Q&A: Showalter discusses his career arc, life as a manager

Buck Showalter is a rare breed. He managed the Yankees for George Steinbrenner, quit after being told he had to fire coaches, and was never lured back to the Bronx.

A fifth-round Draft choice of the Yankees out of Mississippi State in 1977, he played, coached and managed for 19 years in the Yankees organization. His resignation came after he guided the Yankees to first place in the American League East at the time of the 1994 strike — which wiped out the postseason — and ended the team’s 13-year postseason drought by claiming the AL Wild Card in ’95.

Showalter became the D-backs’ first manager, signing a contract in 1996, and spent two years helping to put the franchise together before its first game was played in ’98. The D-backs made expansion history when they won 100 games and the National League West in their second campaign in ’99. He was let go after the following season, when the team went 85-77.

He eventually landed with the Rangers, where he spent four seasons (2003-06), before he took over as manager of the Orioles 106 games into the ’10 season.

Showalter discussed his journey in this week’s Q&A:

MLB.com: Have you undergone a change at each stop along the way in your managerial career?

Showalter: We’re always evolving. I learn something every day about players and the game. That’s what’s great about this game. There’s not a day where something different doesn’t happen. It’s not always in a game, where I go, “I’ve never seen that before.” There’s this comedy sketch where a guy says, “I’ve been let go 34 times.” Somebody says, “How do you feel about that?” The guy says, “I look at it this way, I got hired 34 times.”

MLB.com: Can you think of a particular thing or two that sticks out?

Showalter: You have to [do] a lot of things in this job — things you don’t necessarily have responsibility for, but you are the visible face of the franchise, and you make franchise decisions. You don’t take it as [personally] as you once did. I lost my naivety in Arizona. I left New York [of] my own accord.

MLB.com: What happened with the Yankees?

Showalter: It was all about firing coaches, and it broke my heart. I’d been in that organization 19 years. I didn’t want to leave, but my dad would tell me when I was young, “There is going to come a …

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