Throwback Thursday: Buck’s Win Rule

As frustrations mount over blown saves, some Orioles fans (we at Bird’s Eye View, included) are starting to question Buck Showalter’s management of the bullpen, and whether his loyalty to specific ballplayers is getting in the way of winning games.

Tommy Hunter is the current lightning rod, but this same issue presented itself with Jim Johnson in 2013, when he blew 9 saves for a team that missed the playoffs by 6.5 games.

For this Throwback Thursday, I want to take you back to a time when Showalter could do no wrong. Showalter took over a bad club, and he got results. After arriving in August 2010, he went 34-23, steering the Orioles to more wins than they had mustered during the 105 games without him. Fans were excited, but I’m not sure how we knew how much we would grow to appreciate Buck. In the weeks to come, we would realize that his standards were high, his expectations clear, and his wit, was dry.

In that first game with the Orioles, Showalter had lefty Michael Gonzales (yikes) pitch the 8th inning, and brought him back out in the ninth to face two batters, before calling in the designated closer Alfredo Simon (yikes) to finish the game. The save opportunity was gone. When asked about it in his post game, Buck said the following:

The matchup was a lot better. Gonzo, I’ve been watching him throw the ball and talking to Kranny and some of the guys. And I liked the switch-hitters turned around. The tough call was Hunter. That’s a tie ballgame at worst, though, and we like our chances at home with the last at-bat. Take our chances.

Believe me, I know the save rule and, quite frankly, it doesn’t carry much weight with me. I like the win rule a little bit better.

Check the 3:40 mark of this video.

He said it.

Let’s see if he still means it.