BOSTON – Ryan O’Hearn wouldn’t get lured out of his baseball comfort zone. The dangling carrot was swatted like a pesky fly. Or a grooved fastball that wraps around the Pesky Pole.
Asked about the significance of the Orioles winning the division and leaving wild card aspirations in the dust, O’Hearn was willing to confirm that the American League East title is “very important.” But don’t press it.
“To me, the No. 1 goal is to make the playoffs, but you’re not going to get me to predict the future or get too far ahead of ourselves,” he said, smiling.
“We focus on every day, same thing we’ve been saying. One game at a time, trying to win a ballgame, and that’s it. If we do that, that’ll take us where we want to go.”
Trust the process, a slogan the Orioles can carry from rebuild to contender. It doesn’t get stale.