WEBVTT - Former Manager Buck Showalter joins Ravech’s Dirt From The Dugout 0:00:04.000 --> 0:00:08.280 Buck, Welcome to the best show ever. This is Dirt 0:00:08.320 --> 0:00:12.200 from the Dugout where our goal is through your experiences 0:00:12.880 --> 0:00:17.120 to help parents of ball players hear what you did 0:00:17.680 --> 0:00:21.360 your journey, so that they may take some things, discard 0:00:21.480 --> 0:00:25.640 some things, but more importantly learn from you about how 0:00:25.680 --> 0:00:28.400 you got to where you got to. So welcome to 0:00:28.440 --> 0:00:30.280 the program. It's great to see you. 0:00:31.720 --> 0:00:34.320 Hey, Carl Justin, nice to meet you. You know he 0:00:34.320 --> 0:00:36.960 didn't tell the rest of that story that Carl's a 0:00:37.000 --> 0:00:39.560 handsome young man at that point, not that he isn't now, 0:00:39.600 --> 0:00:43.680 but his nose, his lips, his face, his ears, what 0:00:43.800 --> 0:00:46.640 is it? Will Smith movie? Remember where he took something 0:00:46.760 --> 0:00:51.239 the largic reaction. Yeah, my son was like eight years old. 0:00:51.280 --> 0:00:54.600 He goes, Dad, is mister Rabbit's gonna die? And I 0:00:54.640 --> 0:00:57.680 said we better get on the move because it didn't 0:00:57.680 --> 0:01:00.920 look good. But you know, there's such a good This 0:01:01.000 --> 0:01:03.640 is a great exercise you guys do. I applaud you 0:01:03.680 --> 0:01:06.839 for it. It's a I kind of shake my head sometimes. 0:01:07.200 --> 0:01:08.560 You know, I don't want to be the old guy 0:01:08.600 --> 0:01:10.280 on the front porch scream at the kids in the 0:01:10.319 --> 0:01:13.320 front yard. But you know, I have four grandsons now, 0:01:13.360 --> 0:01:15.000 and I go to a lot of their games. And 0:01:15.160 --> 0:01:17.320 actually my wife makes me go stand out in left 0:01:17.319 --> 0:01:20.600 field because he's afraid I'm going to say something. You know, 0:01:21.640 --> 0:01:23.440 I grew up in a in especially. You know, I 0:01:23.520 --> 0:01:26.400 have a great memories of my childhood because you know 0:01:26.440 --> 0:01:28.520 it is right out of the movie Sandlight. We had 0:01:29.360 --> 0:01:31.160 you know, you got a T shirt. You took a 0:01:31.240 --> 0:01:32.960 magic mark. He wrote your name on the back and 0:01:33.000 --> 0:01:35.840 your number on the back of it. Uh. We only 0:01:35.840 --> 0:01:37.760 had six guys on the team. We built our own 0:01:37.760 --> 0:01:40.360 backstop and this was we called it a Dungaree League, 0:01:40.360 --> 0:01:43.640 back when East called Jeans Dunger East. And I learned 0:01:43.680 --> 0:01:45.440 how to hit the ball the other way because they 0:01:45.520 --> 0:01:47.160 couldn't put a guy in the left field. I was 0:01:47.280 --> 0:01:49.760 left hand hitter. You know, you learn how to argue, 0:01:49.880 --> 0:01:52.360 you learn how to make your point. If you pull 0:01:52.400 --> 0:01:54.960 the ball too too much, the ball went in the 0:01:55.000 --> 0:01:58.600 creek and the game was over. So you know, and 0:01:58.640 --> 0:02:01.920 I grew up in the air where you play football, baseball, basketball, football, 0:02:01.960 --> 0:02:05.200 baseball basketball. One reason why I probably stayed out of trouble. 0:02:05.760 --> 0:02:07.960 But I also grew up in Maybury. You know, twenty 0:02:08.040 --> 0:02:11.040 five hundred people. Everybody knew everybody, and it was an ideal, 0:02:12.080 --> 0:02:16.000 but you fault to your fights, you know, not physically necessarily, 0:02:16.040 --> 0:02:21.640 but the whole travel ball thing, it's a sour point 0:02:21.639 --> 0:02:22.760 for me, you know, when. 0:02:23.960 --> 0:02:27.640 You're successfully covering a million subjects and I just I 0:02:27.720 --> 0:02:31.320 just want to for me, justin growing up, when when 0:02:31.360 --> 0:02:35.800 we didn't have enough players, you actually couldn't hit it 0:02:35.840 --> 0:02:38.480 to right field because nobody's out there to get it, 0:02:38.520 --> 0:02:40.799 as opposed to I'm going to hit it to right 0:02:40.840 --> 0:02:42.720 field and I'm going to run around the bases because 0:02:42.720 --> 0:02:45.000 there's nobody out there in right field. Did you have 0:02:45.120 --> 0:02:46.280 similar situations? 