Showalter Takes a Shot at Theo

[The Celtbot]

I love Francona's comments on the matter.

 

"Whatever," Francona said. "For the record, I think Theo's really smart, whether he has a high payroll or not. ... I'll stay away from that."

 

Francona paused a moment, then added: "I think Theo's proved with his choice of managers that he's pretty smart."

 

Pretty humorous, you can take it as the "I'm a great manager" attitude or Epstein wasn't stupid enough to hire someone like Showalter, lol. Maybe he meant both.

 

http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/spring2011/news/story?id=6252444

[Palodios]

Yankees weren't always miles ahead of everyone else in salary' date=' when Showalter started managing Yankees in 1992 the team had a payroll of 34,902,292.00[/quote']

 

20 years ago... and they STILL put more money to their teams than the Pirates do today:lol:

[RedSoxfanforlife305]

I love Francona's comments on the matter.

 

 

 

Pretty humorous, you can take it as the "I'm a great manager" attitude or Epstein wasn't stupid enough to hire someone like Showalter, lol. Maybe he meant both.

 

http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/spring2011/news/story?id=6252444

 

Lmao, I think it was more Epstein wasn't stupid enough to hire Showalter.

[Dipre]

Yankees weren't always miles ahead of everyone else in salary' date=' when Showalter started managing Yankees in 1992 the team had a payroll of 34,902,292.00[/quote']

 

Then back it up.

 

Look up the payroll differential for that year and where the Yankees placed. Guessing doesn't cut it.

[Dipre]

Say what, Showalter?

 

By Chad Finn, Globe Staff

 

So as you may have heard, Orioles manager Buck Showalter shared these deep thoughts on Theo Epstein in an interview with Men's Journal . . .

 

 

"I’d like to see how smart Theo Epstein is with the Tampa Bay payroll. You got Carl Crawford ’cause you paid more than anyone else, and that’s what makes you smarter? That’s why I like whipping their butt. It’s great, knowing those guys with the $205 million payroll are saying, ‘How the hell are they beating us?’ ”

 

. . . so in the spirit of equal time or an eye for an eye or stupid is as stupid does or whatever the saying is, how about this? How about we share a few not-so-deep thoughts on Buck Showalter with a long overdue Silly Friday Baseball Post while the Orioles prepare to raise their 2010 September AL East Championship banner.

 

Yes? OK! The rebuttal is on!

 

• Nope, that card is not a photoshop -- he really did play pro ball in the Yankees system. Seven seasons, in fact, and he was pretty good. He hit .294 while rising as high as Triple A, and his '80 season at Double A Nashville is fascinating statistically: He hit .324 with 1 homer, 82 RBIs, 53 walks and 23 strikeouts. Unfortunately for him, slow 5-foot-9-inch first basemen/outfielders with 17 homers in 793 career games are yet to be recognized as an undervalued asset in major league baseball.

 

• His Triple A experience was brief -- 14 games for the '82 Columbus Clippers and 18 more in '83 -- but man, he got to be part of one the most interesting and eclectic minor league teams of all time. Check out these names from the '83 roster: Don Mattingly, Steve Balboni, Butch Hobson, Rowland Office, Rex Hudler, Bert Campaneris (this was at the height of Steinbrenner's hoarding of washed-up stars), Dan Pasqua, Dennis Werth (Jayson's step-dad), minor-league legend Matt Winters, Rick Reuschel, and a handsome devil named Otis Nixon. In fact, of 21 hitters to play for Columbus that season, Showalter is the only one who didn't play in the majors.

 

• His real name is William (Billy Showalter?), but lore has it that he got his nickname because of his charming habit of walking around the clubhouse naked. As in, buck naked. Creepy in the real world, relatively witty and normal for the baseball world. I guess we should all be grateful that Charlie Manuel isn't the one nicknamed Buck.

 

• Showalter, who'd probably be uptight at a Jimmy Buffett concert, doesn't strike me a Men's Journal type of guy. Miniature Tyrannical Baseball Manager Monthly seems more likely. Never heard of it? Niche publication. Earl Weaver was on the inaugural cover, I believe.

 

• If he said stuff like this on "Baseball Tonight," he might have actually been, you know, interesting.

 

• As for payroll making Theo smarter . . . well, yeah, of course. The Red Sox' financial advantages allow him to cover for his major mistakes in a manner that Andrew Friedman can't. And you almost feel a twinge of guilt when your favorite team snaps up Carl Crawford and Adrian Gonzalez in a span of, what, five days? (Almost, I said. Then I remember the Yankees exist.) But what's mildly annoying about Showalter's statement is that he doesn't acknowledge that Theo has proven pretty damn smart over his nine seasons here, even with the built-in advantages. His list of shrewd moves (Papi, Mueller, believing in Pedroia, keeping Youkilis and Ellsbury . . . hell, you know the list) is far longer than poor ones (Arroyo for Wily Mo, Lugo, Renteria, Lugo, and don't forget Lugo). To put it another way, if every team in baseball had the same payroll down to the dime, I'd be extremely confident that Theo would put together a terrific team with a productive farm system.

