To go, or not to go: Gunnar Henderson’s decision to forgo cycle sparks debate among Orioles players, fans

Gunnar Henderson’s sprinkler celebration in the eighth inning Sunday was delayed.

Instead of his teammates waiting in the dugout eager to spit water for the second half of the doubles celebration, they looked at the 22-year-old rookie with exasperated expressions.

Henderson had just passed up the opportunity to hit for the cycle — an achievement only seven players in Orioles history have accomplished — by sprinting past first on his rocket down the right field line and cruising into second for a double.

The decision by Henderson sparked a debate between Orioles players — and fans online — about whether he should have stayed at first to secure the rare feat.

“If it was me, I would’ve fallen at first base and just stayed there, you know?” shortstop Jorge Mateo said with a smile through team interpreter Brandon Quinones. “But he has every right to make his own decision, and he chose to go to second.”

Henderson said he contemplated what he would do in such a situation before his at-bat, choosing to play the game as normal and let the chips fall where they may.

“I just kind of settled on the fact if it was meant to be, it would be a true single,” he said. “I felt like that’s just the way I play and it wasn’t meant to be.”

Most of his teammates didn’t agree. He said 95% of them thought he should’ve remained at first considering the historic nature of hitting for a cycle. It would’ve been the second Orioles cycle this year as Cedric Mullins accomplished the feat May 12 against the Pirates. The only Orioles players to do so are Austin Hays (2022), Jonathan Villar (2019), Félix Pie (2009), Aubrey Huff (2007), Cal Ripken Jr. (1984) and Brooks Robinson (1960).

“I was just trying to play the game the right way,” Henderson said.

One of the few to come to his defense was Ryan Mountcastle.

“I’m on his side,” the first baseman said. “In the moment, I’m like, ‘Ah, a 10-run game, you could really just stay at first.’ But I think I overheard him say you’ve got to play the game the right way, and he did. That was a double for sure.”

When Henderson turned to the dugout after the double — his fourth extra-base hit of the afternoon in Baltimore’s 12-1 win over the Oakland Athletics — he looked confusedly at the reaction from his teammates. He then did an abbreviated sprinkler, but his teammates were too flabbergasted to hold up their end of the bargain by spraying water from their mouths. The only one to do so in view of the broadcast’s television cameras was Dean Kremer, who slowly spit the water out of his mouth instead of doing so with the typical gusto.

Mullins, Adam Frazier and Ryan McKenna all had their hands up in puzzlement. James McCann gesticulated his displeasure with multiple arm waves. Danny Coulombe shrugged as Henderson stood on second, and the American League Rookie of the Year frontrunner gave what Mid-Atlantic Sports Network announcer Kevin Brown called a “sheepish grin” in return.

“And you know what? Gunnar Henderson is not gonna stop at first,” Brown said as the star infielder rounded first. “Who needs a cycle when you could pick up your fourth extra-base hit of the game? The Orioles bench is saying you should’ve stopped at first.”

“The whole bench is wanting him to put the brakes on at first base, but he is wound tight,” Brown’s color commentator Ben McDonald said. “There is no way he is stopping at first base.”

As Henderson smiles towards the first base dugout at Oakland Coliseum, his manager gave a smile of approval in return.

“You know what? Gunnar plays the game at one speed, and that’s hard. And that’s the right way,” Hyde said. “Unless he tripped over the bag, I didn’t see that happening because that’s how hard he plays.

“Maybe he’s working on his OPS. He plays the game a million miles an hour. It’d be hard for him, I’m sure, to pull up.”

Hitting for the cycle is one of the hardest feats to accomplish in baseball. But as one of the Orioles’ best players in his first full big league season, Sunday probably wasn’t Henderson’s last chance to do so.

“He’s going to have 650 at-bats a year for a while now,” Hyde said. “So I think he’s going to have the opportunity.”

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