0:02:46.440 --> 0:02:49.520 Justin one hundred percent? We played uh what was called 0:02:49.600 --> 0:02:52.680 Hoggin rules. Shout out to Joe Joey Connup and some 0:02:52.760 --> 0:02:55.359 of the some of my boys from the sandlot in 0:02:55.400 --> 0:02:59.080 Baseball Park. But our rule was so we would usually 0:02:59.120 --> 0:03:01.520 we were lucky. Buck, you got six on the team, 0:03:01.639 --> 0:03:04.160 we were lucky to get like four. And the rule 0:03:04.400 --> 0:03:07.840 was oh yeah, oh yeah, ghost arms. We had huge 0:03:07.840 --> 0:03:10.280 debates over center field, so that was our cutoff on 0:03:10.320 --> 0:03:13.760 any out was like anything away, any any opposite field hit, 0:03:14.480 --> 0:03:17.200 it was automatic out. So guess who grew up as 0:03:17.240 --> 0:03:22.200 a big time pull hitter. Buck. It's all it's all 0:03:22.280 --> 0:03:25.160 I did, man. But but we it's like you said, 0:03:25.280 --> 0:03:27.280 you learn how to you learn how to handle things, 0:03:27.280 --> 0:03:29.400 You learn how to talk through things. You you have 0:03:29.480 --> 0:03:32.359 debates as friends and what happened, and you learn some 0:03:32.360 --> 0:03:35.720 some true like adversity stuff on the field where no 0:03:35.960 --> 0:03:38.000 other parents are around to take over. But I want 0:03:38.040 --> 0:03:40.000 to jump in on that really quick, though, Buck, because 0:03:40.800 --> 0:03:43.600 you know we're we're not here to to bash anything, 0:03:43.680 --> 0:03:46.640 to go into the negativity around so many things in 0:03:46.680 --> 0:03:48.960 youth sports right now. We want to lift it up. 0:03:48.960 --> 0:03:52.160 We want to be the positive people at the parent dugout. 0:03:52.200 --> 0:03:55.160 We want to be positive on the show. But I 0:03:55.160 --> 0:03:57.400 do want to ask you this, Like you were in 0:03:57.440 --> 0:04:00.760 baseball a long time, what are some of the changes 0:04:00.840 --> 0:04:03.480 that you'd love to see at the youth level if 0:04:03.520 --> 0:04:06.200 you could just flip a switch and it was changed, 0:04:06.200 --> 0:04:08.520 what are some of those things that stand out from 0:04:08.560 --> 0:04:10.400 all the stuff you watch with your grandkids? 0:04:11.560 --> 0:04:15.640 Well, it can't happen, but I wish sometimes you know, 0:04:15.680 --> 0:04:18.680 the parents end up being the coaches because nobody else 0:04:18.760 --> 0:04:20.039 is willing to do it. And if you have to 0:04:20.040 --> 0:04:22.599 pay for a guy. And I watched one of the 0:04:22.600 --> 0:04:25.840 travel ball teams where I know the coaches. I would 0:04:25.880 --> 0:04:28.839 hate to see how much money some of these coaches 0:04:28.880 --> 0:04:33.920 and leagues are making off these families. And that's the 0:04:33.960 --> 0:04:37.560 subject for another day. But probably the teaching of the 0:04:37.640 --> 0:04:40.239 game alone, you know, teaching them how to have fun, 0:04:40.800 --> 0:04:43.360 you know. I took over my son's high school practice 0:04:43.360 --> 0:04:45.240 one time when he was in the tenth grade. The 0:04:45.279 --> 0:04:47.360 coach just said, you know what's going on. We don't 0:04:47.400 --> 0:04:49.680 have many guys out for baseball. I said, that's your fault, 0:04:49.880 --> 0:04:53.479 that's not their fault. Your practices. I mean, Carl, I 0:04:53.560 --> 0:04:56.520 was justin. I was entertaining thirty year old major league 0:04:56.560 --> 0:04:59.839 vectrium in spring training. I had about a twelve minute intentions. 