CBN HOF Series: Buck Showalter on Derek Jeter
Buck Showalter (left), then managing the Baltimore Orioles, talks with 2020 National Baseball Hall of Fame inductee Derek Jeter. Showalter was Jeter’s first big league manager with the Yankees. Photo: Baltimore Sun
In this, the sixth article in our Hall of Fame series, former New York Yankees manager Buck Showalter pays tribute to Derek Jeter who will be inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame on September 8, alongside Larry Walker (Maple Ridge, B.C.), Ted Simmons and Marvin Miller.
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Larry Walker’s dad pays tribute to his son ||||| Steve Rogers pays tribute to Marvin Miller
Clint Hurdle on Larry Walker IIIII Mario Ziino pays tribute to Ted Simmons IIIII Stubby Clapp on Larry Walker
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August 25, 2021
By Buck Showalter
Former New York Yankees manager
I remember well the first time I set eyes on Derek Jeter. It was post draft in 1992 and he was 18 years old sitting in the dugout of Yankee Stadium before he was presented to the Yankee universe in his first press conference during batting practice before a day game.
Derek was lean and athletic, with alert eyes, aware of everything going on around him peripherally, taking it all in without a hint of intimidation. I remember how respectful he was of his mom and dad and sister, and how impressed I was with his parents and an obvious loving and disciplined upbringing.
Thinking to myself, I didn’t know much about his skill set yet, though I had heard great things (from Dick Groch a top amateur scout who I respected) but that all the things that normally challenge players off the field with New York wouldn’t have much impact on this young man.
Fast forward to a conversation I had with Brian Butterfield, the best infield coach I ever had, who was at instructional league with Derek, making some adjustments after a 56-error season in the South Atlantic with the Greensboro Hornets.
It went something like this ... “Butter, are you sure this guy can play defence?? Fifty-six errors! C’mon man.”
And Butterfield said, “He’s gonna be a good defender because he will figure it out, because he refuses to fail ... and it’s just a little foot work issue we will fix, to get him into his legs more. Relax and just say thank you!”
Another push of the fast forward button to the playoffs of 1995 against Seattle, (General manager) Gene Michael and I had decided it would be a good idea to have Derek travel with us though not on playoff roster to take in the playoff atmosphere for future reference for him. I told he and Jorge Posada that if I heard about them running the streets of New York during this “baseball vacation,” I’d have em “both in instructional league the next morning!” Derek and Jorge told me later I scared em so bad they didn’t leave their hotel room the whole time.
Fast forward again to Yankee Stadium during Derek’s last game against the Baltimore Orioles. A lot of people have asked if I would have normally walked Derek with a first base open and the winning run at second base if it wasn’t his last game. Well, some things I’ll never tell but Derek wasn’t swinging the bat very well at that point and Brian McCann was on deck and Mark Teixeira was next. I didn’t like my chances of getting a non partial escort to the team bus that day. We’d clinched our division that year -- we won 96 games that year -- and I didn’t want to deal with extra innings that close to the playoffs.
I could go on and on but I’ll leave you with this ... in a “look at me,” sports world where open individual self promotion is tolerated and even promoted, Derek’s style was his substance, not his substance being his style. And to that end, he was the most stylish player I ever managed or saw that played the game with a certain grace and elegance that may not pass our way again.
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On top of being an excellent manager with the Yankees, Buck Showalter also appeared in a Seinfeld episode.
Buck Showalter is a three-time American League manager of the year: 1994 with the New York Yankees, 2004 with the Texas Rangers and 2014 with the Baltimore Orioles.
In all, he managed 20 seasons, including the first three seasons of the expansion Arizona Diamondbacks. He managed his four MLB teams to a 1,551-1,517 career won-loss record (.506 winning mark).
Showalter managed the Yankees to the 1995 AL Division Series losing to the Seattle Mariners. He won 100 games with the second-year Diamondbacks, who lost the NLDS to the New York Mets. He led the Baltimore Orioles to a win over the Rangers in the 2012 wild-card game before losing the ALDS to the Yankees. His O’s squad swept the Detroit Tigers in the 2014 ALDS but lost the ALCS to the Kansas City Royals. Also, after leading the O’s to an 89-73 regular season record in 2016, the Orioles lost the wild card game that year to the Toronto Blue Jays in 11 innings at Rogers Centre.