Orioles manager Craig Albernaz returns with broken jaw, cheek fractures from foul ball

Craig Albernaz sat at the dais and posed for photos, turning his head left and right so all the cameras could see his swollen, bruised face.

“Want the camera to get this side, as opposed to this side?” the Orioles manager quipped.

The right side of his face is a sight to see, after all. The foul ball that clobbered Albernaz left its mark. He suffered a broken jaw and at least seven cheek fractures from the baseball that hit him Monday night in the dugout. He said he won’t require surgery or have his jaw wired shut. He will need to eat “baby food” for six weeks, though.

After a long night of reassuring his wife and kids that he was OK, undergoing testing and scans at a local hospital, and receiving a flood of text messages from players and opposing managers, Albernaz was back at Camden Yards less than 24 hours after the frightening incident that occurred in the fifth inning of Monday’s win against the Arizona Diamondbacks.

“I feel good, actually. I mean, considering everything,” Albernaz said.

And there’s a lot to consider.

A 70 mph foul ball off the bat of Jeremiah Jackson caught Albernaz on the side of his face. Albernaz stayed on his feet but quickly left the dugout for medical attention. The rest was almost a blur — a hectic night that ended around midnight at the hospital.

In Pennsylvania, his wife Genevieve and their kids were driving home from their son C.J.’s baseball game. They were listening to the Orioles game on the radio. The shock came quickly — their dad was just hit by a foul ball.

“My initial thought was, I’ve got to cover up my face because if it was really bad, I didn’t want my family to see it on TV, and also guys in the dugout,” Albernaz said. “So I put my hand over my face and that’s when I kind of took the steps down toward the dugout, get underneath the tunnel.”

But after the initial medical exam, Albernaz FaceTimed his family to assure them he was OK. Or at least as well as he could be.

“I knew I was fine, but also they don’t know,” Albernaz said. “So, that was, I would say, a big moment for them to kind of put their minds at ease a little bit.”

A stream of players visited him in his office during the game. Jackson checked on his manager and was relieved to see that his foul ball didn’t do more damage to Albernaz.

Jackson said seeing Albernaz upright eased his mind, and the infielder gifted his grand slam ball to Albernaz on Tuesday, signing it, “Sorry, homie.” The hug they shared Monday night may have calmed Jackson enough so he could power the Orioles back into the game.

“I just wanted to hug him, and then after he hit the grand slam, I definitely wanted to hug him for a variety of different reasons,” Albernaz said. “It was a great moment.”

When Jackson came to the plate with the bases loaded in the sixth inning, Albernaz was still watching on TV.

Then Chris Bassitt burst into the room, “saying something about a home run,” Albernaz said.

“I heard the crowd and I was like, you know what? F--- this,” Albernaz said. “I’m going out in the dugout.”

As the Orioles mounted a comeback in the win, Albernaz’s reappearance seemed to galvanize the group. The return impressed his players. Left-hander Trevor Rogers said after the game that “he’s got a big set of balls on him.”

Albernaz didn’t stay too long. Head athletic trainer Scott Barringer gave Albernaz a stern look.

“I was on the top step and I looked over and I saw Scott standing there, and he kind of looked at me like, let’s go. I was like, ‘Do I have to?’ And he’s like, ‘Yes.’ So that’s when I had to go,” Albernaz said.

Albernaz watched closer Ryan Helsley secure the save while he waited on testing at the hospital, and he remained there until almost midnight. But he’s relieved he doesn’t require surgery or a wired jaw.

One would think Albernaz would be excused if he took a sick day Tuesday to give himself a chance to relax. But no, he’s here. He joked about wearing a catcher’s mask or his Ravens helmet in the dugout, but that isn’t likely.

Albernaz will be in the same spot, the top step, leading his team.

“This is what we’re here for. We’re here for the players. We have a game. I’m physically able to be here, so let’s go,” Albernaz said. “If my jaw was wired shut, I’d still be here.”