Buck Showalter has escaped the madness of New York to build his own empire in the valley of the sun as manager/king of the Diamondbacks. Bobby Valentine is happy for Showalter and envious. And he’s not afraid to say so.
“He’s done a fabulous job,” Valentine said last night at Shea Stadium before Game 3 between the Diamondbacks and Mets. “He took the responsibility from Day One to be thorough and to be responsible and he made very good decisions. He wasn’t afraid to kind of be autocratic at times, to lead properly and to be the upfront guy when it was needed in tough decisions. I think he is enjoying some of the fruits of his hard labor and of his decision.”
Then Valentine made this valid point how Showalter’s situation is viewed by other managers.
“He’s kind of the envy of all the guys,” he noted. “There’s no doubt. To have an organization put that kind of trust in you, to give you that kind of security to go out and to your job and to back you after the first year the way he was backed after the first year puts him in a very enviable situation and I’m not afraid to say it. I’m one of the guys and I respect and appreciate the job he has done and I’m also envious of him.
“Heck, I even like the team colors. There’s not much I don’t like that they’ve done.”