MLB: Buck Showalter to manage Orioles

Baltimore - In the latest attempt to change their fortunes, the Baltimore Orioles have hired ESPN analyst and former major league manager Buck Showalter to take charge of the worst team in Major League Baseball.

ESPN reports, Showalter will manage his first game in an Orioles uniform on August 3. Showalter will step in as the third manager this year for the Orioles, replacing interim manager, Juan Samuel, who served as caretaker of the Orioles since June 4, when the Orioles front office fired manager, Dave Trembley, after getting off to a horrific 15-39 start to the 2010 season. Trembley's overall record with the Orioles was a forgettable 187-239. Showalter has amassed a win-loss record of 882-833 as a major league manager and has a reputation for building mediocre teams into legitimate threats to win championships. He made his managerial debut with the New York Yankees, managing the team well enough to be awarded AL Manager of the Year honors in 1994. After three years of rebuilding the pinstripes into a baseball power Showalter was fired during the 1995 season. The Yankees went on to win their first World Series in 18 years in 1996. After a three year absence from managing baseball, Showalter took an offer to manage the Arizona Diamondbacks in 1998. Over the next three years he laid the groundwork for the Diamondbacks, turning the National League's youngest franchise into a contender. In 1999 he led the Diamondbacks to 100-62 record. At the end of the 2000 season, he was fired. The Diamondbacks won their first ever World Series championship in 2002. He resumed his managing career in 2003 with the Texas Rangers. In just his first two years with the Rangers, Showalter turned an under-performing 60-win team into and 89-win team in 2004. 2004 was also the year, Showalter was named AL Manager of the Year for the second time in his career. In 2006, Showalter managed the Rangers to an 80-82 record and was let go at season's end. The Rangers currently lead the AL West division with a record of 58-42. The Orioles are currently Major League Baseball's worse team with an overall record of 31-70, a home record of 18-33 and have not made a playoff appearance in thirteen years. The Orioles are a part of the AL East division, which means they do battle with baseball powers, the Boston Red Sox, Tampa Bay Rays and New York Yankees. The Yankees are currently 64-36, and have the best record in baseball. The Orioles are 31.5 games back in the division. Showalter is a fixer. He is a fixer of baseball teams and one of the best managers the game has seen in recent years. But the task of turning baseball's worst franchise into a winner in a division filled with winners may be too much for him.