BALTIMORE -- For eight years, Anthony Santander called Camden Yards his home ballpark. He played 374 games there, stepped to the plate 1,524 times and hit 81 home runs -- all while wearing an Orioles uniform.
Home run No. 82 in Baltimore had a different feel, though.
¡°Very emotional,¡± Santander said. ¡°But familiar. I¡¯ve been playing on this field a lot, so it¡¯s great to be back.¡±
Facing his former team in his new light blue Toronto jersey on Saturday, Santander did what came naturally: He hit.
After receiving a standing ovation in his first at-bat, then viewing a tribute video the O¡¯s played on the jumbotron, Santander stepped into the box to lead off the third inning of the Blue Jays' 5-4 loss. He fouled off the first pitch he saw, a sign of what was to come, then ripped a 91.6 mph four-seamer from Tomoyuki Sugano a Statcast-projected 404 feet to the bleachers in right field.
¡°When you feel that the fans really love you, really like you, it means a lot,¡± Santander said. ¡°Especially that they saw me grow up here as a player and as a person, it means a lot to me.
¡°I always show up with that mentality, ¡®Hit the ball hard.¡¯ And it took me 15 games, but I¡¯m so happy that I did it. ¡ Unfortunately, it didn¡¯t go our way in the game, but we fight.¡±
Pregame, there was much talk of Santander, who signed a five-year deal with the Blue Jays in late January. From Toronto manager John Schneider fielding questions about Santander and his "notorious" slow starts to the season (a career .209 average in March/April), to Santander becoming the center of attention in the dugout, surrounded by media, to warm hugs and handshakes from his former Baltimore teammates -- it was all about ¡°Tony Taters.¡±
The homer may have been Santander¡¯s lone hit in his four at-bats, but it made its mark and, Toronto can only hope, opened the proverbial floodgates on the designated hitter's power.
¡°I'm sure he can take a little bit of a deep breath,¡± Schneider said postgame. ¡°Cool moment here, really cool that they recognized him the way they did -- and rightfully so, for what he did here for [eight years]. So hopefully he can take a deep breath and I can stop saying before the games that he's getting close, because he took some really good swings today.¡±
The Blue Jays acquired Santander specifically for his slugging talents. Thus far, power has been fairly elusive for Toronto as a whole, though. The club is tied with Kansas City for the fewest home runs in the Majors (seven in 15 games). And Santander is just the fourth Blue Jay to homer this season -- Andr¨¦s Gim¨¦nez has hit three, while George Springer and Tyler Heineman have one long ball apiece.
It¡¯s fair to assume Toronto is hoping for more homers and slugging as the season progresses. It hasn¡¯t helped that, on this road trip, the temps have been as cold as the bats.
But back where it all started for Santander, things have started to heat up. The Blue Jays¡¯ leadoff batter reached base in six of the first seven innings on Saturday, including on a pair of doubles and Santander¡¯s homer.
¡°It¡¯s awesome, kind of, seeing him back in his familiar stadium, and for them to welcome him back like that was special, and I know he felt it,¡± starter Bowden Francis said. ¡°I think when you¡¯re back up where you started, it¡¯s kind of probably a sigh of relief, little reset for him, and I think it¡¯s going to open up the season for him, I guess. I think he¡¯s going to get back to his normal self.¡±
While it wasn¡¯t the final result that Toronto wanted, it was only fitting that, in his first game back in Baltimore, Santander christened his tenure as a Blue Jay -- and got to celebrate with Toronto¡¯s home run jacket, which it looked like he almost didn¡¯t want to take off.
¡°It was awesome to hit that homer here,¡± Santander said. ¡°Hopefully we can continue to hit tomorrow.¡±