It was late in 2022 and, along the third-base line, Tony Mansolino made eye contact with a pair of fans he had seen sitting in the first row at Camden Yards more and more that year. That’s when it started. The third-base coach nodded, then said, “Hey, guys.”

Brian Moran and Heather Platter said hello back, and over the next three years the season ticket holders’ relationship with Mansolino flourished to the extreme: a “Happy birthday, Tony” banner hanging from their sky-rise apartment that overlooks Camden Yards, a T-shirt claiming Mansolino is better than the other team’s third-base coach, a day when Moran wore a Mansolino jersey and baseball pants to support their favorite coach.

How does something like that happen?

“He saw us every day,” Moran said, “and we saw him every day.”

That’s a good enough reason. When there are 81 home games a season at Camden Yards, and Moran and Platter are at almost every one of them down the third-base line, one day’s hello turns into tomorrow’s … full-jersey tribute? Sure.

But the relationship he developed with two Orioles fans showcases one reason Mansolino was chosen to serve as Baltimore’s interim manager after general manager Mike Elias fired Brandon Hyde on Saturday. The Orioles are in a tailspin. They’ve been swept in two straight series for the first time since 2021, and they are 15 games below .500.

In that sense, there’s something to be said for an interim manager who is relationship oriented. And Moran and Platter, who are dating, have seen that up close.

“We’ve gotten to see Tony and the interactions he has with fans, with players, with players from other teams,” Moran said. “Tony is probably, like, low-key one of the most popular guys in all of baseball. Everyone knows him. He always has nice things to say. He knows everybody, and he seems to get along really well with everybody.”

Platter said she’s “really proud of him and happy” for Mansolino, despite the difficult circumstances he is inheriting as interim manager. But she’s also sad, in a way, because Mansolino won’t be manning the third-base coach’s box any longer.

That job now belongs to Buck Britton, who was elevated into the role Saturday.

“We’re already like, ‘All right, Buck, we gotta get to know each other, buddy,’” Platter joked.

Given the way Moran and Platter connected with Mansolino, it might not take long for Britton to become a third-base-line favorite.

In 2023, for instance, Moran and Platter knew Mansolino’s birthday was approaching at the end of September. They pondered ways in which they could shout him out — and they settled on the most public one possible.

“Why don’t we just order a gigantic banner and put it up and hang it off the side of the building for 12 hours?” Moran recalled thinking. And that’s what they did, jury-rigging the banner to their balcony, in clear view of the field.

When Mansolino saw it, he walked over to them immediately. He knew who set that up.

“Tony came over with the most embarrassed smile,” Moran remembered. But with his next breath, Platter said, Mansolino told them, “That’s so sweet!”

Mansolino has grown accustomed to the couple shouting him out at various intervals. One game, Platter wore a T-shirt that read, “Our third base coach is better than yours.” Moran wore the full Orioles uniform with Mansolino’s name and number.

Mansolino hasn’t been in the spotlight much before, even if fans down the third-base line became supporters after his arrival in 2021. He hasn’t managed at this level before. He was frank in the assessment of his career Saturday night. “I’m a bad minor league player,” and he wasn’t expecting — nor is he excited — for the increased responsibilities the interim title brings.

He’s not shying away from any of it, though. Mansolino’s dad, Doug, is a longtime baseball coach. He remains an adviser in the Atlanta Braves organization. Baseball has been in Mansolino’s life since the beginning, and he’s approaching this test the way he has handled every one that came before it.

To Moran and Platter, every interaction they’ve seen from Mansolino makes them think he’s the type of person needed to keep afloat a waterlogged ship.

“Tony has always stood out on his own as a standup guy who cares about the players, who is always right there talking with them at third base and telling them to get ready and go,” Platter said. “I think it’s gonna be a really good change for the organization because he’s a really positive guy.”

Part of Mansolino’s game routine as third-base coach involved taking balls to Wes, the stadium attendant stationed by the camera well in that part of the park. Mansolino would hand over multiple balls with the instructions that they were to be passed out to kids.

When Wes isn’t there that day, Moran and Platter serve as fill-in ball distributors.

Even with all the craziness that ensued hours before Saturday’s game, with Hyde fired and Mansolino promoted, Moran and Platter saw the tradition continue through Britton. In the third inning, the fill-in third-base coach carried over a handful of balls and passed them to Wes.

They believe Mansolino was still involved.

“He makes sure all the things that are supposed to happen in normal times will continue to happen,” Moran said.

“I have no doubt Tony was like, ‘Hey, you’ve got to bring some balls over, at least once during the game, and you can give them to that guy,’” Platter said. “It was nice to see that. I don’t know if Buck would’ve known to do that on his own, so seeing him pass that down, I don’t think it’s a normal thing. I think it’s a special thing that he tries to continue through Buck.”

So, no matter how Mansolino’s tenure as interim manager turns out, he will have fans down the third-base line. For years, Mansolino waved to Moran and Platter before every home game when he reached the base.

The wave will have to come from a little farther now, from atop the dugout steps.