Gunnar was fine with it" part. Henderson also met with the media after the game and did not exactly seem "fine with it." he was much more comfortable calling out the fact that they threw at him in the seventh and basically said that should have been the end of it. He was clearly upset that they threw at him in the ninth.

That brings us to the big problem with this. The "It was done the right way" part. This is an incredibly disappointing mentality for the manager of a team to have about his own players getting beaned. The manager of the Baltimore Orioles should never be ok with the opposing team intentionally throwing fastballs at his players.

A manager does not need to "see the issue from both sides" or "sympathize with where the other team is coming from". It doesn't matter what anyone else on the Orioles does to someone on the other team; for the manager of the Baltimore Orioles, there is no "right way" to throw at Gunnar Henderson.

From Henderson's perspective, ideally, your manager would be on your side and argue on your behalf that hitting you on purpose is unacceptable. Instead, Albernaz is in his post-game presser praising the Padres for doing it the "right way". How is Henderson supposed to feel about that besides betrayed? How can he trust Albernaz to have his back if he gets targeted again? Is he supposed to understand that his manager is ok with him paying for all the Orioles mistakes in blood?

The other issue with this "right way" quote is that the Padres didn't do it the right way. In an instance where you're going to throw at someone to get even for something that happened earlier in the game, you get one shot. The Padres took that shot in the seventh inning. Rodriguez threw a ball 98.7 mph at Henderson's chin (was that the right way?) and then a 99 mph fastball at his gut and missed Henderson with both of them. That's the shot, you missed, now get over it.

The idea that you get to come back and finish the job two innings later is absurd. Everyone knows it's absurd; that's why the umpires ejected Marinaccio without a warning, because that behavior is ridiculous. Henderson, in his post-game presser, said that he thought it was over after they threw at him in the seventh. That's because it should have been.

The Orioles would have been within their rights to get upset with the Padres after the second heater directed at Henderson in the seventh, let alone when they finally hit him in the ninth. They, of course, didn't, and then their manager went ahead and broadcast that he had "no gripes" with anything that happened.

That's bad! There should be gripes! It should be gripe city in Baltimore right now. Their clubhouse should be infested with gripes.

Lastly, why is there no defense made for Trey Gibson? After Marinaccio very obviously intentionally hit Henderson, his manager went out and said that his pitchers have to be allowed to pitch inside. Imagine that! A manager defending his player even though his player did something wrong! Albernaz, on the other hand, with his "right way" and "no gripes" approach, telegraphs the message that his guy did something wrong and someone on the Orioles had to pay for it. The message to Gibson is basically "Gunnar Henderson got beaned because of you, and I think that was the right thing to do." That's not a good message!

Maybe the most frustrating thing about the whole situation is how easy it would have been not to affirm the Padres' retaliation. Even if Albernaz, in his heart, believes that the Padres did the right thing by hitting Henderson, all he has to do is say something along the lines of "Henderson is alright, and we want to put this behind us," and he would have successfully avoided the landmine of affirming his opponents' childish retaliation against his player.

Albernaz does not have years of credibility built up with these guys. He's new, and in just a couple of months, these incidents where he refuses to stand up for his guys are piling up. Last week, the Mariners threw at Taylor Ward and Pete Alonso's heads, crickets. The week before that, the umpires completely screw the Orioles out of a four-run lead, and Albernaz didn't even get ejected arguing the call. Now, this, one of his best players gets thrown at repeatedly, and he gives the incident a soft endorsement in his post-game presser. What kind of leader is this?

Add us as a preferred source on Google

Follow