Buck Showalter recently criticized New York Yankees shortstop Derek Jeter on his overly dramatic acts on the baseball field. Apparently he didn’t like seeing Jeter pretend to get hit by a pitch.
Showalter, the new Orioles manager who led Baltimore to a winning record during his short stint towards the end of the 2010 season, is just trying to catch the public’s eye, and he succeeded. It is obvious that he is showing that he cares about his team, and perhaps he’s trying to motivate them, too.
Sure, it is upsetting that the opposing team got a free base even though they did not deserve it, but that doesn’t mean that he just start attacking another player for doing that.
However, the question that remains is: why do this? Just play the game, Buck. The O’s themselves can act too if they think it’s so not fair. I am not implying that everyone should cheat, but to play the game.
I do see how Showalter is also trying to bring back the foundations of baseball, but did it have to be so negative? If we follow the foundation, players should go out there and give 110 percent every single game. Jeter probably doesn’t even care about the comment.
Showalter went on to criticize Boston Red Sox GM Theo Epstein that anyone can do just as well he can with the budget he has on the free-agent market. Oh goodness, thank you for stating the obvious.
Trying to send a message to your young, inexperienced team is perfectly fine. Getting the fans excited is perfectly fine. But just remember there are kids watching the game as well, and using these negative terms to do this just seems to be wrong to me.
(Note: I do have plenty of respect for Buck Showalter–in fact, he is one of my favorite baseball icons. He just happens to be off base on this particular issue.)
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