We had actual, mid-lockout baseball news this weekend: the Mets have hired Buck Showalter to be their next manager. I'm also in full-on Hall of Fame mode, so why not merge the discussions? Sure, Showalter is a manager and won't ever be included on the BBWAA ballot, which is reserved for players, but he's worthy of Hall of Fame discussion.
Just where might he be? He's actually not far off, but there is one glaring omission to this point on his resume.
With 1,551 wins, Showalter is 24th in MLB history. The overwhelming majority of managers in front of him on the leaderboard are Hall of Famers or will be soon (such as Bruce Bochy, Terry Francona, Jim Leyland and, hopefully, Dusty Baker). Showalter already has more wins than Hall of Famers Earl Weaver, Miller Huggins, Whitey Herzog and several others.
Showalter has taken three different teams to the playoffs. Though it's been used against him that the Yankees and Diamondbacks won the World Series the year after Showalter was fired, I find it a testament to the shape in which he left his teams. A Hall of Fame manager builds his teams toward World Series contention and Showalter has done it with four different teams:
The Yankees won the 1996 World Series, fresh off four years of Showalter.Showalter managed the Diamondbacks for three years, winning just 65 games in their inaugural 1998 season and going to 100 wins the next season. He was fired after 85 wins in 2000 and the same foundation won it all the next year. He managed the Rangers for four years and three years after he was fired, they won their first of two straight AL pennants. His first full year with the Orioles they won just 69 games. His second? 93 wins. They won 96 games and got to the ALCS in his fourth full season, too.Of course, one might notice there's something we haven't mentioned yet.
Showalter has never won a pennant. He has the second-most wins, after Gene Mauch, among managers with zero pennants. Only Baker and Mauch are above him in wins among managers without a World Series championship.
It'll be relatively easy for Showalter to jump into the top 20 all-time in wins this season. With just 69 wins, he jumps Dick Williams, Tommy Lasorda, Fred Clarke and Ralph Houk to move into 20th.
He's still, however, probably outside the Hall of Fame discussion until he wins at least one pennant. And if the Mets win the World Series under Showalter, he's a Hall of Famer. It's just that simple.
