WEST SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Before taking the field at a ballpark Dylan Carlson routinely visited during his childhood in Elk Grove, California, the Orioles outfielder remembered those fun days with his family.

It was minor league baseball back then, in the home of the Sacramento River Cats. A benefit of Carlson’s mother’s job was the tickets available to them behind the first-base dugout at Sutter Health Park, and Carlson and his brother would watch and dream about playing here. Carlson eventually would, as a high schooler during select games, and he marveled at the “the size of it, how grand it is.”

He never thought he’d play Major League Baseball in this stadium.

When he landed in Sacramento on Thursday night, he visited his parents. He admitted to them this “feels weird,” and that’s because it is — the Athletics, waiting to move to Las Vegas, are playing in Sacramento in the interim at a minor league park.

In the time since Carlson played high school baseball on this field, he became a rookie of the year finalist for the St. Louis Cardinals. He grew into a major leaguer. He learned the friendly confines of Sutter Health Park weren’t really so grand compared to some of the famous major league parks he has since played inside.

But the feeling as a kid, sitting behind that dugout, having players throw balls to him? There’s no forgetting that.

“Good memories like that,” Carlson said before Friday’s game. “Getting to play today, hopefully I get to make some new ones.”

He immediately made a new one.

With plenty of family and friends in the stands — Carlson said he filled 15 ticket requests — he launched a two-run home run to left field in his first plate appearance back in the Sacramento area. The few kids in Orioles gear present jumped and cheered, just as a young Carlson would’ve done.

Baseball has a sense for the dramatic. It delivered Friday.

“This is an exciting time,” Carlson said. “Grew up coming to this stadium as a kid, sitting right above the first-base dugout. And now I get to be in the first-base dugout, playing a game today.”

There’s beauty in that journey, and it’s not lost on Carlson.

He was filled with wonder when playing at this stadium a handful of times when he attended Elk Grove High School. After the game Friday, Carlson said he was proud to be from the 916 — the area code for Sacramento — and said he could hear the support throughout.

“It was a unique experience, something I’ll remember,” Carlson said. “You don’t hear it every day, catching fly balls down the line, people yelling out your hometown.”

Carlson was chosen in the first round of the 2016 draft by the Cardinals and became a sensation during a terrific 2021 season. The next few years weren’t as productive as he battled injuries and slumps, and he found himself back in minor league parks on occasion, attempting to rekindle his early success.

Part of that included signing with the Orioles this offseason as a depth outfielder, and the injuries elsewhere have given Carlson an opportunity.

Returning to Sacramento — as a major leaguer in a minor league park — is part of that journey. He has found ways to contribute for the Orioles, even before his two-run jack in the second inning against left-hander JP Sears. Entering Friday, Carlson was hitting .302 in his previous 14 games for Baltimore.

The home run in his first at-bat Friday only added to a strong stretch of games for Carlson. And what’s more? He did it here, where his love for baseball began.

“Looking back at it now after playing in some other stadiums, it’s gonna be a full perspective of getting to experience the game in so many different ways,” Carlson said. “I’m grateful I got this opportunity.”

This story has been updated.