It was hard not to feel it this weekend.
I was among the announced 41,000-plus fans in attendance for the Orioles’ Saturday night win against the Pirates and the energy was overwhelming. I’ve said in past columns that I’d measure success for the 2022 Orioles by whether they play a meaningful September baseball game, but man, experiencing what I felt on Saturday night might actually be enough.
I’m aware that part of what occurred was gimmicked. There was a postgame concert and a T-shirt giveaway and a number of Orioles legends were back and all of that certainly inflated the crowd a bit. But the fans that were there weren’t simply neutral observers waiting for the music to begin. They were into it. They were alive.
For a moment, the disappointment of the Trey Mancini trade was nonexistent. There was pure, unbridled passion and joy in a nearly full stadium and it was truly unlike anything I had seen in Baltimore since the Buck Showalter era ended. I loved it. I wish it could have been injected directly into my veins. I was smitten with the moment. However this plays out, I’ll remember that feeling.
And I’ll remember the other feeling that stood out, too. It’s the feeling that even if this team falls short of their postseason goals, we’ve been fortunate to witness something truly spectacular right in front of our eyes.
I’m a big fan of live music. I remember the first time I heard the song “Hold On” by Alabama Shakes back in 2012. I was a regular listener of WTMD and this sound coming through my car speakers was so unique to me that I needed to know more. I bought a pair of tickets to see them come to Rams Head Live that April. I had heard good things. But I had no idea what I was in for. There was a lot of press surrounding Alabama Shakes. So much so that the show sold out despite the fact that the band’s first album wouldn’t be released until the following week. We stuffed ourselves into the stairway area just to find some space to see the band. And we … were … mesmerized.
Singer Brittany Howard commanded the stage. Her voice was breathtaking and her songs were beautiful. Comparisons to Janis Joplin were inevitable and ubiquitous. No matter how many beers were consumed prior to the show, there would be no bathroom break. We were watching something spectacular. We were watching something we would never forget.
So allow me to be the only person on the internet today comparing Alabama Shakes front woman Brittany Howard to … Orioles catcher Adley Rutschman.
Whatever happens with the Orioles this season, we’ve watched the arrival of our city’s next sporting megastar right in front of our eyes. Impossibly, the man hyped more than any player perhaps in franchise history … might not have been hyped enough!
You’ve seen the same things I have. As broken down in a recent MLB.com profile, despite being in the major leagues for less than a half of a season, he has already established himself as one of the best catchers in the game in terms of pitch framing and getting the ball out to prevent steals. He’s reached base at least twice in 14 of his last 16 games. Since working through his initial adjustment issues at big league level, he’s been purely brilliant. He slashed .301/.420/.549 from June 15 to Aug. 6. His weighted on-base average (wOBA) of .416 and weighted runs created plus (wRC+) of 175 were tops among all major league catchers during the stretch.
I understand the young man was a No. 1 overall pick. I understand that some scouts labeled him the most major-league-ready catching prospect since Buster Posey. I understand that with nothing going at the major league level, we obsessed over Rutschman’s every at-bat in the minors for the last couple of years. But I’m still not sure we could have reasonably believed he would be this impactful this quickly.
We’re witnessing a coronation of a superstar. We’re witnessing the arrival of a player we’ll still talk about in this city decades from now. And while we’ve been busy debating what the team should do/did at the trade deadline or when they should call up Gunnar Henderson, it’s happening right in front of our eyes!
I hope we’re not taking it for granted. I hope that our overwhelming expectations haven’t minimized our amazement of what’s happening here. I hope we’re soaking in every moment. Social media certainly makes it seem like we’re fully appreciating this, but social media isn’t necessarily real life.
No matter how it ends, this has been one of the most remarkable seasons in Orioles history and the arrival of Adley Rutschman the superstar has been one of the most incredible things to witness.
And what’s most remarkable is that as the games get more important, he somehow appears to be that much more prepared for the moment.
Photo Credit: Colin Murphy/PressBox