Jordan Westburg Says He Will Never Play With Baltimore Orioles Again till Coach Brandon Hyde Will Leave
Jordan Westburg Says He Will Never Play With Baltimore Orioles Again till Coach Brandon Hyde Will Leave
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West burg belts walk-off HR after O’s unveil ‘home run handlebars’
BALTIMORE — Over the course of a few hours at Camden Yards on Monday night, the following events all took place:
Ryan Mount castle hit pretend wheelies with a set of dirt bike handlebars in the dugout. Defenders dove all over the field making big plays. Pitchers worked out of jams. Jordan West burg trotted around the bases following a walk-off home run. And, finally, the team celebrated, hollering and jumping as “Orioles Magic” blared over the speaker system.
A game that featured the introduction of a new home run prop ended when West burg belted an opposite-field, two-run homer over the right-center-field wall. Baltimore topped Kansas City, 6-4, to continue a strong 3-1 start to the 2024 season.
“That was the coolest moment of my career so far,” said West burg, who owns only 72 games of big league experience. “I’ve never had a walk-off in all the years I’ve played baseball, so to have my first one here in Baltimore is pretty special.”
It was only fitting for the O’s to win on a homer after unveiling their new set of orange “home run handlebars” earlier in the night.
During the fourth inning, Mount castle hit a game-tying, two-run homer over the left-field wall off Royals starter Michael Wacha. Upon Mount castle’s return to the dugout, he was handed the handlebars by teammate Colton Cow ser.
Last year, Mount castle was the first Baltimore player to use the celebratory “homer hose,” drinking water from it last April 10. Now, he broke in the handlebars.
“They handed them to me and I didn’t really know what to do with it, so I was like, ‘OK.’ I honestly didn’t know what it was as I grabbed them. I was like, ‘Are these handlebars?’” Mount castle said with a laugh. “I was wheeling it. I didn’t know what to do with it, so that’s why I did it.”
Nobody should be surprised that left-hander Cole Irvin — a co-creator of the “homer hose” — was the purchaser of the handlebars. He’s proven to be the prop guy over his first two seasons in Baltimore.
After the Orioles started to celebrate extra-base hits with a “vroom, vroom” motion on the base paths over the weekend — simulating riding a dirt bike — Irvin figured it only made sense to buy an actual pair of handlebars.
“I’ve been saying, ‘The boys are on X Games mode,’” Irvin said. “We’re having fun with it.”
