SARASOTA – Buck Britton finally made his major league debut at age 38, having no idea that the rise in his professional career also would contain a few twists.

This was supposed to be baseball, not a braid.

The Orioles promoted Britton, a manager in their farm system for the past six years, as major league coach prior to the 2025 season. He was an infielder for nine, the first seven in their organization, but never made it past Triple-A.

The job description changed with manager Brandon Hyde’s firing on May 17 after a 15-28 start. Third base coach Tony Mansolino took over on an interim basis, with no experienced hand to guide the team in Hyde’s absence. Britton replaced Mansolino in the coaching box.

And then, Mansolino was gone, too, turning down an offer to stay in a different capacity and accepting a position with the Braves as their bench coach.

Britton also had another year left on his contract but didn’t know what specifically would happen to him. Behind the scenes, out of the public eye and out of earshot, and unbeknownst to the media, the Orioles were working to keep Britton in their employment.

New manager Craig Albernaz was in charge of building his staff, though he also gave a coach the freedom to express his preference for an assistant. Britton had an ally in Albernaz, who retained him as third base coach.

“They communicated with me early on that they wanted me back in some capacity,” Britton said. “Obviously, they were gonna let Alby pick his guys and kind of whatever role was available. They knew that coaching third base was something that I like to do, but they were open about the whole situation from Day 1. So it was reassuring that I was gonna be back. I just didn’t know at what capacity.

“You know, it’s funny. Me and Alby had a connection in Double-A. We played against each other. It might have been his last year. It was my third year in Double-A, so we were two of the older guys in the league. So we had crossed paths before. He’s been great, man. Like, for a first-year guy to come in and handle things the way he has, the energy, the attention to detail, the focus, he’s been really, really fun to work with.”

Asked what it meant to him that Albernaz wanted him on the staff, Britton said, “It was huge.”

“I’ve been here essentially my whole professional baseball career,” he added. “I had a chance when the new regime came in to grow with the new organization, so very fortunate that I’m still here. I love it here. It’s kind of been home for me and this is where I want to be.”

The older brother of former Orioles closer Zack Britton is hoping for a nice, long residency. One that doesn’t move him into a different set of responsibilities because a friend and colleague was fired.

That was a lot to digest in a few months.

“Especially my first year ever in the big leagues,” he said. “A lot of it was unexpected, obviously. Yeah, it was a wild ride. And again, I fell into a situation where I got to coach third when Tony took over. They didn’t have to do that. But to trust me to do that was pretty massive.”

Britton works closely with new infield coach Miguel Cairo and says it’s “very similar” to how he operated with Mansolino as “the infield guy.”

“I’m going to assist him in any way I can,” Britton said. “He’s leaning on me because I’ve known a lot of these players since they were pups coming up. But Miggy’s the head guy and he’s been awesome, man. And there’s a lot of communication. But honestly, I’m just there to try to absorb everything I can from him because he’s really good. He’s really good at what he does.

“I love throwing BP, too. It’s a very similar role. Third base is kind of the priority once game day’s starting, but I’ll be out there with Miggy every day when the season starts, like I have been here, and helping him anyway I can with the infield stuff.”

That’s precisely how Albernaz envisioned it.

“Buck’s been awesome this camp,” he said. “He’s great to work with. The attention to detail is as high as I’ve seen from a coach. The intensity, the way he gets along with players, and the biggest thing for me, he’s literally the same person every single day. I know that’s something so small, but that’s something I value on a coaching staff is just being the same person, knowing the players can show up knowing that Buck’s gonna be Buck, or that I’m going to be myself, and so on.

“The way Buck’s been handling himself, it’s been awesome and impressive, and he does a great job coaching third. He does a great job with the infielders, with Miggy. There’s a lot there, and I’m just very fortunate and blessed that he’s on our staff. And he definitely adds a lot of impact for us as a coaching staff, but also for the players.”

Note: Samuel Basallo had a two-out RBI double at 107.6 mph in the ninth inning last night in Tampa, after Douglas Hodo III tripled. The Orioles lost to the Yankees 3-1.