0:05:00.640 --> 0:05:02.400 So the next day they came out and I said, hey, 0:05:02.400 --> 0:05:04.440 you guys don't need to stretch. Where you going? You 0:05:04.800 --> 0:05:07.960 woke up limber when you're sixteen years old. Whoever stretched 0:05:07.960 --> 0:05:10.520 at sixteen? You know? And then I said, what do 0:05:10.560 --> 0:05:12.239 you want to do? I've always wanted to play short stuff. 0:05:12.279 --> 0:05:14.039 Go play short stuff. What about you? I want to 0:05:14.160 --> 0:05:16.000 I want to catch, put the gear on. We're going 0:05:16.080 --> 0:05:18.440 to play push them up as O two count and 0:05:18.080 --> 0:05:21.200 I and I'm pitching, so we're not striking out we're 0:05:21.240 --> 0:05:23.920 running the bases, We're going to catch the ball. I said, coach, 0:05:23.960 --> 0:05:25.800 you just had a kid stand out in left field 0:05:25.800 --> 0:05:28.280 for an hour and a half picking his teeth during 0:05:28.320 --> 0:05:32.040 batting practice. It's awful, But this is a great game, if 0:05:32.080 --> 0:05:35.599 you'll so to answer your question justin let's accentuate the 0:05:35.640 --> 0:05:38.200 things that make it a great game instead of making 0:05:38.360 --> 0:05:41.279 this dull drum where's my sliding pad? I saw an 0:05:41.320 --> 0:05:45.480 eight year old kid wanting to know where his sliding wristband. 0:05:44.960 --> 0:05:47.320 Was or whatever. 0:05:47.440 --> 0:05:50.719 But Carl, you see it at the Little League World Series. 0:05:50.720 --> 0:05:51.600 They're emulating what. 0:05:51.560 --> 0:05:54.920 They see, no question. Yeah, there's no question. They pattern 0:05:54.960 --> 0:05:58.640 They pattern bat flips and other things off of you know, 0:05:58.680 --> 0:06:01.400 major leaguers. Let me ask you this question because we've 0:06:01.440 --> 0:06:04.880 had many people on this program who emphasize the fun 0:06:04.960 --> 0:06:06.920 in the game, which you just did, which is great 0:06:06.960 --> 0:06:10.120 and we echo that for everybody. But what was your 0:06:10.240 --> 0:06:13.560 first affair with the sport love? 0:06:13.920 --> 0:06:14.000 Like? 0:06:14.080 --> 0:06:17.279 Did you love baseball from jump Street or did did 0:06:17.320 --> 0:06:20.920 it evolve? Did you begin to love it as opposed 0:06:20.960 --> 0:06:22.920 to the first few times you were there? How would 0:06:22.920 --> 0:06:26.080 you describe your relationship with baseball when you were young? 0:06:27.560 --> 0:06:29.719 Carl I loved them all. I you know, it was 0:06:29.800 --> 0:06:33.040 a very I was just competitive, you know my dad, 0:06:33.080 --> 0:06:35.760 And yeah, I never they never pushed They never pushed 0:06:35.760 --> 0:06:38.600 me anything. But they made it available to me when 0:06:38.640 --> 0:06:40.400 we you know, I had three sisters. We didn't have 0:06:40.880 --> 0:06:43.440 a pot to pee in. It was uh, you know, 0:06:43.480 --> 0:06:46.279 it was pretty close ranks, but they somehow always made 0:06:46.279 --> 0:06:48.240 it available. It might have been a back, you know, 0:06:48.279 --> 0:06:51.359 second hand glove or a taped up that, but I 0:06:51.400 --> 0:06:56.760 had what I needed. But I just loved, uh being 0:06:56.839 --> 0:06:59.599 outside and playing with the guys and competing. 0:07:00.400 --> 0:07:04.720 Yeah, and you didn't necessarily care baseball, football, soccer, basketball, tennis. 0:07:04.760 --> 0:07:07.159 It just give me a ball, give me something and 0:07:07.240 --> 0:07:10.600 we're good to go. Hey, you want to say something 0:07:10.640 --> 0:07:12.240 before we get to some of the questions. 