May 31, 2022; New York City, New York, USA; New York Mets manager Buck Showalter (11) and shortstop Francisco Lindor (12) shake hands after defeating the Washington Nationals at Citi Field. Mandatory Credit: Brad Penner-USA TODAY Sports
It was a Sunday night in Anaheim, Calif., and Buck Showalter’s heart was still pounding. For good reason.
Just minutes before, he’d waved in his closer, Edwin Díaz, to face a guy named Mike Trout — in the eighth inning. There was a time when the Mets manager never would have played that card. But he played it here — and everything worked, just the way he’d scripted it in his head.
Trout represented the tying run. And down he went, whiffing on a fire-breathing 99.7 mph fastball. Díaz would go on to close out the first five-out, five-K save of his career. And as Showalter ambled out of the dugout to take in the Mets’ postgame handshake line, he found himself doing something else he used to never fit into his busy schedule.
He savored the moment.
“I’m pretty good at taking in a moment,” Showalter told Doug Glanville and me on the latest Starkville edition of “The Athletic Baseball Show.” “If we have a great walk-off win or something or what have you, I’ll stop for a moment, kind of watch the players celebrate, take it in.
“Watching Edwin Díaz compete against Mike Trout, with people standing on their feet and the game on the line, that’s cool. If you don’t like that, even though it can be an anxiety situation for some, it gives me a kind of peace to realize how lucky and honored you are to be able to watch that and watch certain things evolve during a game.”
This entire conversation was Showalter at his unfiltered and insightful best, weaving through everything from Mets owner Steve Cohen’s art collection to Francisco Lindor’s passion for the game to Shakira’s recent visit. But it was when Showalter talked about how he’d learned over time to stop and appreciate those special baseball moments that he gave us a window into how the Buck Showalter of 2022 compares with the Buck of old.
“Billy Martin had a line, a long time ago,” he said. “I was walking down the runway with him in Fort Lauderdale. And he said, ‘Come on, young man. Let’s go see what the boys have in store for us today.’ You know, there’s probably something every night where I kind of go, ‘Wow. I don’t know if I’ve ever seen that before.’ And it’s interesting. When you kind of look at some of your veteran coaches, and they look at you, and they go, ‘I’ve never seen that before’ — that’s why we play the game. That’s why there’s a heartbeat to our game, and it continues to make us want to watch it.”
Two months into his first year as manager of the Mets, Showalter has made himself the early favorite for National League manager of the year. His team has spent the last two months in first place. He has the most skeptical fans in America in his corner. And he has the players buying into his special blend of encyclopedic wisdom and never-ending curiosity, mixed with a sense of fun many of them never expected.
It all poured out of him in his visit to Starkville. So here are some of the memorable excerpts, which have been edited for clarity and length.
ON WONDERING IF HE’D EVER GET ANOTHER CHANCE TO MANAGE: I didn’t wonder. I didn’t. I’m not saying I didn’t care. But it’s not going to define my life. I’ve got children, I’ve got some grandkids. … Just, I enjoy, as we get older and learn more about what not to do, I enjoy helping people and impacting their lives. And (saying), “Hey, don’t do that. I did that. I made a mistake.” You know, it’s simple as that. And learn things. I learn something every day. We’ve got a lot of new things that are really another shape of old things, and that I’m learning.
ON WHY THE METS HAVE BEEN SUCH A GREAT FIT: It’s a great opportunity. I had some things pass my way (opportunities with other teams). But I think that this one really fit me. I really like (general manager) Billy Eppler and our front office and the way we do things. And of course, we have great ownership with Steve (Cohen). And it’s been fun. We’ve been winning more than we’ve been losing. And I know how it goes. Nobody wants to hear about the struggles. They want to hear the end game. And we know what the end game is here.
ON ENJOYING HOW LINDOR AND EDUARDO ESCOBAR MESS WITH HIM DURING PITCHING CHANGES: Hey, I’m like a good-luck charm for them or something. They paw on me. I don’t care. Whatever. We’re trying to win a game. If that makes them feel more comfortable, I think sometimes it’s kind of like whistling in the graveyard. You know, there are some tense moments out there. You’ve got the game on the line. And here comes Edwin Díaz to face Trout or whatever. And I think it lightens the mood a little bit.
I don’t take myself nearly as seriously as people think. I take what I’m hired to do very seriously. But, you know, getting to the end game is what it’s all about, and how we get there, I’m OK with it. Believe me … you don’t see what I do to them behind the scenes.
ON BONDING WITH LINDOR: He loves the intricacies of the game. When he puts his hand up when I go, “Any questions?” and he starts talking, I go, “Oh, geez. Here it comes.” He’s good. He’s a student of the game. And he watches. In other words, he’s that guy that has court awareness. He sees the cutting guards. He sees the backdoor cut. He sees the snowbird, the cherry picker on the fast break. He’s good, man. He’s got alert eyes, and he takes it in. And he laughs easily. And I tell him, “No, don’t lose that.”
ON WHETHER THE “OLD BUCK SHOWALTER” WOULD HAVE BROUGHT IN HIS CLOSER IN THE EIGHTH INNING (AS HE DID TWICE ON THE METS’ LAST ROAD TRIP): Probably not. Probably wouldn’t have been allowed to by the front office. You know (people think) it’s the other way around. People looked at me, but there’s another way that’s evolved. I mean, I’ve got three MVP candidates hitting in the eighth inning (Mookie Betts, Freddie Freeman, Trea Turner in Los Angeles last week). And why wouldn’t I take my best pitcher to pitch against them? I had Mike Trout (up Sunday) with a chance to tie the game up in the eighth inning.
They were two different situations there, though, because Edwin had only pitched once out of five days (before Sunday), and it was like an 11-pitch outing. He was equipped to do it physically, and the game dictated it was OK. And we talked about it before the game that night. Over in L.A., that wasn’t the case. But we thought the game was going to be won or lost in the eighth inning.
ON HIS FIRST LOOK AT COHEN’S ART COLLECTION WHEN HE INTERVIEWED FOR THE JOB AT COHEN’S HOUSE: I had a birthday recently, and you know, we’re the same age (66). So I don’t know if we have some of the same interests, but the artwork — I mean, I have an interest in it. But I usually have to pay to go see that stuff. …
(So after the interview) I really want to see some of this artwork, OK? And now I know there’s a different look to it. You remember the Andy Warhol picture of Marilyn Monroe with kind of the yellow hair jumping out at you? Well, I’m walking through with him, and he’s kind of talking to Billy (Eppler) and (team president) Sandy Alderson. I said, “Wow, I remember this picture. I’ve seen this before. I think Andy Warhol did it. That’s a beautiful copy.” And he goes, “That’s not a copy. That’s it.” … And when you have a piece of artwork in the bathroom that’s worth more than your house, you know you’re in high cotton there.