Young Orioles fan asks Buck Showalter why he never smiles
Managing a baseball team is a high-stress job. There’s so much pressure to win, and when that doesn’t happen the manager is often the one who takes the brunt of the blame. After a tough season, the manager is often the first member of the club to be fired. Whether it’s warranted, the manager is often deemed the most expendable.
[Elsewhere: Rob Manfred has ruled against Pete Rose’s reinstatement]
Because of that, it’s understandable that most managers don’t show a ton of emotion in the dugout. A game of baseball can change in an instant, and you never want to appear too high or too low.
That said, it wouldn’t kill these guys to smile every so often. One young fan at the Baltimore Orioles fan fest noticed this, and decided to ask manager Buck Showalter why he’s so serious during games.
The young reporter in question, Lily, first turns to pitchers Miguel Gonzalez and Chris Tillman in order to get her answer. Both laugh initially, and then Tillman explains that Showalter does smile fairly often, but puts on a tough guy act during games. After giving his answer, Tillman says not to tell Showalter what he said.
Lily is determined to get an answer from the man himself, though, and later decides to ask Showalter the same question. Like a true reporter, Lily refuses to give up what Tillman said about his manager. Showalter considers the question for a second before saying he does smile, but he’s focused on the game for the most part. He admits that Adam Jones occasionally makes him laugh, but he’ll move out of sight of the television cameras when that happens.
The exchange is pretty humorous, and made even better by the fact that Showalter was involved. Showalter has been around the game for so long that it’s easy to think of him as humorless, and weathered by years of taking high-stress positions. The question would be funny if posed to any manager, but Showalter seems like the ideal candidate.
His answer shouldn’t come as a surprise, either. Of course managers smile and have a good time. It’s just tough for them to show all that emotion during the course of a game. They are normal people with emotions, though. It may not always seem that way, but it’s true.
[Watch: Bryce Harper serenaded a young fan at the team’s fan fest]
So, remember that the next time Showalter goes to the mound to remove a pitcher from a game where his team is trailing 15-6. His face may be red, and he may seem really angry, but maybe he’s smiling on the inside?
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Chris Cwik is a writer for Big League Stew on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at [email protected] or follow him on Twitter! Follow @Chris_Cwik