0:07:12.600 --> 0:07:14.480 Yeah, I've got one thing. I will tell you this. 0:07:14.560 --> 0:07:17.720 Through the years, I've become a real you know, I 0:07:17.760 --> 0:07:20.200 look at bios a lot of players I get in 0:07:20.240 --> 0:07:21.880 the big leagues, and I've spent a lot of time 0:07:21.960 --> 0:07:25.320 looking at the bios and the one common denominator of 0:07:25.360 --> 0:07:28.680 the really good players that they played multiple sports. They 0:07:28.680 --> 0:07:32.160 weren't year round baseball. There's exceptions to everything, you know. 0:07:32.160 --> 0:07:34.320 I asked the pitcher one time. What positions you play 0:07:34.720 --> 0:07:37.160 when you didn't pitch? He goes, well, I didn't, I go, 0:07:37.160 --> 0:07:40.320 excuse me, that guy didn't last too long. If I 0:07:40.400 --> 0:07:42.880 see guys who have played multiple sports or are well 0:07:42.960 --> 0:07:46.080 rounded and their shoulders and elbows and knees take some 0:07:46.200 --> 0:07:49.720 time off from the pounding of baseball, they're usually better 0:07:49.800 --> 0:07:52.200 players at the major league and the college level. I 0:07:52.240 --> 0:07:54.280 want those guys that have played multiple. 0:07:53.920 --> 0:07:58.200 Sports, right, yeah, great, great answer, great, all right, So, Buck, 0:07:58.240 --> 0:08:00.560 the beauty of what we do here is we allow 0:08:00.600 --> 0:08:05.280 our members to ask questions of you. It's great access, 0:08:05.360 --> 0:08:08.480 and then they're really good questions. So our first question 0:08:08.600 --> 0:08:11.400 comes from Chan and he says, Buck, you know, we 0:08:11.440 --> 0:08:14.720 appreciate you much for being on here. And the question 0:08:14.960 --> 0:08:19.280 is what strategies do you think are essential for building 0:08:19.320 --> 0:08:22.320 a successful baseball team? Not a player, because I think 0:08:22.320 --> 0:08:25.320 you've shed some light on that, but strategies for building 0:08:25.320 --> 0:08:27.440 a successful baseball team. 0:08:28.040 --> 0:08:31.000 Well, I think you've got to find players who it 0:08:31.040 --> 0:08:34.560 matters what their teammates think. That's one thing I've always 0:08:34.559 --> 0:08:37.040 tried to do, was, you know, I was a ship 0:08:37.080 --> 0:08:38.880 passing the night the way I looked at it. You know, 0:08:38.960 --> 0:08:41.440 managers come and go and the shelf life gets shorter 0:08:42.200 --> 0:08:46.040 of head coaches and sports. But I wanted to find 0:08:46.080 --> 0:08:48.719 guys that their pure pressure meant something to them, and 0:08:48.760 --> 0:08:52.360 then you suground them with the right peers. I was 0:08:52.440 --> 0:08:56.360 picky about picking who was around these guys. Parcels had 0:08:56.360 --> 0:08:58.520 a great line years ago, you want me to cook dinner, 0:08:58.559 --> 0:09:02.000 but you don't want to pick the groceries. And I 0:09:02.120 --> 0:09:04.080 worry a lot of times that guys don't know what 0:09:04.120 --> 0:09:06.720 they're looking for. And you see it now. But I 0:09:06.760 --> 0:09:09.320 always want to surround myself with people that wanted to 0:09:09.360 --> 0:09:10.120 please each other. 0:09:11.280 --> 0:09:12.720 H good answer, that's. 0:09:12.600 --> 0:09:15.760 Really good, buck. I want to share something and this 0:09:15.840 --> 0:09:18.000 is something that I wish I could have done a 0:09:18.000 --> 0:09:21.000 little bit more. But uh, in my time, in my 0:09:21.160 --> 0:09:22.880 time with the Brewers, one of the things that I 0:09:23.160 --> 0:09:26.080 was always wanting to do is talk with the coaching 0:09:26.120 --> 0:09:29.760 staff more about what did they want? Uh, you know, big, 0:09:29.800 --> 0:09:32.439 big part of my role completely almost was focused on 0:09:32.480 --> 0:09:35.240 the domestic draft, and I always wanted to know, like, 0:09:35.320 --> 0:09:37.520 what what are you what do you guys want? What 0:09:37.559 --> 0:09:40.320 are you looking for? Do you think that's a missing 0:09:40.360 --> 0:09:44.840 link in today's game between the coaches on the field 0:09:44.960 --> 0:09:49.240 and the front offices because it seems like that, Yeah, 0:09:49.280 --> 0:09:49.840 go ahead. 