Tony Mansolino is carving his own path since the Orioles named him interim manager on May 17. It usually happens twice a day in the auxiliary clubhouse, where he meets with the media before and after games.
Former manager Brandon Hyde would veer to the right, around the rows of metal folding chairs, to reach his seat at the table, and he’d go back out the same way. Reporters knew the routine and how to avoid slowing or bumping into him.
Mansolino paused on his first day to wait for a public relations official and crossed up everyone by walking down the middle of the room. More fullback than halfback, though his build doesn’t offer the same comparison.
In one sense, Mansolino is following in Hyde’s footsteps because of the role unexpectedly thrust upon him. He’s got the office now and usually stands in the same spot at the dugout railing, to the far left. But he’s also figuring out on the fly how to make it job his own, for however long it belongs to him.
“I didn’t ask for this, so that morning when that happened, that was as big of a shock to me as it was you guys,” he said earlier this week. “So I think when you just kind of get thrown into the fire, you’re trying to get your feet settled and adapt.”
The chances of stumbling are reduced after managing four seasons in Cleveland’s minor league system. Mansolino was named Carolina League Manager of the Year in 2017 with the Class A Lynchburg Hillcats. His father, Doug, has spent his life around baseball, including coaching stints with the White Sox, Brewers, Tigers and Astros, and he’s worked as a field coordinator in the majors and minors. Tony played for Tim Corbin at Vanderbilt, starting at third base on the first NCAA Tournament team in 2004. The Orioles hired him as third base coach and infield instructor in 2021.
“I do think that I’ve been prepared for this for a long time,” Mansolino said.
“I think my training and my experiences in the past in this game and the people that I’ve been so fortunate to be around, I think all that probably expedited my process, you know? I think it probably happened a little bit quicker because of the history I have in this game with certain people and certain organizations. But I don’t think that you can ask anybody like me to walk into that situation, which, it was shattered on Day One is how this thing felt. It was tough. That was a tough scenario for all of us. It still is in some ways. And to be comfortable within a week, that’s just not gonna happen. It shouldn’t happen.
“That wouldn’t be the right thing by me or by anybody else. But I do agree, I think over a couple months, this has really slowed down for me. I feel like I’m getting better in my job by the day.”
Mansolino appears more comfortable with his daily responsibilities, including those media sessions. As if he isn’t out of place anymore. He’s fallen into a routine and actually seems to enjoy the interactions. But he didn’t campaign for the job, didn’t want it under these circumstances.
The Orioles are 28-24 under Mansolino but they’re nine games below .500 after back-to-back home losses to the Marlins by a combined 17-1 score. They’re 7 ½ behind for the last Wild Card with seven teams ahead of them. This is a tall order that should come with scaffolding and a safety net.
The trade deadline is less than three weeks away and more veterans could be going out the door after Bryan Baker went to the Rays. One of Mansolino’s scrums might have to include a concession speech.
But he isn’t there yet.
Mansolino will stay on his same path – down the middle and unwavering in his belief that the Orioles can contend.
“Right now, the biggest thing for me is making sure that this thing continues to go well,” he said before Sunday’s loss. “We were in the national media every day for all the wrong reasons, the first three weeks of doing this, and now it seems like we’ve been in the national media for the right reasons, because we’re playing well, we’ve got good players and people are talking about that.
“What’s important to me is that the people in the organization and their families are represented the right way in the end. I don’t want any more negativity to go toward the organization, toward our players, toward our coaches, toward our front office people. It cuts deep for us here when you see us kind of get (dragged) through the mud the way that we did. So the fact that we have kind of gotten ourselves out of that and we’re seen in a much better light right now, that’s the enjoyable part for me. And I think at the end of the year, once this thing is done and wherever all of this goes, I’ll have time to kind of sit back and reflect on the fun part of this or not.”