Attention to detail is what makes Showalter tick

One of the best ways to appreciate Buck Showalter’s genius is to show up early one morning in Spring Training and watch him run a couple of drills with his Baltimore Orioles.

On Showalter’s 60th birthday, this is a path to understanding one of baseball’s most respected, creative and successful managers.

Sixty? That’s just a number.

After 2,625 games in charge of the Yankees, D-backs, Rangers, and for the last seven years, the Orioles, Showalter is as obsessive and competitive as ever.

In fact, this 18th season as a Major League manager might just be the most fun he has ever had.

His Baltimore legacy will be that he has rekindled the fire in one of the country’s great baseball cities. In the last five seasons, the Orioles have won more games in the regular season than any other American League team.

And in 2012, Showalter’s second full season on the job, the Orioles made their first postseason appearance in 15 seasons.

Along the way, he pushed almost every right button. Showalter made sure every current Oriole understood the franchise’s history.

Showalter lined the hallways at Camden Yards with photos of Orioles legends, introduced his players to Brooks Robinson, Earl Weaver, etc., and attempted to get his players to feel the same pride that other generations of Baltimore baseball players — and fans — had felt.

Showalter hadn’t managed a game in four years when Orioles owner Peter Angelos took a chance on him. Showalter’s reputation was that he wore people out with his hands-on personality, so his hiring was a gamble.

Angelos followed up 18 months later by hiring excutive vice president of baseball operations Dan Duquette, who’d been out of the game for 10 years, as general manager. In five seasons together, Showalter and Duquette have crafted a successful professional marriage.

Way back in Spring Training, the Orioles were penciled in for fourth or fifth place in the AL East. Their starting rotation was a mess, their lineup lacking depth.

Showalter loved the doubt. He fed off it, was motivated by it. He made sure his players knew about it, too.

Two months later, the Orioles (26-16) have the best record in the AL — percentage points better than the Red Sox (27-17) — and have spent all but three days in first place.

They’ve done this despite a starting rotation that has been shaky at times and with two of their most important players — shortstop J.J. Hardy and right-hander Yovani Gallardo — on the disabled list.

They’re winning anyway with an offense, bullpen and …

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