Mansolino settling in to interim role after frantic weekend

MILWAUKEE -- After an anxiety-filled weekend, Tony Mansolino is finally starting to settle into his job as Orioles interim manager.

“Last night, on the plane, I pulled out the advance binder and I was able to start looking at what’s going on in terms of the strategy of the game,” Mansolino said before Monday’s game against the Brewers. “I was able to pull out my computer and start looking at lineups and things that will help us get ready for the next day. That exercise just kind of strangely settled me down. Being totally honest, there was a ton of anxiety Saturday and Sunday. Didn’t sleep a whole lot. Just going through the information and getting my mind prepared for what this job is, I slept last night and that was a really nice feeling waking up today.”

Although getting more comfortable in his new role, Mansolino is still looking for his first win as interim manager after the Orioles fell, 5-4, to the Brewers on Monday night in the first of a three-game series. The O’s have lost seven straight and 13 of 15, including three in a row under Mansolino.

On Saturday, Baltimore announced the dismissal of Brandon Hyde, who had managed the team since 2019, along with field coordinator/catching instructor Tim Cossins.

Mansolino, who had been the O’s third-base coach since 2021, took over as interim skipper for the remainder of the season. The news came less than 14 hours after the Orioles fell to 15-28 with a 4-3 loss to the Nationals at Camden Yards on Friday. Players learned of the news in a meeting with general manager Mike Elias when they arrived at the ballpark on Saturday morning.

Dean Kremer, who started for the Orioles on Monday and gave up nine hits and four runs in 5 1/3 innings, said there’s widespread support for Mansolino in the clubhouse.

“I love him to death. He knows when to keep it real and when not to,” Kremer said. “I know a lot of guys have his back. We think our staff is good enough to lead any team.”

The 42-year-old Mansolino had stints as a Minor League manager, but he has no prior Major League managerial experience.

“I think when you’re making a lineup in the Minor Leagues it’s more about developing the players,” he said. “The big leagues are little bit different. You’re trying to do the best thing you can to win the game on that given night and there’s a lot of information. I don’t want to overthink a thousand pieces of information. I think as I do this job a little longer, I’ll get it down to the things I think are really important.”

“We hit the ball really hard tonight,” he said. “It’s kind of comical right now the amount of hard contact and the lack of reward for that hard contact.”

Mansolino’s father, Doug, spent several years as a coach in the Major Leagues and infamously was at the center of a brawl that took place between the White Sox and Brewers on July 16, 1993, with the younger Mansolino watching from the stands behind home plate at County Stadium, where the Brewers played before moving into what is now American Family Field.

“We’re sitting behind home plate and the next thing you know there’s a ruckus going on behind the first-base dugout,” Mansolino said. “It turned out that it was my dad [who was a coach with the White Sox] and [Brewers manager] Phil Garner getting in a fight on the field. I just remember watching it and being pretty terrified as a kid. I don’t know why they got in a fight. I just remember the benches clearing. I remember Tim Raines or Bo Jackson dragging my dad off the field and him getting thrown out of the game.”

In a strange twist, Doug Mansolino went on to be a part of Garner’s staff with the Brewers, as well as the Tigers and Astros in subsequent years.

“That was the start of their relationship, which is just fascinating,” Mansolino said. “So, when I think about being in Milwaukee that’s definitely what I think about.”