0:09:49.600 --> 0:09:53.480 Buck, I just you know, I always talk about your identity. 0:09:53.520 --> 0:09:56.200 Who are you if you've played half the season and 0:09:56.280 --> 0:09:59.000 your team doesn't have an identity of what you're about. 0:09:59.240 --> 0:10:01.600 But that comes from having a clear message to the 0:10:01.640 --> 0:10:05.200 scouts and from the coaches, this is who we are, 0:10:05.400 --> 0:10:08.439 this is I liked it. In Baltimore. We went through 0:10:08.480 --> 0:10:11.480 periods where we'd see a player and the guys would go, oh, 0:10:11.480 --> 0:10:14.040 he's a nice player, but he doesn't fit us. He's 0:10:14.080 --> 0:10:17.320 not a plus defendery, not a you know, a smart 0:10:17.480 --> 0:10:21.400 baseball player. So I think have an identity and letting 0:10:21.480 --> 0:10:23.560 people know what you what they'd like for you to 0:10:23.559 --> 0:10:25.880 look for. This is what we hold. You know, we're 0:10:25.920 --> 0:10:29.559 all looking at the same analytics. So what's the separator. 0:10:29.720 --> 0:10:32.040 It's what you choose to wait. Maybe you wait on 0:10:32.200 --> 0:10:35.760 base percentage, but you know what do you choose to wait? Well, 0:10:35.960 --> 0:10:40.520 we choose to wait makeup defense and intelligence, you know, 0:10:40.800 --> 0:10:44.000 baseball intelligence. And it takes a human being to make 0:10:44.040 --> 0:10:44.760 that evaluation. 0:10:46.280 --> 0:10:49.400 Yeah, so, which doesn't really doesn't require a lot of 0:10:49.440 --> 0:10:52.640 mind reading because you know who we are, so you 0:10:52.720 --> 0:10:55.640 don't need to really come and ask me. We like makeup, 0:10:55.679 --> 0:10:58.280 we like defense, we want pitching, we need athletes. We 0:10:58.960 --> 0:11:01.480 have good answer. Here's quests from Don. Bucky says, after 0:11:01.520 --> 0:11:04.800 spending decades around the game, what's one thing and remember 0:11:04.840 --> 0:11:07.800 this is for parents of players of all ages, is 0:11:07.840 --> 0:11:11.640 there one thing you wish every baseball parent understood? 0:11:14.080 --> 0:11:14.480 Uh? 0:11:14.720 --> 0:11:16.720 You know the coach doesn't get up in the morning. 0:11:16.920 --> 0:11:18.600 I told the guy one time. You know, I don't 0:11:18.600 --> 0:11:20.040 get up in the morning trying to figure out a 0:11:20.040 --> 0:11:23.560 way to to hurt you. You know, I'm really trying 0:11:23.600 --> 0:11:25.200 to put the best team out in the field. I 0:11:25.240 --> 0:11:28.520 may be wrong, but there's really not a vindictums about it, 0:11:28.960 --> 0:11:31.280 and we sometimes I think we need to quit taking 0:11:31.280 --> 0:11:34.520 it so seriously. It's easy for me to say, you know, 0:11:34.559 --> 0:11:38.160 and the whole scheme of things. You know your child. 0:11:38.720 --> 0:11:41.160 I tell players all the time, the greatest two challenges 0:11:41.200 --> 0:11:43.040 you're going to have is to be a good father 0:11:43.120 --> 0:11:47.440 and be a good husband. And I think that impact 0:11:47.440 --> 0:11:49.079 you have on that the kids will serve them a 0:11:49.160 --> 0:11:53.520 lot better than whether or not something down quite well 0:11:53.520 --> 0:11:54.520 in a baseball game. 0:11:55.120 --> 0:11:55.360 Yeah. 0:11:56.080 --> 0:11:58.440 Yeah, and Buck, I want to I want to go 0:11:58.520 --> 0:12:03.000 to ninety five. Okay, So I'm a kid, I'm a huge, huge, 0:12:03.040 --> 0:12:06.840 griffy guy who isn't right at that time as a 0:12:06.880 --> 0:12:09.679 youngster you're you play I think. 