Good Luck Buck

The Baltimore Orioles have had it rough over the past decade or so. They’ve watched the mighty Yankees, Red Sox, and even the Tampa Bay Rays go to the World Series, all the while wondering "Where have you gone, Cal Ripken Jr., the Charm City turns its lonely eyes to you…"

This is an historic, old-school club from an historic, old-school town. Camden Yards is one of the crown jewels of all major stadiums, for the love of Joe Orsulak! It’s time to see the orange and black birds back in the fight.

Enter Buck "The Builder" Showalter, the man who once patrolled the dugout in the Bronx and helped give the Diamondbacks some bite (awful pun, I’m aware). The bottom line is that Showalter knows how to get it done. He reminds me of Gene Hackman’s character in Hoosiers - a guy that uses tough love and Marine-like discipline to shape his clubs into a first-rate platoon.

Like Hackman, Buck seems to dislike the art of smiling (the guards at Buckingham Palace seem like a laugh riot next to the stoic Showalter). But nobody gets to the playoffs because they lead the league in smirking with runners in scoring position. And, like Hackman with his boys from Hickory High, Buck also does things to rally his troops and create a team mind. Hackman had "Strap" put little "Ollie" on his shoulders with a tape measure to show his team that the basket at the big gym in Indianapolis was the same height at the one at their gym in Hickory.  

Showalter has made a similar move, making a comment about the great Derek Jeter and Boston General Manager Theo Epstein before the 2011 season kicked off, that seemed to say, "We're not going to be afraid of anyone. We’re going to play them all heads up." I’m interested to see what Buck does with his young, talented Baltimore club.  Now that he's got them off to a 3-0 start, a mark shared with just three other teams, maybe they’ll be able to do what Hackman and Hickory were able to do, and make believers out of us all.