Bestie managers add new dimension to O’s and Nats’ not-so-heated rivalry

BALTIMORE -- For the first time since the Nationals arrived in Washington, D.C., in 2005, both the Orioles and Nats have a first-year manager to start the season.

Better yet, these two new “Battle of the Beltways” managers have known each other for a decade.

So when O’s manager Craig Albernaz and Nationals manager Blake Butera exchanged lineup cards on Sunday afternoon ahead of the first of two exhibition games between their clubs, it was only natural that -- after greeting each umpire -- the pals embraced … and Albernaz, 43, playfully tapped the 33-year-old Butera’s stomach.

The pair’s relationship dates back to the mid-2010s, when Butera was drafted by the Rays in the 35th round in 2015. He was assigned to Tampa Bay’s Rookie-level club in Princeton, West Virginia, where Albernaz was in his first year as a hitting coach.

Two years later, they were coaching together, as Albernaz managed Hudson Valley (then a Class A Short Season team in Tampa Bay's system) with Butera as his first-base coach. When Albernaz was promoted to managing Bowling Green (then in the Class A Midwest League) in 2018, Butera -- just 25 years old at the time -- was moved into the managerial spot with Hudson Valley.

“He was a young coach at the time, and I was an older player,” Butera said pregame. “And then, yeah, after that, two years later, we coached together in the Minor Leagues, and then we just -- we've stayed very close since then.”

Almost 10 years later, their individual coaching journeys have come full circle and landed them each in a Major League dugout -- and just 38 miles apart.

Butera credits Albernaz with teaching him a great deal about being a leader, a coach and a manager, from his attention to detail to the care he has for each member of his team.

“I was telling somebody earlier, when you're going through it offensively -- which I was doing a lot when I was playing -- to have someone that makes you feel good about yourself and confident every time you step in the box [is so important],” Butera said. “That’s definitely something I took away from that.”

Albernaz, ever the jokester, had a different take on what Butera may have learned from him -- “It’s a short list, I’m sure” -- but plenty that he’d learned himself from his younger counterpart.

“Blake is -- it's just his demeanor,” Albernaz said. “I’m more on the fiery side, where Blake is much more even-keeled. And that's something that I admire in him.

“He's someone that could just stay the front-office route and be a GM someday, and now he’s a big league manager. So it just shows his versatility and just how impactful he is, and a lot of that just stems from being able to navigate different conversations with different types of people -- front office, players, coaches. So that's something that I really took away from him as well.”

Of course, with as close as the pair is, Albernaz wasn’t surprised when the Nationals announced Butera’s hiring just over two weeks after the O’s announced his own -- he had inside information. He did, however, take to X to express his exuberance for his good friend.

“Kind of knew it was coming -- had some insider information -- so I was fired up for him,” Albernaz said. “He deserves every bit of it, and it doesn't surprise me that he's in that seat.”

The Nationals and O’s didn’t face each other during Grapefruit League play, so Sunday was the pair’s first chance to catch up face to face. They chatted before batting practice, two good pals turned rivals for two days.

“We’re just pulling for each other -- obviously except for when we play each other,” Butera said. “But no, luckily, we're in different parts of the league.

“We'll see each other in the World Series,” Butera quipped, “and we'll deal with that when we get there.”