0:12:10.000 --> 0:12:15.280 Probably probably riffic guy at that point, but I. 0:12:15.280 --> 0:12:21.400 Understand I was so bug probably in my mind, one 0:12:21.400 --> 0:12:26.120 of the greatest euries of all time. And you're on 0:12:26.200 --> 0:12:28.520 the other end of that, on the losing end of that. 0:12:29.160 --> 0:12:31.240 But I think we talk about it a lot on here. 0:12:31.360 --> 0:12:34.400 It's the adversity, the ability to overcome things and the 0:12:34.480 --> 0:12:38.359 challenges that you face. And the game has some highs 0:12:38.640 --> 0:12:43.120 and it has some lows. What's your advice for people coming, 0:12:43.280 --> 0:12:47.720 for players, coaches, parents, maybe watching listening. What's your advice 0:12:47.760 --> 0:12:50.160 for handling that adversity? What do you say when you 0:12:50.200 --> 0:12:54.440 get to the clubhouse that night after that heartbreaking loss, 0:12:54.800 --> 0:12:59.200 where you know, maybe the country is happy for the Mariners, right, 0:12:59.320 --> 0:13:02.200 the sort of the underdogs, and you guys are the 0:13:02.240 --> 0:13:05.800 big Yankees, the big powerful Yankees. What is that like 0:13:05.880 --> 0:13:08.880 walking into the clubhouse and how do you how do 0:13:08.920 --> 0:13:11.079 you handle that adversity and what's your advice to other 0:13:11.120 --> 0:13:12.480 people on how to handle adversity? 0:13:13.679 --> 0:13:15.280 You know, looking back at that, you know, we did 0:13:15.360 --> 0:13:18.360 win two games in that series, but it really was 0:13:18.400 --> 0:13:20.400 the other way around. Looking back, because they had like 0:13:20.440 --> 0:13:23.160 four or five Hall of Famers on that team, and 0:13:23.520 --> 0:13:25.720 because they played and see a lot of people didn't know. 0:13:25.840 --> 0:13:29.560 And I look back on that as that helped get 0:13:29.600 --> 0:13:32.360 baseball back from where it was during the strike year. 0:13:32.400 --> 0:13:34.480 That's the first time I heard a lot of people 0:13:34.600 --> 0:13:38.360 say we started loving baseball again. So that that's but 0:13:38.920 --> 0:13:40.840 you know, I don't want anybody to ride that plane 0:13:40.840 --> 0:13:43.200 from Seattle back to New York. That was tough, but 0:13:43.840 --> 0:13:45.760 you know, you learn. You learn a lot of stuff 0:13:45.760 --> 0:13:50.280 from that about yourself and about people and and how 0:13:50.320 --> 0:13:54.120 fleeting everything is. Let's face it, guys. Leadership is basically 0:13:54.200 --> 0:13:58.160 about defining reality. And if you define enough reality along 0:13:58.160 --> 0:14:00.200 the way, you're probably gonna take off some people and 0:14:00.200 --> 0:14:03.520 you're going to be job hunting. Okay, so you know 0:14:03.559 --> 0:14:05.360 it doesn't keep you from doing the right thing, but 0:14:07.520 --> 0:14:10.240 I just you know, you had to keep defining reality. 0:14:10.280 --> 0:14:13.760 It's like a father and a mother. It's tough, you know. Luckily, 0:14:13.800 --> 0:14:15.800 my dad didn't want to be my pal. He wanted 0:14:15.800 --> 0:14:19.080 to be my father, and sometimes those two don't mix 0:14:19.160 --> 0:14:19.720 in the same way. 0:14:19.720 --> 0:14:25.480 With coaching, I think part of that for me, covering 0:14:25.520 --> 0:14:29.720 the sport for that many years. The Marinders teams of 0:14:29.760 --> 0:14:33.000 the nineties, especially the late nineties and early two thousands, 0:14:34.240 --> 0:14:36.640 they may have beat the Yankees. They were probably, I 0:14:36.680 --> 0:14:40.600 think collectively the biggest disappointment in that they didn't win 0:14:40.760 --> 0:14:43.600 a World Series given the talent that they had to 0:14:43.760 --> 0:14:46.720 kind of support Buck's point about just how good you 0:14:46.720 --> 0:14:49.960 know the players were. Here's one from Danny Buck says, 0:14:49.960 --> 0:14:53.280 you joined the Diamondbacks twenty eight months before they ever 0:14:53.360 --> 0:14:57.160 played a game. I remember, I remember, I remember being 0:14:57.200 --> 0:15:01.240 there for the expansion draft. But the question is what's 0:15:01.280 --> 0:15:06.400 it like building something completely from scratch, no