Buck is a good baseball man he helped build those two teams up to that point.

Buck really didn’t say anything bad about DJ.

I loved the Theo dig, it is true.

http://espn.go.com/blog/boston/red-sox/post/_/id/8993/showalters-slap-at-theo-has-no-sting

It really comes down to the fact that Showalter stalled out in AA after 5 years in the system and Mattingly took 3 years to go to AAA and perform. In 1982 Showalter hit .294/.366/.379, 3,46 at AA and Mattingly hit .315/.378/.437, 10,75 at AAA. The previous season they were AA teammates and one of the guys hit .316 with 98 RBI while the other hit .264 with 38.

It’s not like Buck was blocked by a 19th Rd. Draft pick who was groomed by the Yankees for stardom. He was a light hitting first baseman who stalled at AA at age 26 and never hit in limited opportunities at AAA. In Showalter’s last season Mattingly wasn’t even established in the majors and played OF more than 1B.

Not sure this method works on some baseball umpires though, given their lofty egos and inability to admit they might be wrong once in a while.

It’s probably also an attempt by Showalter to direct attention to himself, which theoretically takes pressure and focus off the players. Plus it’s certainly a bold way to promote a new attitude to his team.

The “luxury tax” is NOT part of revenue sharing. Other teams do NOT recieve a dime of it. Do a little bit of research.

Then… then it would be on, my friend.

No he doesn’t.

First of all he’s right. Jeter’s one of my favorite all time players but that “…umping back from balls just off the plate.” stuff, .. he does do that a lot and gets away with it. Read it carefully, he didn’t criticize Epstein, just the notion that he’s a genius, which for the record he isn’t. The only thing out of the ordinary is he said it aloud.

And, you’re missing the point. The incident I referred to the Yankees weren’t happy about something and Madden didn’t care and made a point of saying so. Showalter is doing the same thing. He’s, depending one your point of view, declaring that he’s not concerned about what the Yankees or Red Sox think or hanging a target on the O’s collective back.

While I wouldn’t have done that I understand he did and I think the O’s will be a bigger problem for the powers in the AL than most people think and right around .500 is a reasonable expectation.

More likely he just didn’t realize he hadn’t mentioned the Yankees, or something. I mean, it’s easier to make a mistake like that when speaking than typing from your mom’s basement. (Like I am right now. I am currently typing from your mom’s basement.)

The other weird thing is that Showalter himself only beat the Red Sox 3 times last year, so it’s not like he had a ton of times to celebrate “whipping their butt”. (As an aside, isn’t the phrase “whupping their butt”? That’s a lot more manly than using a whip on someone’s rear end, which sounds more like an S&M thing.) And the Orioles got whupped themselves by the Yankees last year, and the FIVE victories they had weren’t even all with Showalter at the helm.

Snark’d or unsnark’d versions aside, the great thing about the 9-9 record the Os managed against Boston (is 11-11 counting Spring Training?) is that even the low-payroll teams (which the Orioles weren’t, but still) can beat the big boys any given day in this sport. And while as a Sox fan it was frustrating, of course, there’s always SOME team that beats your more than it “should”. Gotta love the quirks of baseball, even when they work against your favorite team.