The Baltimore Orioles have hired Buck
Showalter to be their next manager.
A press conference is scheduled for Monday and Showalter will officially take
over duties on Monday, August 2. The Orioles do not play that day, meaning
Showalter's first game as manager will be Tuesday in the opener of a seven-
game homestand against the Angels. Showalter had been working as a baseball
analyst for ESPN.
Juan Samuel has been guiding the team on an interim basis since Dave Trembley
was fired back on June 4. Baltimore had the worst record in the majors at
15-39 at the time of Trembley's ouster, and, at 31-70, remains in that role.
Samuel has gone 16-31 at the helm since taking over, while Trembley had a
record of 187-283 in nearly three full seasons as Orioles skipper. Samuel will
return to his role as third base coach.
The 54-year-old Showalter previously managed the Yankees from 1992-1995, then
with the Diamondbacks from 1998-2000 and also the Texas Rangers from 2003-06.
He was named AL Manager of the Year in 1994 and again 10 years later. His
overall record stands at 882-833 (.514).
"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," said Andy MacPhail, Orioles president of baseball
operations. "We believe Buck's extensive experience and expertise will be a
major benefit to us as we look towards a more successful future."
Showalter has come to be known as a franchise re-builder of sorts, leading
a distressed Yankee team back to prominence and a playoff berth in 1995
following a 14-year absence from the postseason.
New York went on to win the World Series in 1996 a year after Showalter left
the team, in part because of a bruised relationship with the late great
Yankees owner George Steinbrenner.
Showalter took Arizona to the playoffs in just its second year out of
expansion with a 100-win season and an NL West division title in 1999, but was
fired following the 2000 season. The Diamondbacks also won the World Series a
year after Showalter left.
He was again let go in 2006 by the Rangers after four years on the job. Texas
had finished in last place in the AL West in 2002, the year before Showalter
took the job. He never led the team to better than a third-place finish in the
division.
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