Need some rainy day(s) reading, Birds fans?
Pat Jordan over at Sports on Earth has just the ticket: a 9,000-word tome on Buck Showalter.
Jordan spent several days with Buck this past offseason, and has some wonderful quotes in his piece, though he admits that Buck told him many more great stories that he prohibited Jordan from repeating.
One of my favorite Buck anecdotes was this one, the story of how he saved his dog during a hurricane in Florida:
“We were living in Florida, where we had a house on the water.” During a hurricane that year, Buck was walking his oldest dog, Sader, on the dock when Sader fell in the churning water. Buck jumped in to save him and began sinking in the muck. “The water was maybe five feet,” said Buck, ” but I thought, what a way to go. I tried to push Sader up onto the dock but he was too heavy. Angela came running down the dock, screaming, ‘Push him up to me!’ I said, ‘What about me?’ She said, ‘I’m pulling up Sader first.’ So, I’m pushing up this 80-pound dog while I’m sinking into the muck and his balls are flapping in my face and Angela’s pulling him up.”
Buck Showalter, dog lifeguard.
I love our manager.
Some more choice Buck-isms (though I urge you to read the entire interview)…
On his time at ESPN:
What did he learn about sports journalism while at ESPN? “Well, the first thing I learned was that I couldn’t talk on-air like I did to the players,” he said. When an umpire called a perfect strike a ball, Showalter piped up, “That pitch was right down the cock.” Behind the cameras, producers started waving their hands, shaking their heads, mouthing a silent no, no, no.
On Miguel Cabrera:
“I tell my guys to watch the way Miguel Cabrera approaches hitting a baseball. They will not see another hitter like him in their lifetime. The difference between Cabrera and most hitters is, a guy throws him a great slider, he smiles, nods as if to say, ‘That was a great pitch. Throw it again.’ The other guys would say, ‘Don’t throw me that again.'” How does he tell his pitchers to pitch to Cabrera? He said that sometimes Cabrera can be too relaxed at the plate, “so I tell them, ‘Don’t wake this fucker up. And don’t try to pitch around him to walk him by throwing pitches off the plate, because he can hit those pitches. Either intentionally walk him, or pitch to him to get him out.'”
On player confidence:
At one point during his Yankees tenure, Showalter had a pitcher who always looked to the dugout to be yanked when he was in trouble. Showalter finally had had enough, so he hustled out to the mound and demanded that the pitcher learn “to be the big dick in the shower” — or else. He always insisted that his pitchers take the mound with “presentation,” as if they were “carrying the best stuff of their career, even if they weren’t.”
On Manny Machado:
When Showalter walked into the clubhouse one day and saw Machado surrounded by an entourage at his locker, Showalter pulled him aside. He said, “These people someone you want to be in a foxhole with? They the people you want to say your eulogy?” Another time, Machado flipped his bat, arrogantly, after hitting a home run. When he reached the dugout, Showalter grabbed him. “You’re putting your teammates in a bad position by making that pitcher mad.” At the end of the season, Showalter said, Machado sought him out to say, “Thank you for everything.”
On adolescence and draft strategy:
“I question everything,” he said. “Never draft an 18-year-old with a full beard, [because] it means he’s fully developed and won’t grow anymore.”
On respecting the fans:
When Showalter finally got to the majors, he brought with him his respect for the fans. When the Orioles were playing a meaningless game in Seattle one night, Showalter hounded his players to play hard, because “it’s 12:30 at night back in Baltimore,” he said. “Somebody’s sitting in front of the TV, dying with everything you’re doing. And you better take that seriously.”
Back at Borders, Showalter said, “So I respect the fans — is there another way?”
On Tampa Bay Rays manager Joe Maddon:
To lighten the drudgery of team travel, Maddon instituted theme road trips. His players had to dress as a cowboy, a nerd, an infant. David Price, Maddon’s 6-foot-6 pitcher, once got off a team plane wearing footie pajamas. “I’d love to have thought of that,” said Showalter. “But Joe ruined it for me. I’d just be a copycat.” Maddon and his Rays have also ruined any idea that Showalter may have had of bemoaning the Yankees and Red Sox’s $150-200 million payrolls, compared to his $90 million payroll. “How can I complain?” Showalter said. “Joe’s payroll is $60 million, and he’s competitive.”
On his career:
“I approached every job as if it was my last. And this one is my last roundup. If they get tired of my shtick, they can just let me know. I’ll pack my bags — ‘Thank you very much’ — and be out the door.”
Here’s hoping that’s not for a long, long time, Buck.
Again: Go read this.
