Showalter ‘at peace,’ insists he doesn’t know his fate
2018 attendance is lowest in Camden Yards history
Orioles manager Buck Showalter, ahead of the season finale and possibly the last game of his tenure in Baltimore, said he’s “at peace” with whatever Orioles ownership and the Angelos family decides his future will be.
Showalter, however, laid out an interesting set of beliefs in terms of how things could look going forward that might indicate what his future is, even if he insisted he hasn’t heard one way or another whether he’ll be brought back. He arrived there when discussing that Adam Jones was back in center field for his own possible bow at Camden Yards.
“It’s about winning the game. That’s one of the things I really feel like we need to get back to, the expectations of winning,” Showalter said. “That’s part of it. You’ve got to have expectations of winning, regardless of if you’re whatever they call it nowadays — building. I don’t believe in rebuild, the word rebuild. The first thing you have to accomplish, and one of the things I tried to do when we I got here is to raise the expectations of winning.”
With Jones and Showalter leading the way this decade, the Orioles decidedly have expected to win, this 115-loss season notwithstanding. But the change in direction for the franchise after this season, which began with the July trades of stars such as Manny Machado, Zach Britton and Jonathan Schoop, has brought everyone’s future in Baltimore into question.
Showalter insists he doesn’t know what will happen, and can’t opine publicly about it until the season’s over. His contract isn’t up until the end of October, and he doesn’t know what the time frame will be.
“I don’t know, same way it was their decision to give me a contract to start with,” Showalter said. “Really, truly, it isn’t — whatever time frame somebody picks. I look at all the other people who have that. I was telling my wife the other day, think about how many times you didn’t have to think about things like this. You really don’t. Instead of living in the present, you need to learn from the past, too. Mr. Angelos’ family has been great to me and mine, so whatever direction they decide to go, I’m at peace with it.”
He said he hasn’t been terribly reflective “because it’s sad,” and that making too big a deal of his own future would deflect from everyone else who doesn’t know what next season will bring, either.
“To say I haven’t given it some thought would be crazy,” Showalter said. “That would really insult your intelligence, but what’s Jace Peterson thinking about today? What’s Caleb Joseph thinking about today? What’s Adam Jones thinking about? What is Scott Coolbaugh thinking about? That’s the industry. That’s the way it is.
“You know for sure you’re going to be doing the exact same thing next year? You can’t say that. What’s the old expression? If you want to make God laugh, tell him about your plans. When I say we’re trying to present whatever the best we can today and try to win a game, I mean it. And those things have a way of ... you treat people like you’d like to be treated, for the most part, and see where life takes you.” O’s hit 40-year attendance low: A miserable season of weather during which the Orioles lost a major league-high and franchise-record 115 games led to the lowest attendance since the club opened Camden Yards in 1992 — 1,564,192 — albeit with 78 home dates as opposed to the traditional 81.
The only sellout of the season came with a crowd of 45,469 on Opening Day on March 29 against the Minnesota Twins, but a cold April and a slow start to the season made it difficult to draw the rest of the way. The Orioles’ April 9 loss to the Toronto Blue Jays before an announced 7,915 was the smallest crowd in Camden Yards history and one of seven crowds below 10,000 this season.
Several rainouts resulted in three split doubleheaders that helped depress the total attendance. The gross attendance was the Orioles’ lowest since 1,466,426 watched the 1978 team at Memorial Stadium. The per-game average of 20,054 was the lowest since 19,792 in 1982.
Sunday’s crowd of 24,916 for what was the potentially the final game under Showalter and for longtime outfielder Jones was the largest since Aug. 25, and the 35th of 78 dates with an announced gate of over 20,000.
The Orioles next play at Camden Yards on April 4, 2019, against the New York Yankees. They’ll open the season with road series at the Yankees and the Blue Jays. Around the horn: Infielder Jonathan Villar stole his 21st base since his July 31 trade from the Milwaukee Brewers in the fourth inning, putting him into a tie for the third-most steals in the American League during that time. … Outfielder DJ Stewart hit .370 (10-for-27) after his 0-for-13 start to his major league career. … Designated hitter Tim Beckham ended the season on a seven-game hitting streak.