Buck Showalter
William Nathaniel Showalter III
- Bats Left, Throws Left
- Height 5' 9" Weight 195 lb.
- School Mississippi State University, Chipola Junior College
- High School Century (FL) High School
- Born May 23, 1956 in DeFuniak Springs, FL USA
Biographical Information[edit]
First baseman/outfielder Buck Showalter was an All-American outfielder in 1977 and was selected by the New York Yankees in the fifth round of the 1977 amateur draft. He spent seven years as a player in the Yankees farm system, hitting .324 for the Nashville Sounds in 1980 and leading the Southern League with 178 hits. During his playing days he picked up the nickname "Buck" from a minor league manager's comment on his tendency to walk around the clubhouse "buck naked".
Showalter retired as a player after the 1983 season and became a minor league coach in the Yankees farm system. He started as hitting and first base coach for the 1984 Fort Lauderdale Yankees. From 1985 to 1989, he was a manager in their organization. When he took over the Oneonta Yankees in 1985 he was only 28 years old. In his two seasons with the O-Yanks he set new league records for wins each year. It is also where he began his long working relationship with pitching coach Monk Meyer. In 1990, Showalter started the season as an "Eye in the Sky" with the Yankees before taking over as third base coach on June 6th. These were the years of George Steinbrenner as owner so managerial turnover was frequent. This volatility plus his own skills enabled Showalter to be named Yankees manager in 1992. In 1995, he led the Yankees to a first postseason appearance since 1981, when they lost the Division Series to the Seattle Mariners; the year before, the Yankees had the best record in the American League at the time the 1994 strike wiped out the remainder of the season and the entire postseason.
After four years as the Yankees skipper, he joined the expansion Arizona Diamondbacks as they prepared to begin play. He spent 1996 and 1997 working a combination job of manager, scout, and development staff. When the D'Backs began play in 1998 he was the skipper and he led the team for three years. Under his leadership the team reached the playoffs in just their second year of existence in 1999. Unfortunately for Showalter, he wore out his welcome and the Diamondbacks replaced him with Bob Brenly in 2001. In both New York and Arizona, his team won the World Series in the first season after his departure.
He spent 2001 and 2002 as an ESPN broadcaster before returning to the dugout in 2003 as manager of the Texas Rangers. He was fired on October 4, 2006, after four seasons at the helm of the Rangers. Only in 2004 did he lead the team to a winning record. After being fired by the Rangers, Showalter worked in the Cleveland Indians front office as a special assistant to the general manager. This gig only lasted one year before he returned to ESPN in 2008 and stayed there until July, 2010.
On July 29, 2010, he was hired by the Baltimore Orioles to be their new manager, replacing interim skipper Juan Samuel. On May 1, 2012, he won his 1,000th game as a major league skipper; his record at that point was 1,000-958, rather remarkable given that he had regularly taken the helm of losing teams, or even an expansion team. He became the 4th manager to win 250+ games with four different clubs, following Joe Torre, Gene Mauch and Dick Williams. He helped turn the Orioles around, as in 2012 they reached the postseason for the first time since 1997, bowing to the New York Yankees in the ALDS. In 2014, they won a division title] and made it to the ALCS, where they were swept by the Kansas City Royals, then in 2016, they were a wild card team but lost the Wild Card Game to the Toronto Blue Jays. In that game, Showalter was widely criticized for not using his top relief pitcher, Zach Britton, coming off an exceptionally good season, as the Orioles lost in 11 innings, as he was waiting for a save opportunity that never materialized. That season, he moved past Jimmie Dykes on the all-time list for managerial wins with 1,429, making the manager with the second most wins never to have taken part in a World Series, behind only Gene Mauch.
Showalter's final two seasons at the helm of the Orioles were disappointing. They finished in last place both years, although with a still respectable record in 2017. In 2018, however, the bottom fell out, they lost a team record 115 games and upper management conducted a mid-season fire sale. It was clear that a through rebuilding was needed, and also that Showalter was not the man to lead it. He was dismissed on October 3rd, three days after the painful season ended.
In between managing jobs, Showalter spent some time as a baseball analyst for the YES Network in 2019 when they broadcast New York Yankees games. It is unclear exactly when this assignment ended. On August 25, 2020 MLB Network hired him as an analyst; he may have worked for them in 2021 as well.
On December 18, 2021, it was announced that he was hired by the New York Mets to be their manager in 2022, replacing Luis Rojas who had been fired at the end of the season. The Mets were taking a page of out of the book used the previous season by the Chicago White Sox, when they had brought Tony LaRussa out of retirement to manage the team. His first season was a success, as the Mets led the NL East for most of the season before finishing in a tie with the Atlanta Braves with 101 wins. Unfortunately, they lost the postseason tiebreaker and had to play the Wild Card Series against the San Diego Padres and were upset in three games, their season ending in disappointment. After the season, Showalter was named the NL Manager of the Year, his fourth time winning the award but first in the National League. The Mets thought that 2023 would be their year, after more lavish off-season spending, but things did not work out as the team was never in contention. On the final day of the season, October 1st, it was announced that he was being terminated.
Notable Achievements[edit]
- 4-time Manager of the Year Award (1994, 2004, 2014/AL & 2022/NL)
- Division Titles: 3 (1994, 1999 & 2014)
- Other post-season appearances: 4 (1995, 2012, 2016 & 2022 - Wild Card)
- AL Pennants: 1 (1994)
- 100 Wins Seasons as Manager: 2 (1999 & 2022)
| Preceded by Stump Merrill |
New York Yankees Manager 1992-1995 |
Succeeded by Joe Torre |
| Preceded by N/A |
Arizona Diamondbacks Manager 1998-2000 |
Succeeded by Bob Brenly |
| Preceded by Jerry Narron |
Texas Rangers Manager 2003-2006 |
Succeeded by Ron Washington |
| Preceded by Juan Samuel |
Baltimore Orioles Manager 2010-2018 |
Succeeded by Brandon Hyde |
| Preceded by Luis Rojas |
New York Mets Manager 2022-2023 |
Succeeded by Carlos Mendoza |
Year-By-Year Managerial Record[edit]
Further Reading[edit]
- Anthony Castrovince: "Tito, Buck add another MOY Award to their trophy cases", mlb.com, November 15, 2022. [1]
- Anthony DiComo: "Mets announce Showalter as new manager", mlb.com, December 18, 2021. [2]
- Anthony DiComo: "Showalter wins record-tying 4th MOY Award", mlb.com, November 14, 2022. [3]
- Brittany Ghiroli: "Buck Showalter will not be back with Orioles: Veteran skipper led Baltimore to 3 postseason berths in 9 seasons", mlb.com, October 3, 2018. [4]
- Todd Karpovich and Jeff Seidel: Skipper Supreme: Buck Showalter and the Baltimore Orioles, Sports Publishing, LLC, New York, NY, 2016. ISBN 978-1-6132-1839-6
- Bob Klapisch: ""Showalter still searching for a championship", USA Today, February 27, 2017. [5]
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