June 4th, 2024
Jake Rill
@JakeDRillTORONTO -- Five days shy of his 24th birthday, Connor Norby left the United States for the first time in his life. A little before noon on Monday, he arrived at Toronto Pearson International Airport and stepped foot on Canadian soil.
The country often known for its ice hockey and maple syrup will now always be a special place to the Minnesota native, who spent many of his formative years in North Carolina.
Norby was called up by the Orioles to make his Major League debut on Monday night at Rogers Centre, where the O’s won the opener of a four-game series against the American League East rival Blue Jays, 7-2. The 23-year-old started at second base and batted ninth for Baltimore, going 0-for-3 with two strikeouts.
“It’s what you dream of from the first time you pick up a baseball,” Norby said before the game. “There aren’t enough words, I don’t think, to put this day into words. It’s just really special, and I’m going to try and enjoy it as best as I can.”
The Orioles needed to add an infielder after Jorge Mateo entered concussion protocol Sunday afternoon. The 28-year-old was placed on the 7-day concussion injured list on Monday, when Norby had his contract selected from Triple-A Norfolk.
After Mateo exited during the fourth inning of Baltimore’s 4-3 home loss to Tampa Bay, a hectic chain of events transpired for Norby, the club’s No. 6 prospect, per MLB Pipeline, who was a second-round pick in the 2021 MLB Draft.
On Sunday evening, Norby received a call from O’s assistant general manager Eve Rosenbaum. It was a call he’d been waiting for for quite some time -- the call to The Show.
The news also came only minutes after Norby got done watching his younger brother, Ethan -- a freshman at East Carolina University, Connor’s former school -- make a solid 5 1/3-inning start for the Pirates in their 19-6 win over Evansville in an NCAA regional tournament contest.
Following numerous phone calls to family members, Norby began to pack his bags. But his excitement didn’t make that an easy task.
“I started shaking. I think I shook for about an hour, and then it kind of settled down a little bit,” Norby said. “Not much sleep, though.”
After a “solid two hours” of shuteye, Norby was on the road by 4:20 a.m. ET Monday morning. He and left-hander Nick Vespi (called back up by the Orioles at the same time) took a roughly 3 1/2-hour drive from Norfolk, Va. to Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport, where they boarded their flight to Toronto.
It was only fitting Norby would have a long first day as a big leaguer after a lengthy wait to reach MLB, having played 198 Triple-A games over the past three years. This season, he was hitting .286/.374/.510 with 17 doubles, one triple, nine homers and 36 RBIs over 51 contests.
“He’s just done such a great job offensively in Triple-A the last couple of years, and off to a good start this year again,” manager Brandon Hyde said. “I just loved the competitiveness of his at-bats in Spring Training, and I talked to [Norfolk manager] Buck Britton yesterday about how he’s really swinging the bat well.
“Hopefully, he can give us some good ABs up here, and we’re excited to give him an opportunity.”
Although big league debuts often come with nerves, Norby was eased a bit by some of the familiar faces he saw in the visiting clubhouse at Rogers Centre.
As Norby took the field for pregame warmups, he was accompanied by infielder Jordan Westburg and outfielders Colton Cowser and Kyle Stowers -- a trio of former prospects who spent time with Norby at Triple-A in recent seasons and were ready to help make him feel at home in a timely manner.
“In general, at the big leagues, there’s more adrenaline,” Stowers said. “If you use that as an enhancer, and you use that to bring up your focus, I think that’d be my best advice, is just compete. Tell him that he belongs, because he does.”
Norby’s time with Baltimore could be brief, as it’s possible he’ll be optioned when Mateo returns. Or it may be a permanent stay, should Norby prove he’s ready to help the O’s in their quest to win a second straight AL East title.
That’s Norby’s main priority -- not individual glory, but rather team success, something he knows a little something about.
“I’ve been a part of winning teams my whole life -- high school, to college, to even winning a national championship last year [with Norfolk],” Norby said. “I think when you play to win, your game naturally rises a little bit more and the pressure kind of comes off everybody’s shoulders a little bit in a way, as far as personal performance. It’s more team-based.
“I want to win, and I want to help this team win. And I’ll do whatever it takes.”
