Buck Showalter walked out of the Orioles dugout on Saturday afternoon, looked around and said: “It’s a nice day for a game.”

Except the Orioles weren’t playing.

Back in his home ballpark, Showalter wore a pair of jeans and a fall coat, and wondered about the Ravens’ chances against the Dallas Cowboys.

He would have preferred to talk about the Detroit Tigers.

The Tigers are playing the New York Yankees for the American League Championship instead of the Orioles.

Less than 24 hours removed from his team’s defeat to the Yankees, Showalter said that he was able to take in the significance of what his team has accomplished.

“I already have appreciated it,” Showalter said. “You realized how many people our players touched this year. The challenge is to hold on to it and continue to get better.”

Early Saturday morning, the Orioles were greeted by about 500 fans who waited outside the ballpark to thank the players.

“It was extremely sincere,” Showalter said. “It touched our player’s hearts. It was pretty emotional for everybody.”

I don’t think you can raise expectations any higher than we did for ourselves.”