October 04, 2006
Buck Bumped Out
Buck Showalter was indeed fired by the Texas Rangers last night.
Showalter was 319-329 with the Rangers, his best season 89-73 in 2004 when they were in playoff contention until the final week after Alex Rodriguez was traded. They backtracked last year with only 79 wins.
"It's not about me, none of this," Showalter said after Sunday's game. "That's something I've always known. It's about the players and the fans and the people I work for."
Showalter didn't last longer than four years in his other managerial jobs. Those teams prospered after he left.
The season after Showalter's four-year tenure ended in New York in 1995, the Yankees won three of the next four World Series. That dominating streak was snapped in 2001 by the Arizona Diamondbacks, the expansion team Showalter had built the three previous seasons.
So the betting money is on the Rangers to win the World Series next year. :-)
Buck's strength as a manager is strategy. He does a great job of knowing how to use players to maximize their chance to succeed. But he's also a micromanager as far as I can tell. He'd be a great bench coach for a manager whose strength is in the personal aspects of the job. As I've written before, Torre and Showalter would be a dream combination. It's too bad Buck can't over come the weakness that causes him to wear out his welcome after a few seasons.
Posted by David Pinto at
10:42 AM
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Is his strength strategy or use of resources? I mean to differentiate between a manager who hits and runs or sacrifices as opposed to one who understands platoon splits.
Strengthening this characterization I'd point out that he didn't just manage the Diamondbacks for three years, he was involved in putting the team together, before the team played a game.
I thought Buck's strenght was molding young teams. To do that, you need to be a bit of a micromanager, but as the players mature you need to be able to dial it back. I'd like to see what he could do with KC.
Of course, with the Yankees and AZ it helped to have owners who were committed to spending to ensure high quality teams.
i don't know much about showalter, but it sounds like chollie manuel and him could be a fit. God knows he needs all the strategery help he can get.
re: buck showalter and charlie manuel - a good fit
I agree with the prior posting by Tim on October 4, 2006.
Pat Gillick fired all of the coaches but retained Manuel yesterday.
If Showalter was willing to take a coaching job with the Phils, he'd be a perfect complement to Manuel by handling all of the field micromanaging duties.
He could also be the manager in waiting if Manuel gets out of the gate slowly in April.
He does have experience and he is a winner.
--art kyriazis, philly
