BALTIMORE – Davey Martinez has no shortage of close contacts in baseball, having played with, coached with and ultimately managed with countless figures over the last four decades. Brandon Hyde, though, is high on Martinez’s list of close friends in the game, the two having worked together on the Cubs’ coaching staff for three seasons before eventually competing against each other for seven seasons as managers of the Nationals and Orioles.
So while today’s news of a managerial change in Baltimore obviously affected Hyde most of all, it also hit Martinez hard, compounded by the fact it occurred hours after the Nats defeated the Orioles in dramatic fashion.
“It’s tough,” Martinez said. “Brandon and I are close. I love the guy. We all know what we sign up for when we take this job. It really just stinks. He’s a good man. I know he’ll land on his feet. I wish him all the best, but it’s a tough gig.”
Martinez first met Hyde following the 2013 season, when the latter was working in the Cubs front office and the former interviewed for their open managerial position. They immediately hit it off, and even though Martinez lost the job at that point to Rick Renteria, one year later he was back in Chicago as bench coach for newly hired manager Joe Maddon, who also appointed Hyde as his first base coach.
That arrangement remained in place for three seasons, with the trio playing a big role in the Cubs’ historic World Series run in 2016. And when the Nationals hired Martinez after the 2017 season, Hyde moved into his role as Maddon’s bench coach, a high-profile position that helped him land the Orioles’ managerial gig one year later.
“We got along great,” Martinez said. “His family, my family, it was awesome. For me to get a manager’s job, and then for him to get a manager’s job was awesome. And rightfully deserved.”
Hyde wound up having more head-to-head success over the last seven seasons, winning 19 of the 32 matchups between the two interleague rivals. Martinez, though, has won three of four games against Baltimore this year, including Friday night’s 4-3 victory that included a number of weird twists and turns.
Ultimately, it wasn’t one game but the disappointing opening two months to the Orioles’ season that sealed Hyde’s fate. After 101 wins and a division title in 2023, then 91 wins and another postseason appearance in 2024, Baltimore opened this season of high expectations with a 15-28 record.
Martinez understands the pressure managing a team expected to win. Almost exactly six years ago, his star-studded Nationals were 19-31 and considered the sport’s biggest disappointment of 2019. There were calls for a change from outside the organization, but within the club Martinez held his support and kept his job. He wound up leading the Nats to a World Series title and has remained their manager since.
How has he learned to deal with the fickle nature of a job where management could decide to make a change at any moment?
“You know, the thoughts really don’t creep through my mind. It really doesn’t,” said Martinez, who is still seeking his first winning season since 2019. “I just show up ready to do my job every day. It’s all about preparation, process and positivity. I never think about that. You start thinking about that, things go awry. I come in ready to go and try to go 1-0 every day.”