Baltimore Orioles: 6 Things You Don't Know About Manager Buck Showalter

The current manager of the Baltimore Orioles, Buck Showalter, is certainly a complex man.

He's one of the smartest men in baseball in terms of game knowledge, but also one of the most controlling.

He can help a team of young, budding players grow into what they're capable of being.

He can also come into a managerial position in early August and finish the year winning more games with the team than the two previous managers of the team that season did combined—something no other manager has ever done.

But there are always things that we, as the public, don't know about sports figures such as Showalter, and I can guarantee you that you don't already know what's on the following slides.

Buck Showalter's Real Name

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BALTIMORE, MD - MAY 06: Manager Buck Showalter #26 of the Baltimore Orioles watches batting practice before the game against the Tampa Bay Rays at Oriole Park at Camden Yards on May 6, 2011 in Baltimore, Maryland. (Photo by Greg Fiume/Getty Images)

Yep, "Buck" is not the man's real name, unfortunately. Not that we all didn't assume that, but it would be a pretty cool name to have.

His real name? William Nathaniel Showalter III.

Sounds like a pretty high-class name to me, if you know what I mean. Like it belongs to someone who was born into riches because their dad is one of the most successful businessmen in the country or something like that.

How did he acquire such a nickname, you ask?

The Nickname

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CHICAGO, IL - MAY 01: Manager Buck Showalter #26 of the Baltimore Orioles talks in the dugout with assistant coaches during a game against the Chicago White Sox at U.S. Cellular Field on May 1, 2011 in Chicago, Illinois. The Orioles defeated the White Sox

I regret to inform you that I'm still not completely sure of how Showalter got the nickname "Buck".

I've read too many different stories to be able to confidently claim to one being true, but on the Baltimore Orioles' official website, in Showalter's mini biography, it says that he acquired the nickname from Ed Napoleon, his manager at Fort Lauderdale back in 1977.

I've also read that he was given the nickname after he became a manager because he'd walk around the clubhouse "buck" naked after showering following the day's game(s), so who really knows the true story behind the nickname other than Buck himself.

He was called "Nat" throughout most of his childhood, though, which is obviously short for his middle name, Nathaniel.

Showalter's Uniform Number

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SARASOTA, FL - FEBRUARY 26: Manager Buck Showalter #26 of the Baltimore Orioles poses for a photo during photo day at Ed Smith Stadium on February 26, 2011 in Sarasota, Florida. (Photo by J. Meric/Getty Images)

After wearing the No. 11 during his three previous managerial stints with the New York Yankees, Arizona Diamondbacks and Texas Rangers, Showalter switched over to the No. 26 to honor former O's player and manager, the late Johnny Oates.

That gesture shows class, as well as incorporating some of the O's great history into today's team, showing the young players that they can do great things like the Orioles of old.

After taking over for Frank Robinson in early 1991, Oates managed the Orioles through the 1994 season. He accumulated a 291-270 win-loss record, good for a .519 winning percentage. He passed away on December 24, 2004, at the age of 58.

Education Is Everything

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OAKLAND, CA - MAY 27: Manager Buck Showalter of the Baltimore Orioles looks on against the Oakland Athletics during a Major League Baseball game at the Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum on May 27, 2011 in Oakland, California. (Photo by Jed Jacobsohn/Getty

Buck Showalter graduated from Century High School, the place his late father was a teacher and principal at for 23 years, while his dad was running the school.

Some people attribute that fact to Buck's hard-nosed, controlling attitude, and it makes sense. As a boy and young man, one's father almost always rubs off onto them, and I'm sure that happened to Buck as well.

Funny enough, Buck's father was an All-American fullback at Milligan College in Tennessee and played briefly for the Pittsburgh Steelers, but turned down a playing career to do his work at the high school.

Buck then went on to graduate from Michigan State University in 1979 with a B.S. in education.

Professional Baseball Career

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BALTIMORE, MD - JUNE 05: Manager Buck Showalter #26 of the Baltimore Orioles watches from the dugout with coaches John Russell #77 and Jim Presley #16 against the Toronto Blue Jays at Oriole Park at Camden Yards on June 5, 2011 in Baltimore, Maryland. (

Though he spent time in the minor leagues, Buck Showalter never played a single inning of professional baseball at the major-league level.

What's so impressive about that fact is that few managers can make that claim, and even fewer good ones can.

More times than not, a major-league manager will have spent some time playing ball in the MLB, whether they were a good player or not.

There have even been cases of players not respecting their manager if he never played in the majors, because the players feel the manager doesn't know what the majors are like for a player, and then the manager proceeds to lose the clubhouse. That usually happens only if the team had been struggling for a while, however.

Buck's Shopping Adventure

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BALTIMORE, MD - JUNE 03: Manager Buck Showalter #26 of the Baltimore Orioles against the Toronto Blue Jays at Oriole Park at Camden Yards on June 3, 2011 in Baltimore, Maryland. The Blue Jays won 8-4. (Photo by Rob Carr/Getty Images)

This one is pretty funny: When Buck was managing the New York Yankees, he worked long hours. And from this fact, it sounds like he worked longer hours than you or I can imagine.

During the player's strike in 1994, he found himself inside a grocery store... for the first time in five years.

How's that for crazy?

Seems as though he is one dedicated baseball man.