Buck Showalter was hired to manage the Baltimore Orioles yesterday, his latest rebuilding project in a major league career full of them.
Baltimore had the worst record in the majors at 31-70 going into last night's game against Kansas City and is headed toward its 13th straight losing season. The Orioles fired manager Dave Trembley on June 4 and replaced him on an interim basis with Juan Samuel.
"My job with ESPN allowed me to follow this organization closely over the last several years, and although the current record may seem to indicate otherwise, I see enormous potential with this club," Showalter, an analyst for the network, said in a statement released by the team. "I look forward to the challenge of competing in the American League East. Baltimore is a tremendous baseball town with passion and pride in its club, and my family and I look forward to making it our new home."
Showalter is a two-time AL Manager of the Year, winning the award in 1994 with the New York Yankees and 2004 with Texas. Both times, he had taken over teams and guided their turnarounds.
The 54-year-old Showalter also was the first manager in the history of the Arizona Diamondbacks. He was hired well in advance and given time to put the Diamondbacks in position to contend once they started playing in 1998. He was fired after the 2000 season, and Arizona won the World Series the next year.
Showalter's last year as a manager was 2006 with the Rangers. His overall record is 882-833 in 11 years.
The hiring came on the same day the Orioles sent infielder Miguel Tejada to the San Diego Padres for Double A righthander Wynn Pelzer.
In other news:
* The Texas Rangers placed All-Star second baseman Ian Kinsler on the 15-day disabled list yesterday with a strained left groin.
In games yesterday:
* At St. Petersburg, Fla., David Price (14-5) became the AL's first 14-game winner, Carlos Pena had four RBI and the Tampa Bay Rays beat the Detroit Tigers, 4-2, to complete a four-game sweep.
* At Arlington, Texas, Michael Young scored his first three times up and light-hitting Taylor Teagarden hit a two-run home run, sending the Texas Rangers to a 7-4 victory over the Oakland Athletics.
* At Chicago, Ramon Castro homered twice and Paul Konerko went deep for the fourth straight game, leading the White Sox to their 11th consecutive home victory, 9-5, over the Seattle Mariners.
* At Cleveland, Alex Rodriguez drove in three runs without hitting his 600th homer and the New York Yankees used a seven-run seventh inning to beat the Indians, 11-4.
* At Kansas City, Mo., Ty Wigginton's sacrifice fly in the 11th inning broke the game's final tie and the Baltimore Orioles beat the Royals, 6-5, to snap a five-game losing streak.
Gallery: Phils 3, D'Backs 2
Video: Dave Murphy talks Oswalt and streaking Phils
