I love a good movie western. One of the reasons why is the western hero. He’s like Odysseus with a six-shooter or Beowulf on a horse. And like those other old dudes, the western hero is a stoic who does what needs to be done.
The ethos of the western hero was never put on film more elegantly than by Randolph Scott who said in not one, but two films, “some things a man can’t ride around.”
Last week Max Scherzer was ejected from a game by umpire Phil Cuzzi for having sticky hands. Scherzer, justifiably, went Mad Max after being tossed. He was saved from further damage by Buck Showalter who convinced Scherzer to leave before the situation (fines and suspension) got worse.
Showalter received criticism by the angry on the internet and actual, real world journalists for not getting ejected himself. The thinking is Buck has to get tossed to stick up for his pitcher. There has to be yelling, cursing, and dirt kicking. A full-on tantrum.
This kind of thinking is juvenile, reductive, and ridiculous. And more than anything it proves that you don’t know Buck.
Buck’s firing from the Yankees in 1995 tells you everything you need to know. Yankees owner George Steinbrenner offered Showalter a two year contract provided that he fired hitting coach Rick Down.
Put it in perspective.
Buck never made it to the show as a player. After 7 years as a minor league player, he got his first managing job in 1985 for the single-A Oneonta Yankees. Showalter worked his way up to the big club and led them to the playoffs for the first time in 14 seasons.
At this point, Showalter had been with the Yankees organization since 1977. Buck had the biggest job in baseball. He had the chance to take the Yankees to the promised land. And when you do that you become near a god.
But Buck chose mortality. George Steinbrenner had no business picking the coaching staff. Sure he’s the owner but he’s not a baseball man. Baseball decisions are best left to baseball people and not businessmen.
Buck chose morality. It would’ve been simple to just let Rick Down go. Down would’ve understood and been able to live with it. But Buck Showalter knew that HE wouldn’t be able to live with it. Some things a man can’t ride around.
Which brings us back to Cuzzi vs Scherzer. Showalter is the manager of the New York Mets. It’s his job to put the players in the dugout and on the field in the best position to win. He can’t do that if he’s been ejected.
Had Showalter called Cuzzi every wonderful four-letter name under the sun, it wouldn’t have done any good. Scherzer was gone and the Mets still had a game to win. Which they did 5-3.
Baseball managers look a bit foolish when they get tossed from games. Think of the manager of the team across town who was ejected from 9 games in 2022. Aaron Boone seems like a good guy but getting kicked out of 9 games puts out the desperate vibe.
Max Scherzer doesn’t need proof Showalter has his back. Which is why Scherzer trusted his manager and left the field. While the situation blows cause of a ridiculous ump show, Scherzer will only miss 1 start instead of who knows how many if he had let loose on Cuzzi after being ejected.
Now Max is back for the last game against the Braves on May 1st. And he’s pissed.
At the end of a western, the hero usually rides out of town after saving it. He heads into the sunset and the wide open country.
For most of his adult life, Buck Showalter has succeeded in a game that compels failure. He hasn’t had the opportunity to manage a world series game yet. His players love him. I’m sure they would like nothing more than to send him into the sunset as a world series champion. And to the kind of immortality that a hero deserves.
Notes From the Last 6 Games
Let’s hear it for Joey Lucchesi! He gave the Mets 7 shutout innings in an emergency start. He’s earned the right to go again
We won’t be able to survive if the starting pitchers can’t go longer than 5 innings. Our bullpen has been admirable so far but this is too heavy a burden to carry for 162 games.
Brett Baty and Francisco Alvarez are struggling. But they don’t look overwhelmed. Baty looks a bit more comfortable and Alvarez has shown signs. Long-term success in baseball is driven by the farm system. So we need the kids to play in order to figure it out.
14-10 and 3rd in the Wild Card as of this post. Not bad but there are dragons behind us (Phillies, Cardinals, Padres, etc). Eventually they’ll start shooting fire.
#LGM #LFGM
4/26/23
