Showalter Refuses to Pass the Buck

The Arizona Diamondbacks, who led the National League West until overtaken by the San Francisco Giants last week, have only a 37-41 record since May 13.

The Arizona struggle, stemming primarily from injuries and offensive inconsistency, has put the status of Manager Buck Showalter in question less than a year after he led the second-year Diamondbacks to 100 victories and a division title.

Pedro Gomez, in a Tuesday column in the Arizona Republic, wrote that Showalter should be fired immediately because he “has not shown the ability to rally his club. There are serious questions arising from all . . . corners [of] the organization. They ask, ‘Is Buck the guy to take this club all the way?’ ”

Gomez added that Showalter’s act was wearing thin and “ownership needs to seize the moment while there’s still a moment to be had. They can’t wait around for Showalter and his paranoid personality to change his ways.”

Gomez suggested that Diamondback veterans had wearied of the manager’s control-oriented obsessions, like demanding that the “A” on the players’ socks be clearly visible on the ankle, permitting no music in the clubhouse, win or lose, banning pregame fraternization with the opposition and standing at the foot of the ramp on team flights, giving players the once over as they leave to make sure they have followed his codes on attire and neatness.

Showalter, of course, received a seven-year contract two years before the Diamondbacks began play and had a major voice in the construction of the team, as well as the design of the uniforms and ballpark. He is still attempting to have a voice in all aspects of the Arizona operation and that, more than the threat of a clubhouse mutiny, is said to have put his status in jeopardy, angering many in the front office, some of whom are related to Managing General Partner Jerry Colangelo.

Scott Bordow in the East Valley Tribune wrote that Showalter recently asked that the American League home-run leaders not be shown on the center-field message board at BankOne Ballpark because Toronto’s Tony Batista, whom the Diamondbacks gave away last year, is among the leaders.

“Showalter should do himself a favor,” Bordow wrote. “Stick with what he knows. Run the team. And if need be, apologize to those he’s crossed . . . “

Of course, the Diamondbacks knew what they were getting.

Showalter’s control tendencies were widely publicized when he was manager of the New York Yankees.

However, with the Yankees, he could only go so far because there’s only one boss, George Steinbrenner.

In addition, Showalter was the same man with the same rules last year, when acclaimed for taking a second-year team to the playoffs.

Mike Morgan, a 22-year veteran of 12 big league teams, responded to the sudden controversy this week by saying the Arizona clubhouse and chemistry is the best he has ever seen and “Yeah, Buck has rules, but he’s the manager. What’s wrong with that?”

Probably nothing as long as Showalter doesn’t continue to alienate Colangelo’s kin and other members of the front office and as long as the clubhouse veterans don’t use his petty rules as rationale for their disappointing play.

As for Colangelo, who once fired friend Red Kerr and named himself interim coach of the Phoenix Suns, he probably will never pilot the Diamondbacks. Then again, in crediting Showalter with a good job, he stopped short of saying he would fulfill the final two years of his contract.