 

• All snark, facetiousness, and feeble one-liners aside, it's pretty obvious what Showalter was trying to do: Give his team an us-against-the-rich-boys attitude, an actual identity that goes beyond their usual Punchline/Punching Bag of the AL East status. The Orioles are interesting team this year, with the acquisitions of Mark Reynolds, Vlad Guerrero, and Derrek Lee and the reasonable assumption that Brian Matusz, Adam Jones, and Matt Wieters continue to improve and give hope to the next generation. They finished 34-23 under Showalter last year. They have more hope than they've had in awhile, and embracing the underdog role makes sense. You can't blame Showalter for trying to build on that, even if his words could haunt him when he looks up from the bottom of the standings at season's end and realizes the Orioles went 6-30 against the Red Sox and Yankees combined.

 

• All of that said . . . man, was he ever spot-on about Jeter.

 

Finn is quickly becoming my favorite baseball writer. The bolded parts made me chuckle.

[Dipre]

Francona 'aggravated' by Showalter's remarks about Epstein

 

Posted by Peter Abraham, Globe Staff March 27, 2011 11:20 AM

 

By Peter Abraham, Globe Staff

 

SARASOTA, Fla. — Red Sox manager Terry Francona came to the defense of general manager Theo Epstein this morning in the wake of critical comments made by Orioles manager Buck Showalter.

 

In the April edition of Men's Journal magazine, Showalter questioned the intelligence of Epstein, saying the Red Sox were a product of their large payroll.

 

"I got asked that the other day and I hadn't seen it. I got it third-hand and I kind of joked about it a little bit. Then I read it and actually I was kind of aggravated a little bit," Francona said. "I don't think that's anybody's place. That's my boss. I was actually kind of aggravated a little bit. It's not the end of the world, but I thought he shouldn't have done it.

 

Was Francona surprised?

 

"Yeah. I can't say I sat there and thought about it a lot. But I didn't see any reason to do that," he said.

 

Showalter also told the magazine, "That’s why I like whipping their butt. It’s great, knowing those guys with the $205 million payroll are saying, ‘How the hell are they beating us?’ ”

 

Said Francona: "I don't remember them beating us that much. Maybe it was a different schedule."

 

Francona was told the Orioles were 3-3 against the Red Sox last season.

 

"Way to go," he said sarcastically.

 

Francona said he does not plan to speak to Showalter about the controversy. But clearly it rankled him.

 

"I just thought that was a little bit out of line," he said. "I don't think he'd be appreciating if I said something about Andy [MacPhail, Baltimore's president of baseball operations], which I wouldn't. It's none of my business. And for the record, I think Andy's really good."

 

Showalter claimed a few days about that his remarks were taken out of context. Approached by a Globe reporter this morning, he said he had not read the article.

 

"I guess I should read it. I keep getting asked about it," he said.

 

Showalter was asked whether he planned to apologize to Epstein.

 

"Let me get through spring training," he said. "Let me get through spring training. Then we'll see what happens."

 

Epstein has refused comment about the matter.

 

Showalter's original comment was:

 

"I’d like to see how smart Theo Epstein is with the Tampa Bay payroll. You got Carl Crawford ’cause you paid more than anyone else, and that’s what makes you smarter? That’s why I like whipping their butt. It’s great, knowing those guys with the $205 million payroll are saying, ‘How the hell are they beating us?’ ”

 

Getting defensive? I don't think so. Even the usually calm Tito was very annoyed by this. It wasn't a "harmless comment", it was an act of sheer stupidity.

[Divinity]

All of that said . . . man, was he ever spot-on about Jeter.

 

The research department of ESPN has discovered actually Jeter in fact gets strikes called more often on balls inside than the major leaguer average does

 

http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/spring2011/news/story?id=6263858

 

Watch the video

[VA Sox Fan]

Showalter apologizes to Epstein

 

Posted by Peter Abraham, Globe Staff March 28, 2011 09:57 AM

By Peter Abraham, Globe Staff

 

FORT MYERS, Fla. — Orioles manager Buck Showalter called Red Sox GM Theo Epstein to apologize for his comments he made to Men's Journal magazine.

 

The apology was accepted and Epstein considers the matter closed.

[a700hitter]

The research department of ESPN has discovered actually Jeter in fact gets strikes called more often on balls inside than the major leaguer average does

 

http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/spring2011/news/story?id=6263858

 

Watch the video

and the whining begins.

[boston22407]

Showalter apologizes to Epstein

 

Posted by Peter Abraham, Globe Staff March 28, 2011 09:57 AM

By Peter Abraham, Globe Staff

 

FORT MYERS, Fla. — Orioles manager Buck Showalter called Red Sox GM Theo Epstein to apologize for his comments he made to Men's Journal magazine.

 

The apology was accepted and Epstein considers the matter closed.

 

what a bitch