Orioles' Brandon Hyde enraged fanbase over the weekend, but not the one you’d expect

Nearly everything about the 2024 Baltimore Orioles has been extremely fun. Gunnar Henderson is rounding into form as a perennial MVP candidate, the wins are coming in large numbers, and the pitching staff is much closer to being healthy again with the returns of Kyle Bradish and John Means. Most importantly, the team is just fun to watch, which is a very welcome departure from the borderline unwatchable Orioles teams from the not-too-distant past.

Don't tell that to Orioles manager Brandon Hyde, though, as he is clearly all business right now. For those at aren't aware, May 4th is widely observed as a celebration of Star Wars ("May the Fourth be with you." Get it? GET IT?!) and one poor soul in Hyde's media scrum decided to ask his opinions on Star Wars. Hyde's response to the Star Wars inquiries was not only uncomfortable, but pissed off Star Wars fans everywhere.

Brandon Hyde came off as a thief of joy when asked about Star Wars Day

In fairness to Hyde, not everyone is a huge Star Wars fan and that is completely fine. Hyde also has a complex job and, on game days, he probably has a lot more on his mind than old sci-fi movie series fandoms. However, he went awfully hard in calling the information "useless," and some Star Wars fans had some thoughts about his role as the fun police.

Others found his needlessly dismissive behavior to be, in a word, lame.

And, in an extra word, very lame.

The weirdest part of the whole interaction is that it isn't that unfair of a question to ask, as Star Wars seems to be a pretty big deal to some of the Orioles' most prominent players. The guy that is at the forefront of every Orioles fan's mind right now, Gunnar Henderson, is such a big Star Wars fan that Henderson showed off a custom Star Wars-themed bat to celebrate the occasion over the weekend. Henderson and teammate Colton Cowser also have a long-running battle between who can build giant Star Wars-themed Lego models the fastest.

Honestly, it is entirely possible that tone is being lost in the transcript of Hyde's comments here, as Meyer did note the exchange as funny (although he could also hate Star Wars, too). There is also a chance that Hyde just wasn't in the mood for non-baseball hijinks or even the reporter who asked the questions. So before fans pick up their lightsabers and start picketing in front of Camden Yards, just keep that in mind.

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