Orioles Hire Buck Showalter to Be New Skipper in Baltimore

Buck Showalter, the ex-New York Yankees manager who won the National League West title with the Arizona Diamondbacks back in 1999, has been hired by Baltimore Orioles' owner Peter Angelos. He will be the ninth manager of the storied American League franchise that has fallen on hard times since Angelos acquired the team in 1993.

Buck will be in the dugout on Tuesday, August 3rd. He won American League Manager of the Year honors in 1994 with the Yankees and in 2004 with the Texas Rangers.

He will be the third Orioles manager this season. David Trembley, who managed the team to a 15-39 record, was fired on June 4, 2010 and replaced by interim manger Juan Samuel (16-31), who did only slightly better, getting one more victory against eight fewer losses. The team is now 31-70 for a .307 won-loss percentage, dead last in the AL East, the toughest division in baseball.

The Orioles are 33 and 1/2 games back of the division-leading New York Yankees and possess the worst record in baseball. They are on a pace to lose 112 games. No Orioles team has lost 100 games under owner Peter Angelos, although two came close.

The O's have been a dreadful team since the beginning of the new millennium. Only two Orioles teams, the 1954 inaugural team and the 1988 team managed by Cal Ripken Sr. and Frank Robinson, have lost 100 games since the Browns left St. Louis and relocated to Baltimore after the 1953 season. From 1966, when they won the World Series against the defending World's Champion Los Angeles Dodgers anchored by Hall of Famers Sandy Koufax and Don Drysdale, through the 1997 American League Championship Series, which the Orioles lost in six games, the Baltimore franchise was one of the strongest in major league baseball. Now, it is the doormat of the league and, indeed, all of Major League Baseball, with interleague play factored in.

Respect

Dave Trembley had never played a single game as a player in professional baseball, one of only eight major league managers to have that distinction. The rap on him, when he was fired, was that he was not respected by his players. Juan Samuel is respected, but has not proven himself to be much of a manager. Then again, none of the managers in the past 13 years, since Davey Johnson quit after the 1997 season have.

Buck Showalter never made The Show but will have the respect of the Orioles players due to his having paid his dues. He was a career minor leaguer, playing seven years in the Yankees farm system before becoming a manager of successive farm teams in the Yankees organization. Showalter was named to the coaching staff on the New York Yankees in 1990 and succeeded Stump Merrill as manager for the 1992 season. He lasted four straight seasons in the catbird's seat in The Bronx, which was then a record for a manager under owner George Steinbrenner.

Difficult

Showalter knows how to handle difficult owners. He made his name as the New York Yankees skipper. His Bronx Bombers were left stranded in first place at the end of the strike-shortened 1994 season, and his '95 Yankees won the A.L. wild card in '95, another strike-shortened season. He let the Yankees that year after clashing with George Steinbrenner.

The year after he left, Joe Torre took the Yankees team he helped develop all the way to a World Series victory. Showalter became the first manager of the Arizona Diamonbacks and took them to the playoffs in 1999, their second year of play, wining 100 games but losing in the first round of the playoffs. He was fired in 2000 after going 85-77 and finishing third, but manager Bob Brenly took the team Buck built all the way to a World Series victory over Joe Torre's Yankees (another team whose foundation was laid by Buck) the following year.

He has not managed in four years but has been a color analyst on ESPN. In four seasons with the Texas Ranger from 2003 through 2007, Showalter had three losing records, bringing the team in over .500 only once, when he went 89 and 73 in 2004, good for 3rd place and A.L. Manager of the Year honors.

Orioles President of Baseball Operations Andy McPhail, in announcing the hiring, said: "Buck Showalter's proven track record makes him the right choice for manager of the Orioles and we are thrilled to add a two-time Manager of the Year to our organization."

McPhail went on to say, "We believe Buck's extensive experience and expertise will be a major benefit to us as we look towards a more successful future."

Managerial Merry-Go-Round

Owner Peter Angelos inherited Johny Oates as manager and replaced him with Phil Regan for the 1995 season. He canned Regan in favor of Davey Johnson, a World Series-winning manager who had starred as a Gold Glove-winning second basemen with the 1969-71 Orioles teams that won three American League Pennants and the 1970 World Series under Hall of Fame manager Earl Weaver.

Johnson also was on the 1966 Orioles team that won the World Series in his rookie season. He has the distinction of being the last player to get a hit off of Sandy Koufax, one of the greatest pitchers in eh game.

Davey Johnson manged the 1986 New York Mets to 108 victories and a memorable seven game victory in the Fall Classic over Boston Red Sox, who had the most spectacular collapse in World Series during Game 6. Johnson was an outstanding manager for the Orioles, winning 88 games in his first season then 98 games in his sophomore season, good for the American League East title. The Orioles made the playoffs both season, losing both years in the second round of the playoffs, to the Yankees in 1996 (who went on to win the World Series) and the Cleveland Indians in 1997.

Davey Johnson won A.L. Manager of the Year honors in 1997, but he quit the team after the season. He and Peer Angelos could not get along. Johnson had a record of 186 wins and 138 losses and a won-loss percentage of .574 in his two season helming the franchise. There was speculation that Angelos would hire him to helm the club again during the 2007 season, but he named Dave Trembley -- the interim manager -- permanent manager instead. Buck Showalter is being brought in to clean up that mess.

Angelos has allowed the Orioles to sink to the bottom division since Johnson departed. The manager to get closest to the .500 mark since Johnson departed was Ray Miller, Johnson's pitching coach who was made manager for the 1998 and 1999 seasons. He went 79 and 83 and 78 and 84 for an overall won-loss percentage of 485. It had not gotten any better than that.

The 2004 team won 78 games. Since Miller's departure, the Orioles have lost 90 or more games seven times, just missing 100 losses in 2001 and 2009, when those teams both racked up 98 losses. It is a sorry record.