MANNY MANIA Manny Machado slipped on his white-and-orange uniform Then he stepped onto the field Machado was just 20 years old on August 9 2012 Yet he was already playing for the Baltimore Orioles More than 20,000 fans showed up in Baltimore that night to see his Major League Baseball MLB debut It was a huge jump for Machado The night before he’d been playing in Double-A That’s two levels below MLB Manny Machado connects for a single in his MLB debut 1
It didn’t take long for him to feel comfortable at the plate After a ground-out in his first at-bat he came to bat again in the fifth inning He fell behind 0 2 But on the next pitch he laced a hit to deep right-center field It rolled all the way to the wall and he cruised into third base for a triple Machado added a single in the seventh The next day Machado showed off his power He led off the fifth inning with a solo home run Then in the next inning with two runners on he swung hard The ball landed deep in the left-field stands for a three-run home run HOT CORNER Machado began his minor league career as a shortstop The Orioles had other ideas for him In May 2012 they began teaching him third base He practiced before games Over and over again Machado fielded ground balls Still he had played the position in only two minor league games before making his Orioles debut there
Machado became the youngest Orioles player to hit two home runs in one game Machado received a standing ovation as the crowd chanted his name Manny Mania soon took over Baltimore But this was only the beginning of his special career
