Dressed in his orange and black and walking with a cane after knee surgery in the off season, Buck Showalter sat down to talk to reporters and immediately started cracking jokes.
“Very chic, is that the word?”
Then he started fielding questions. Of course, the first thing on everyone’s mind is second baseman, Brian Roberts, who injured his hamstring in yesterday’s game. He had an MRI earlier this morning and the results are not yet in. Ryan Flaherty is filling in for Roberts today.
“It’s tough for him, you can imagine what’s going on in his head. I think everybody kind of feels for him because we know how hard he worked to get back to this point.”
Showalter offered this advice to the ballplayer who sat out most of last season with injuries.
“Just because things are delayed, doesn’t mean they’re denied. It will heal and he will play for us again. It’s another challenge. I try not to live in gloom and doom world. There’s too many good things in our lives.”
The man many call “Skipper” took a moment to tell his players – and his fans – just what he cherishes about this game.
“I told them many, many times in the Spring that things don’t always follow script – it’s how you react that fall off script. I said, why do people go to the games? Why do we play the game if everything is scripted? It would be awfully boring. We’re human beings. It’s why we play the games. It’s not always fun to manage it. It’s entertaining. Everytime, I go “really? Hmm. How we gonna make that adjustment?”
Yet, it would seem adjustments are Buck’s specialty. Last season, the team kept the good times rolling for O’s fans in large part due to Buck’s skillful juggling of the lineup in numerous extra inning games.
He says the players know how sweet it is for these fans who have waited a long time to have a reason to get excited about baseball again. Showalter says he steps back and looks at Opening Day with emotion, savoring the fresh start to the season. To do that, he says, he takes on the perspective of others.
“Living it through the young players eyes – like Manny and TJ and then kind of seeing it through the fans eyes.”
Soon after, the manager joined his team at batting practice and paid careful attention not to step on freshly painted number 4, right in front of the dugout – a tribute to the late great Oriole, Earl Weaver. 3rd baseman Manny Machado signed autographs and five year old Abby Allman from Glen Burnie held up a sign that read, “Welcome Home, Boys” as she watched her team warm up.
I’m Mary Rose Madden reporting from Camden Yards for 88-1, WYPR.