Showalter works his Orioles magic
In the moments after Manny Machado blasted a walk-off, tworun homer against the New York Yankees early Wednesday morning, you were left to draw two profoundly different conclusions:
First, Dellin Betances would lose his closer’s role over the hanging curveball that cost the Yankees a 7-6 loss. (He did; the ninth inning officially belongs to Aroldis Chapman again, according to manager Joe Girardi).
Second, the Baltimore Orioles proved again they’re perhaps the wild-card race’s most resilient team — impossible to kill off, designed to break your heart. And they did just that to the Yankees, dropping them 31⁄ games behind 2 the Boston Red Sox in the American League East. That might’ve been the Yankees’ final gasp in the division race. We’ll see.
But what is it that keeps the Orioles going year after year, despite projections that not only call for them to finish out of the running, but crash head-long into the cellar? That’s where Baseball Prospectus envisioned them in 2017, also-rans who should’ve flipped the calendar to pitchers and catchers by now.
But here come the Birds, just a game behind the second wildcard berth, clinging to one more long shot.
“We’re confident with everyone we have in here,” Machado said after the stunning comeback.
The slugger, who has bashed 14 home runs since Aug. 1, could’ve been talking about anyone in the clubhouse, from Jonathan Schoop to Trey Mancini to Tim Beckham. The Orioles lead the AL in runs, homers and on-base plus slugging (OPS) since the All-Star break. And as the Yankees found out, they’re hard to contain at Camden Yards. The Orioles overcame a five-run deficit against CC Sabathia that in all likelihood should’ve cooked them.
But try telling that to Machado and his teammates. Better yet, run that idea by Buck Showalter, who still fuels the Orioles in a way that drives other managers crazy but inspires a profound loyalty in his clubhouse.
Showalter hates gloating, but he also says, “I wouldn’t sell us short. Our guys have realty dialed it up.”
The Orioles probably don’t have enough pitching to deliver a world championship to Showalter, but don’t be surprised if the O’s are playing in the wild-card shootout Oct. 3. That in itself would be an achievement and proof of Buck’s enduring ability to get the most out of his roster.
But what is it, exactly, that makes him so successful?
Says Girardi: “Buck does a good job with his bullpen. As an in-game manager, you have to say he’s very skilled.”
But it’s more than that, which Girardi himself knows. A computer could replace a manager if all it took was crunching algorithms. Showalter’s connection to his players extends beyond strategy. In some cases, it’s deeply personal.
As Adam Jones told Yahoo Sports in May, “(Showalter) has been my manager for seven years, and he has taught me more about African-American baseball players than the game has taught me. When he first got here, one of the first questions he asked me is have I been to (the Negro leagues) museum. Of course I’ve been there. He’s proactive on things like that. He doesn’t have to be.”
Showalter hates to take credit for making the players his most important currency. When asked what he liked most about managing at age 61, Showalter rattled off Schoop’s surge as an MVP candidate or Mancini’s surprise August. It’s never about him.
“I once asked (former manager) Jimmy Leyland, ‘When did you know it was time to retire?’ ” Showalter said the other day. “And he said, ‘When the satisfaction of winning stops outweigh- ing the aggravations that come with the job.’ ”
Is Showalter there yet? “Definitely not.”
Oh, the road trips seem longer than ever. Plane travel is more exhausting. And Baltimore’s midsummer heat waves seem to take a toll like never before. But Showalter still lives for the world within those nine innings, when he is at his best.
Among the highlights of Showalter’s career were the 100-win pace of the 1994 Yankees, who likely would’ve seen the World Series had the season not been shut down by a labor dispute. Showalter improved the Arizona Diamondbacks’ record by 35 games in 1999, which still stands as an MLB record. He also engineered an 18-game rebound for the Texas Rangers in 2004.
And then there’s his body of work with the Orioles, including taking what was supposed to be a cellar-dwelling team to the wildcard playoff in 2016. The pain of watching Edwin Encarnacion smoke a walk-off homer against Ubaldo Jimenez has mostly faded from the Orioles’ day-to-day consciousness, but Showalter said, “You realize it’s a what-have-you-done-for-me-lately world” after the backlash he endured for not summoning Zach Britton.
He’s beyond litigating the case, and rightfully so. But with 1,500 career victories, Showalter is second on the list of managerial “W’s” without a World Series appearance to show for it, trailing Gene Mauch (1,902). You don’t have to wonder if the gods have singled Showalter out. The question is why.
But don’t bother feeling sorry for Showalter. He’s too busy taking notes, watching video after games until 1 a.m., looking for any small advantage that can help the Orioles the next day. Showalter still keeps mental lists of opposing managers who get their relievers up early and bait them with moves in the middle innings, just so he can exploit any weakness in the eighth inning. And to this day, no one is better at detecting when an opposing hurler is tipping his pitches.
The question, of course, is how much or how long Showalter can sustain this run. Like Machado, Jones and Britton, Buck himself will be a free agent after 2018. The window is closing. You just know Showalter is hunkering down for one more sprint, loving every minute of it.