The Baltimore Orioles have officially clinched a berth in the postseason after beating the New York Yankees 5-3 – and celebrations began immediately.
Baltimore popped bottles of champagne in their visitors locker room at Yankee Stadium as they marked a successful regular season.
Well, almost everyone was popping the champagne – because 20-year-old Jackson Holliday is still just under the legal drinking age.
So when he turned up to the locker room, he was met with bottles of non-alcoholic bubbly marked as ‘Baby Bird Bath Water’ with a sign that said ‘Baby’s First Clinch-mas 2024’.
The Orioles rookie has had a tumultuous season for Baltimore, but is set to have a big impact down the stretch.
Holliday, the son of seven-time All-Star and 2011 World Series winner Matt Holliday, didn’t crack Baltimore’s Opening Day roster this season.
However, he did make his Major League debut in early April.
Unfortunately for him, he struggled in his first ten games – going 2-for-34 before being sent back down to the minors.
But by July, he was back in Baltimore and hit his first ever MLB home run in his first game back for the O’s. Overall, he’s slashing .169/.227/.290 with five homers and 23 RBI across just 56 major-league games this season.
Baltimore is still technically within range of catching up to the Yankees for the American League East title.
However, considering they’re five games behind with five games left in the season, it’s more likely that they’ll enter the playoffs as the top Wild Card in the AL.
