The Orioles will hold a special ceremony Saturday afternoon that allows Trey Mancini to sign a one-day contract and retire with them. He’ll speak at a press conference and be showered with applause on the field before making a clean getaway into the next phase of his life.

Finally, the attention will shift from Pete Alonso, who’s barely had room to breathe since arriving at Citi Field.

Not that he’d ever complain.

Alonso understands the demands on his time. He isn’t so self-absorbed that he’d diminish what others do or act inconvenienced. It isn’t in the future MVO’s DNA.

I didn’t know what to expect from Alonso after he signed with the Orioles but tried to bury the stereotypes – a superstar who played in New York. I was confident only in the fact that he’d hit a lot of home runs, with his 37th this season and 301st of his career arriving last night in the first inning.

The bigger they are, the harder they can be to cover on a baseball beat, and seven years in Queens figured to ramp up the degree of difficulty. I thought he might be guarded, suspicious or just plain uncooperative. It wasn’t until I asked around that I began to learn that the usual assumptions were off target.

I didn’t have bad relationships with guys like Vladimir Guerrero and Sammy Sosa, but they weren’t easy. They also arrived under much different circumstances than Alonso and at different stages of their careers. I remember being a bit disappointed in Joe Carter, who wasn’t the “media guy” that, for whatever reason, I had expected. For all I know, he was a joy to be around in Toronto.

Marty Cordova told us on his first day that it probably would be the last time he talked to us. Nothing personal, but he just wasn’t big on dealing with the press. We actually got along fine. I think he’s a Facebook friend. But he wasn’t exaggerating about his preference to keep the crew at a distance.

Albert Belle and Scott Erickson belong in their own category.

Erik Bedard was a pleasure to cover in the minors and extremely difficult in the majors, but never mean about it. He just decided to make our jobs much harder by offering little or nothing, all of it done with a grin. Multiple sentences in post-game scrums were cause for celebration or a temperature check. I began walking away at the midway point.

The Pirates beat crew told us that we’d love Travis Snider, which goes down as one of the worst scouting reports in history. I thought LaTroy Hawkins would be a nightmare based on his run-ins with Cubs media, which goes down as one of the worst assumptions in history. He was fantastic. And I think of him every time someone mentions Whole Foods, which he called “Whole Paycheck.”

Delmon Young would use the old-school electric card shuffler, which probably came free in the mail with an order of wood paneling, when nearby reporters were trying to conduct an interview. But he did give us the famous Division Series double and epic response when asked whether he had ice water in his veins.

“No, not really,” he replied. “I might have some Tito’s later.”

It’s even funnier when one reporter thought he said “Cheetos” and used it in a quote.

Félix Pie jumped out of his rental car as if ready to fight because I tapped my horn as he blocked the entrance into the team hotel in Sarasota. I also made a move because I didn’t know it was Pie and was ready to throw down, which led to one of those wonderfully awkward moments where we recognized each other, smiled, gave the ol’ head nod and got back in our vehicles. He was really nice, he wasn’t a superstar, but he still made this article because the incident amuses.  

Mike Mussina was an inner-circle guy. I cracked it. You probably could say the same about Brady Anderson. Also cracked. Shattered it, actually.

But this is about Alonso.

Most fans probably don’t care about player-reporter relationships, and that’s understandable. Just produce on the field and be a good teammate. Well, Alonso does that and much more. I don’t know that I’ve ever seen anyone of his stature be more cooperative, whether with media, team employees or fans. And it’s genuine. You can see through phony. Alonso is the real deal.

A line formed near his locker early in spring training with one-on-one interview and social media requests. “Hey, have you got a minute?” He would have stood there all day if necessary. One reporter paused when it was his turn, figuring that Alonso might already be worn out. Alonso motioned him over in the same gracious manner.

I’ve told the story about him checking twice in the middle of an exhibition game in Lakeland to make sure media didn’t want him before he drove back to Sarasota. He homered and thought he might be in demand. Meanwhile, we had made the group decision to back off for a day. Yeah, let him breathe.

Alonso sits at his locker after games when he assumes that we want him, and it can be after a big home run or a costly mistake, like on the night that he was picked off first base. A critical throwing error? Alonso is waiting for us. If he’s a little late, he walks in the clubhouse, says, “Sorry. I’m ready,” and leads us to his spot. He often drops a “thanks guys” when he’s finished.

If you’re willing to go online, check the video from Alonso thanking three fans who returned his 300th home run ball. He signed their jerseys, insisted on giving them autographed bats, and offered tickets to a game at Camden Yards. He called over to a member of the public relations staff to get their information. And he kept thanking them before and after asking where the ball hit.

“Oh my goodness,” he said before leaning in for three handshakes and hugs.

“You guys are so kind,” he said. “Thank you so much.”

Alonso said he’d love to sign a ball, jersey, bat. Anything they wanted. He made certain to write “300” when autographing the backs of their Mets jerseys.

My faith in mankind is restored temporarily.      

Orioles history is filled with nice guys who had poor stats. We actually wanted them to be better and stick around. And it stings a little when the media favorites are traded, no matter how they’re playing. You want Mancini at that right field wall, you need him at that right field wall – or at least his old locker. We’d take 26 Ryan O’Hearns. We’d take a bullpen full of Tyler Wells types. And for us older folks, we’d say the same about Zack Britton, Brad Brach and countless others. Relievers and backup catchers routinely are the best to deal with on a daily basis.

Alonso is in his own category, and in a good way. Owner of the second-most lucrative contract in franchise history. Carrying the team for long stretches, which could and should make him the unanimous choice for Most Valuable Oriole, while also shouldering all of the other responsibilities that come with the job and his standing within the organization.

It doesn’t cost anything to be kind. The Orioles are paying $155 million for everything that Alonso brings to the table.