players, no history, 0:15:07.120 --> 0:15:10.480 no fan base. And I think the story that you 0:15:10.640 --> 0:15:14.480 tell about the decision you made in New York with 0:15:14.600 --> 0:15:18.880 regards to your coaches and taking a new contract or 0:15:19.000 --> 0:15:23.040 not which led you to Arizona is as good a 0:15:23.120 --> 0:15:26.600 story that you can tell. But answer the question, and 0:15:26.640 --> 0:15:28.600 then maybe if you want, combined the two of them, 0:15:28.600 --> 0:15:30.880 because that was a justin Buck had to make a 0:15:30.960 --> 0:15:34.680 really big decision which led him to Arizona. 0:15:36.000 --> 0:15:38.520 Well, basically it came down to mister Steinbroner wanted to 0:15:38.520 --> 0:15:41.320 fire four of my coaches. I never complained about We 0:15:41.360 --> 0:15:43.400 all knew the job description. In New York, I'd been 0:15:43.440 --> 0:15:45.480 there nineteen years, so people didn't want to hear you 0:15:45.520 --> 0:15:48.080 complain about it. It just you know, you were working 0:15:48.120 --> 0:15:50.000 on a day to day contract. But I knew that 0:15:50.080 --> 0:15:52.720 I couldn't set foot in the locker room and look 0:15:52.800 --> 0:15:55.720 those players in the face, knowing I'd given up four 0:15:55.760 --> 0:15:59.480 great coaches who ended up having thirty year careers. So 0:15:59.520 --> 0:16:01.800 we took them Arizona. But if someone called me and said, hey, 0:16:01.800 --> 0:16:05.440 we'd like for you do the expansion lead the expansion 0:16:05.480 --> 0:16:08.160 deal again, I'd go almost died out there. I have 0:16:08.320 --> 0:16:11.960 never worked hard in my life. Those two years off 0:16:11.960 --> 0:16:15.920 the field. I'm talking about minor leagues, Japan, Korea, Venezuela, 0:16:16.120 --> 0:16:21.280 Dominican Republic, Cuba, you name it. We were everywhere the scouting, 0:16:21.360 --> 0:16:24.880 the expansion drafts and getting on this field in spring training. 0:16:24.880 --> 0:16:27.000 You know, our first spring training was in you, Arizona, 0:16:27.320 --> 0:16:29.560 because there have been to you Arizona in the spring 0:16:29.680 --> 0:16:33.480 fool baby. But you know, you know, we had to 0:16:33.520 --> 0:16:37.680 design the Tucson complex, the spring train complex, design the 0:16:37.720 --> 0:16:40.680 locker room, everything, put the scouting department together and the 0:16:40.680 --> 0:16:44.880 player development, and it was a great education for me. Luckily, 0:16:44.960 --> 0:16:46.880 I brought a lot of that with me from New York. 0:16:47.320 --> 0:16:50.520 But it was a challenge. It was a challenge, but 0:16:50.600 --> 0:16:53.240 one that I'm very proud of what we accomplished. I 0:16:53.240 --> 0:16:56.080 think we had the biggest turnaround in baseball history of 0:16:56.120 --> 0:16:59.200 the ninety nine season and took a lot of pride. 0:16:59.280 --> 0:17:02.360 I was with Carl the night that the Diamondbacks beat Yankees. 0:17:02.400 --> 0:17:04.360 I was out in the left field and walked back 0:17:04.400 --> 0:17:08.679 to my hotel listening to the diamonback fans after Game seven, 0:17:08.880 --> 0:17:12.919 realizing I lose. I lost my Navy d out in Arizona. 0:17:13.040 --> 0:17:16.760 I curried it with me, but I kind of lost 0:17:16.760 --> 0:17:17.120 it there. 0:17:19.160 --> 0:17:22.159 Yeah. Well that Buck didn't win a World Series, But 0:17:22.280 --> 0:17:24.520 the truth was Buck won a few World Series in 0:17:24.560 --> 0:17:25.120 my opinion. 0:17:26.000 --> 0:17:29.119 Yep. Well yeah, what yeah, Buck? What is that like 0:17:29.240 --> 0:17:33.080 to work so hard for so long and the pinnacle 0:17:34.000 --> 0:17:36.320 is what you do it for? Right? Obviously it's the 0:17:36.400 --> 0:17:39.000 relationships and the other things that you think about later, 0:17:39.440 --> 0:17:41.280 but when you're in it, the whole goal is to 0:17:41.359 --> 0:17:44.439 win it all. Yeah, is there do you feel that 0:17:44.520 --> 0:17:46.520 missing piece from your career? 