So here I am, back for more, breaking down the career of O's manager Buck Showalter. Yesterday we talked about his path to management, his intriguing managing patterns in terms of employment, and Bad Luck Buck in terms of the teams he manages going on to win World Series after the poor guy left the franchise.
I left you with some homework of who would win in a best of 7 series between the three teams he's managed that resulted in a Manager of the Year award; the 1994 Yankees, the 2004 Rangers, or last season's Orioles. Let's run down the lineups (in no particular batting order, just how BBR presented them):
1994 Yankees
C: Mike Stanley
1B: Don Mattingly
2B: Pat Kelly
SS: Mike Gallego
3B: Wade Boggs
LF: Luis Polonia
CF: Bernie Williams
RF: Paul O'Neill
DH: Danny Tartabull
SP: Jim Abbott, Jimmy Key, Melido Perez, Terry Mulholland, Scott Kamieniecki
RP: Steve Howe (Closer), Bob Wickman, Xavier Hernandez, Donn Pall, Paul Gibson
The '94 Yankees were no different from the Bronx Bombers of the later '90s, leading the league in average (.290, holy cow), and OBP, and finishing second in runs, hits, slugging percentage, and total bases, and third in doubles and fourth in home runs. Even though they did not yet have Yankee legends Jeter and Rivera and other famous Yankees from their three-peat like Scott Brosius, Chuck Knoblauch, and Roger Clemens, the '94 Yankees had the best record at the time of the strike and despite there being no postseason, I think they would have been the favorites for winning it all.
2004 Rangers
C: Rod Barajas
1B: Mark Teixeria
2B: Alfonso Soriano
SS: Michael Young
3B: Hank Blalock
LF: David Dellucci
CF: Laynce Nix
RF: Kevin Mench
DH: Brad Fullmer
SP: Kenny Rogers, Joaquin Benoit, Chan Ho Park, Ryan Drese, RA Dickey
RP: Francisco Cordero (closer), Carlos Almanzar, Ron Mahay, Frank Francisco, Brian Shouse
This team was a mean combination of pure slugging and clean pitching and defense. They ranked second in total bases, third in the AL in home runs and slugging percentage, and fourth in doubles and triples. They scored 10 runs or more 17 different times and threw shutouts 9 different times throughout the season. Despite missing the postseason, the Rangers had an 18 game win improvement, which was second in the AL to the Tigers (who set to the record for most losses in a year in 2003, it was hard to go anywhere but up) with +29. Closer Francisco Cordero also was 2nd in the MLB in saves to best-closer-ever Mariano Rivera. Their bullpen was lights out.
2014 Orioles
C: Matt Wieters (lost to injury) / Caleb Joseph
1B: Chris Davis (injury/suspension) / Steve Pearce
2B: Jonathan Schoop
SS: JJ Hardy
3B: Manny Machado (injury) / Ryan Flaherty
LF: David Lough / Alejandro De Aza / Delmon Young
CF: Adam Jones
RF: Nick Markakis
DH: Nelson Cruz
SP: Chris Tillman, Wei-Yin Chen, Miguel Gonzalez, Bud Norris, Ubaldo Jimenez, Kevin Gausman
RP: Zach Britton (primary closer), Tommy Hunter (lost closing role early in year), Darren O'Day, Brian Matusz, Andrew Miller, Ryan Webb
The 2014 Orioles played second fiddle to AL dominance to the Angels. Even though their 96-66 record was only a game back of the Halos, it seems that if the Yankees or Red Sox aren't competitive, no one cares about the East. I think this year may have been the best for Showalter in terms of managerial acumen because he lost his All-Star catcher, first baseman, and third baseman and still took the second best record in the AL. The Orioles were much like Earl Weaver's Orioles, relying on pitching, defense, and the three-run home run (the Birds finished 1st in the AL with 211 homers). Ranking first in saves, Buck showed some serious managerial guts by giving lefty Britton the closing role after Hunter posted a 6.52 ERA through June 15.
So who would win?
The 2004 Rangers. Hank Blalock had a career year in terms of power (he was great for like, three years and then disappeared) and with table setters of Dellucci (steals, bunting), Young (one of the best contact hitters in our generation), sluggers of Soriano and Teixeira could drive them in. Neither the 2014 Orioles nor 1994 Yankees pitched well against left-handed hitters, of which the Rangers had four. Their bullpen was so convincingly better along with better (not the best) starting pitching of the three that any home run Teixeira puts into the right field bleachers would be protected tooth and nail.
While this is all merely conjecture and really you never know what could happen with the 90s meeting the steroid era meeting the post-steroid era, it was still a compelling write. I'm curious to see how Buck would manage against himself. He's not one to hit and run or drop bunts or steal a lot, because he relies on the power numbers and good pitching, which is why the '04 Rangers take the Buck series - they had the best pitching.
Thanks for reading.
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