Breaking Down Buck, Pt. I

As deer hunting season opens up this weekend and the snow is coming down everywhere I look outside my window, I figured what a better time to take a look at Buck Showalter's time as a manager. William Nathaniel Showalter, a product of the Mississippi State Bulldogs baseball program, was drafted by the Yankees in the 5th round of the 1977 draft, which wasn't a deep class for talent, but did include future stars like Ozzie Smith, Terry Francona, Paul Molitor, and Harold Baines. I'm sure most of these draftees, especially the ones coming out of college, were thankfully relieved that it was this draft their career took them to rather than the draft for the Vietnam war which had ended only a few short years before this new group tested their skills in the vast universe that is Minor League Baseball.

Showalter never made it to the show. Despite hitting .294 throughout his 7-year minor league career, he never caught the big break to appear in the House That Ruth Built. It would have been extremely difficult at that time, considering the Yankees won back-to-back World Series in 1977 and 1978, lost the pennant in 1980, and won the pennant but lost the World Series in 1981. They had some great teams and for a decent hitting, relatively small outfielder (Buck only stands at 5'9"), there wasn't a lot of space on the roster (you try beating Dave Winfield and Reggie Jackson for a spot). 

So he took to managing. Shortly after his playing career had ended, Showalter was named manager to a team that he actually passed over in the minors, the low-A Oneonta Yankees. Showalter, now 29 starting his first managing stint, led the young Yankees to an incredible 55-23 record, even though only two offensive payers made it to the Major Leagues (one of whom, Tom Giles, made it as a pitcher rather than his natural third base), he had great pitching, led by 19-year old Al Leiter. Showalter, similar to his playing career, slowly worked his way up the family tree of the Yankees minors; two years in Oneonta, two years in Ft. Lauderdale, and a year with Albany, the AA team.

Showalter, at the young age of 36, finally got his chance at the Major League level when he managed the early '90s Yankees. If nothing else, the Yankees showed tremendous loyalty to Buck, because his mind for baseball was too good to waste. They drafted him in 1977, and 15 years later he was their manager. How many times to teams draft their future manager? 

In 4 years with the Yankees, Showalter posted a 313-268 record, a .539 winning percentage. Unfortunately, you all know the Steinbrenners and their impatience for winning so Showalter was shown the door, just a year after he won his first Manager of the Year award in the strike-shortened season of 1994. Before the strike, the Yankees were 70-43 and 6.5 games ahead of his future Orioles for first place in the AL East. The Yankees would hire now Hall of Famer Joe Torre to manage, which I think was a good move considering they won 4 World Series (3 consecutively from 1998-2000). 

Showalter has had an eerie pattern with his managing career. With the Yankees, Dbacks, Rangers, and now Orioles, he's never been with a team for more than 4 full seasons (his current tenure with the Orioles has been 4 seasons and about 50 games in 2010). Lucky for him though, Orioles management signed him to a lengthy extension through the 2018 season so that pattern will be broken. But, in his first year with any given team, he's always been below .500:

• 1992 Yankees: 76-86
• 1998 Diamondbacks: 65-97
• 2003 Rangers: 71-91
• 2011 Orioles: 69-93

Then the year after, he brings chemistry to the clubhouse and makes his teams quite formidable:

• 1993 Yankees: 88-74
• 1999 Diamondbacks: 100-62
• 2004 Rangers: 89-73 (Manager of the Year)
• 2012 Orioles: 93-69

But then the trend goes the other way. After he leaves the team, they excel beyond comparison:

• 1996 Yankees (Buck left in '95): World Champs, Jeter ROY
• 2001 Diamondbacks (Buck left in 2000): World Champs, Randy Johnson CYA
• 2010 Rangers (Buck left in 2006): Back-to-back pennants

That has to be hard to swallow,

though he is on the right track with the Orioles, winning the AL East this year and advancing to the ALCS. If they can get some more starting pitching to complement Chris Tillman, they should be fierce contenders. 

What's the most interesting pattern to me are is his award winning years. Showalter has been named the Manager of the Year in 1994, 2004, and 2014. He is the second manager to win the award in three different decades (Tony La Russa won in '83, '88, '93, '02) but he is the first to win the award exactly 10 years apart twice (La Russa came pretty close). 

So here's my question: which of his Manager of the Year teams would win in a best-of-7 series?

1994 Yankees vs. 2004 Rangers vs. 2014 Orioles

Find out tomorrow. Thanks for reading Part I.