BALTIMORE — Adley Rutschman reported to his longtime workplace on Thursday, Sept. 3, greeted several longtime Camden Yards staffers and made the well-worn walk into the Baltimore Orioles' clubhouse.
He prepared for a game that will be attended by hundreds of fans wearing his jersey as he resumed the fight for an American League wild-card spot.
But the stopover in the Orioles' clubhouse was only to exchange hugs and laughs and talk some smack with his friends. His pregame prep was in service of catching Boston Red Sox starter Jake Bennett, not Orioles rookie Brandon Young.
And the socks and undershirt and all other trappings he pulled on were not in the black and orange of the Orioles – or his college, Oregon State - but rather the red of Boston’s Olde Towne Team.
Rutschman’s professional life was turned upside down five weeks ago, when the only organization he knew, the one he led out of the darkness of a rebuild and into the playoffs traded him north, within the division, to a club that now finds itself running the same wild-card race that his friends on the Orioles are desperate to stay in.
And in his first at-bat as a visiting player, Rutschman showed why he became a franchise staple in Baltimore.
He drilled a Brandon Young curveball 377 feet, giving the Red Sox a 1-0 lead in the top of the first and leaving little doubt who he works for now.
Yet they still love him in Baltimore.
Rutschman got an extended standing ovation before his first at-bat as the ballpark played his usual walk-up song from Kid Cudi. He got a hug from Pete Alonso as the Polar Bear climbed into the batter's box for his first at-bat.
And a video that played after the first inning touched on so many highlights as an Oriole - from his Home Run Derby appearance to his wide-eyed debut and a cigar celebration after clinching a playoff berth.
If it sounds like commemorating an era now past, well, that's exactly what it was.
When club president Mike Elias, who made Rutschman the No. 1 overall pick in 2019 and the first selection in his career, dealt Rutschman to Boston in a seven-player trade Aug. 3, it brought Rutschman and his pals to tears. They were simply trying to go to a movie.
Instead, the plug was pulled on a movement, on a young core that led the Orioles to consecutive playoff appearances, a friend group busted up by the business of baseball.
And so upon his return Thursday, Rutschman filibustered most of a 10-minute session with a larger throng of media than almost any he encountered as an Oriole by talking of page-turning, and new opportunities and a positive acclimation.
Yet he realizes he left behind a significant amount of unfinished business in Charm City.
“At the time, absolutely you always want to be able to achieve the goals that you set at the beginning of the year,” Rutschman said of his mindset after Elias called and told him to pack his bags for Boston. “And in years past, you set goals to win the World Series and come up short.
“But then you have a new opportunity. And a new situation. And today’s a new day.”
That day came with the Red Sox in an appreciably better position than his old team. Elias deal Rutschman, reliever Tyler Wells and outfielder Taylor Ward on Aug. 3 because he said the club didn’t play well enough – it was 54-58 on deadline day - to justify continuing on.
Since then, the Orioles have gotten it together, kind of, beginning play Thursday at 69-71 and one game out of a wild-card berth – though with three teams to vault.
The Red Sox? Their crazy 21-4 run through July made them unlikely buyers, which is why they shipped a pair of vaunted pitching prospects to Baltimore for Rutschman. They enter Thursday night's game at 75-65 and hold a five-game lead for the No. 2 wild-card spot with 22 games left.
The Rutschman-Orioles reunion came amid such tension.
“They’ll love to see Adley,” says Orioles manager Craig Albernaz.
“But also, they’re going to try and kick his ass, too.”
Hey, it wasn’t all fire and brimstone. Albernaz noted that it was “good to see a smile on his face and see his goofy self walking around” during Rutschman’s brief trip to the Orioles' clubhouse.
And Rutschman, who in times good and bad exudes significant Golden Retriever energy, reiterated his love for Orioles fans and his teammates. And, at least publicly, he holds no enmity toward Elias, whose cold calculation that Rutschman was more valuable as a trade chip as Rutschman neared his final season before becoming eligible for free agency.
“I have a ton of respect for Mike,” says Rutschman. “You know, he's got a tough job. He’s got to make tough decisions, and I always respect that he's really good at what he does, and he has reasons for everything that he does.
“I’ve always had a good relationship with him, so it’s just one of those things in baseball that you kind of understand is part of the business aspect of it, and he’s got to do what he thinks is best for the organization, short term, and long term.
“I don't have any ill feelings toward anyone in the Orioles organization at all.”
Unsurprisingly, Rutschman has ingratiated himself quickly with the Red Sox. While Rutschman was on the injured list with a wrist injury at the time of the trade and missed the previous three games with the injury, he was in the lineup and batting third Thursday night.
It’s been a month – the trade, the injury, the city of Boston wondering what it has in Rutschman. His affability has helped.
“He’s a great guy. He’s a great person. He’s a hard worker,” says Red Sox interim manager Chad Tracy. “When I spoke to him on the phone the day we traded for him, I kind of pretty immediately felt, ‘This is a pretty good dude.’
“When I got to meet him and interact with him in the five days before he got activated, high-character guy. You meet someone and feel like, ‘He can handle it.’ This will be in some ways emotional for him. He’s an important player here for a long time and I’m sure he’ll be well-received.
“But I know he’ll be ready to go.”
Rutschman’s eyes moistened a bit in his media session, but held his composure. He began his career with a long glance around Camden Yards as he trotted out to catch in his major league debut.
He finished his Orioles career with three All-Star berths, including during their 101-win 2023 season, a .756 OPS, 69 homers and 16.5 WAR. Those numbers don’t quite capture what he represented when he arrived in 2022: Hope, after three 100-loss seasons in the three full seasons that preceded his arrival.
The crowd was ready for him once again Thursday, and so was Rutschman. He talked with former teammate Ryan O’Hearn about battling emotions in a return. The advice stuck: To move on, but not forget.
“Try to make the most of every single situation in life in general,” says Rutschman.
“Which is, I guess, good life advice, as well.”
Particularly when your professional life is turned upside down.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Adley Rutschman returns to Baltimore a Red Sox - and homers in first at-bat
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