The jubilation and pain of baseball were on display in Clint Frazier and Pedro Severino's homer reactions
In baseball, one team's pleasure is almost always another team's pain. This was evident in
Emotions were high at Camden Yards after the Orioles came from behind in the bottom of the seventh to erase the deficit and move ahead, 4-3. Baltimore had gotten to the Yankees' vaunted bullpen and scored the go-ahead run off Adam Ottavino.
With two outs and two on in the top of the eighth,
Then, a slider that was meant to be down and away sailed toward the middle of the plate. Frazier unloaded, and the subsequent reactions creating an incredible GIF:
A tale of two reactions. pic.twitter.com/XFWnTOdnNx
— MLB GIFS (@MLBGIFs) April 7, 2019
While Frazier got to coolly flick his bat toward the ground in triumph, Severino could only rip his mask off in disgust. With one swing of the bat, everything changed and the Yankees went on to win, 6-4.
It's an understandable human emotion for Severino to be so charged. No, it might seem like an April matchup couldn't mean that much, but think about it from the Orioles' perspective.
They just lost a franchise record 115 games. They have a young team, a brand-new manager and a front office who are all excited to flip the script. Very few outlets predicted them to finish anywhere other than dead last in the American League East entering 2019. This was a chance to build off their Opening Weekend series victory against these very same Yankees and to defy the critics' expectations of them yet again!
Instead, it's just another loss -- at home, no less. The fan reaction was no less disappointed.
The Orioles gave up a monster dinger while we were watching live and I got v sad. #ChangeUp pic.twitter.com/vdNd99HCqw
— Cespedes Family BBQ (@CespedesBBQ) April 7, 2019
There's always tomorrow.
Andrew Mearns is a writer for Cut4 whose baseball obsession was born from the shattered dreams of Mike Mussina's perfect game attempt in 2001. He has a startling memory of World Series highlights that barely functions as a party trick.
