O's Craig Albernaz, currently on a baby food diet, greeted by kid's furniture, decor in return to Cleveland
Guardians manager Stephen Vogt arranged the prank, and his former right-hand man took it in stride.
Craig Albernaz spent the 2024-25 seasons coaching under Stephen Vogt in Cleveland. (Photo by Patrick Smith/Getty Images) Patrick Smith via Getty Images Craig Albernaz still has bruising underneath his right eye. He has a welt sprawled across his cheek beneath that.
The first-year Baltimore Orioles manager is recovering from a broken jaw and at least seven facial fractures after absorbing a line-drive foul ball on Monday . Albernaz revealed Tuesday that he doesn’t need surgery. “I just have to eat baby food for six weeks,” he said .
Cleveland Guardians manager Stephen Vogt, Albernaz’s former boss and longtime friend, heard that and acted accordingly, making over the the visiting manager's office at Progressive Field ahead of Thursday’s series opener between the Orioles and Guardians. “He called it a gift? ” Albernaz said inquisitively pregame, as captured on video by News 5 Cleveland’s Mason Horodyski .
After a pause and a cartoonish facial expression, the 43-year-old skipper continued: “That’s ironic that he said ‘a gift. ’ Oh, if you guys [haven’t] seen it, I would go into my office. “When I showed up, everything was kid-sized.