0:17:46.800 --> 0:17:48.359 No? I don't. You know, that's a good question. I 0:17:48.840 --> 0:17:51.600 don't I feel for I feel good for other people. 0:17:51.640 --> 0:17:54.359 You know, life's too short. You know, Joe Tory got 0:17:54.560 --> 0:17:58.919 exposed to what a good baseball guy he was. You know, 0:17:59.080 --> 0:18:00.879 I look at a lot of things that happened with 0:18:01.000 --> 0:18:06.879 Ron Washington, for instance, and it's just, you know, things 0:18:07.240 --> 0:18:09.600 happen for a reason. I don't dwell on it, and 0:18:09.640 --> 0:18:12.320 I'm just glad that some other things happened well. And 0:18:12.359 --> 0:18:15.639 I've been completely lucky and honored to be in this 0:18:15.720 --> 0:18:17.520 game for a long time. It's been very good to 0:18:17.560 --> 0:18:20.240 me and my family. And heck, I met my wife 0:18:20.240 --> 0:18:24.040 of forty three years in this game. So now it 0:18:24.119 --> 0:18:26.000 worked out. I'm not going to sit around and say 0:18:26.040 --> 0:18:28.960 what if. I'm just happy for the people that I 0:18:29.000 --> 0:18:30.760 had a lot of help along the way. Boy did 0:18:30.800 --> 0:18:33.120 I have a lot of help. And I was. I'm 0:18:33.160 --> 0:18:35.399 pretty good at picking good people and getting out of 0:18:35.400 --> 0:18:37.320 their way and letting them do what they I know 0:18:37.400 --> 0:18:40.000 that they can do. The great greatest accolade you can 0:18:40.040 --> 0:18:42.080 pay one of these guys is they're asked their opinion 0:18:42.640 --> 0:18:44.879 or ladies. We had some great women that worked with 0:18:44.960 --> 0:18:47.920 us through the years that were instrumental and what we did. 0:18:49.040 --> 0:18:51.920 Yeah, and to your point, it's such a I do 0:18:51.960 --> 0:18:54.639 think we as people evolve over time. I mean that 0:18:55.000 --> 0:18:57.480 you can be a child rooting for the team, and 0:18:57.560 --> 0:18:59.840 if you're involved, if you're lucky enough to be involved 0:18:59.840 --> 0:19:02.080 in this game, in this sport, whether you're covering it, 0:19:02.119 --> 0:19:06.400 playing it, managing it, eventually you come to appreciate how 0:19:06.440 --> 0:19:09.280 hard it is. And then you root for people. You 0:19:09.280 --> 0:19:13.000 don't necessarily root for the name the uniform, you root 0:19:13.040 --> 0:19:15.040 for the name on the back. You root for the people. 0:19:15.080 --> 0:19:17.399 And I think, uh, you know, that's a that's a 0:19:17.440 --> 0:19:21.320 great perspective that you know that Buck shares an important 0:19:21.320 --> 0:19:24.440 at every level. You know, root for other teams. Sometimes 0:19:24.440 --> 0:19:26.280 when you see the root for the kid that's playing, 0:19:26.320 --> 0:19:29.159 that's that's really important. They're all in this thing together, 0:19:29.240 --> 0:19:32.399 and it's damn hard to play this game. Uh. Voyce 0:19:32.480 --> 0:19:34.560 asked Buck, if you could go back and manage one 0:19:34.640 --> 0:19:38.040 game differently in your entire career, do you have one 0:19:38.119 --> 0:19:41.600 and what would you change? Or or is honestly it's 0:19:41.640 --> 0:19:44.720 like me doing a show. There's a million shows I'd 0:19:44.760 --> 0:19:45.960 like to do over again. 0:19:46.680 --> 0:19:47.000 Of course. 0:19:47.080 --> 0:19:48.440 Is that true with games? 0:19:48.880 --> 0:19:51.440 Yeah, but that's what that's where you learn along the way. 0:19:51.480 --> 0:19:54.000 You know, we've all stepped on our tail. I just 0:19:54.000 --> 0:19:55.160 don't want to repeat them. 0:19:55.680 --> 0:19:55.800 Uh. 0:19:56.200 --> 0:19:59.639 You know, I learned as much from managers I played 0:19:59.680 --> 0:20:02.480 for worked with about what not to do as I 0:20:02.560 --> 0:20:05.520