 Hey, everyone. Thanks for joining us. Yes, we are here. Jack Curry from New Jersey and it's a pleasure to be joined by Buck Showalter who is in Texas, former Yankee, Diamondback, Ranger, Oriole Manager, three-time manager of the year. Buck, first of all, thanks for being with us. But also, how are you and Angela and all of your family doing during this coronavirus crisis? Well, Jack, you know, it's obviously a different world we're living in and sometimes I feel like I'm in a science fiction movie and I know you and I have talked some off-camera, but you know, as my wife said, we've been quarantined for 37 years. Thank God I live with somebody I like, you know. So, you know, just really doing our part and trying to make not only ourselves out of harm's way, but our fellow man. You know, we have responsibilities. How are you doing, Jack? Well, first of all, I'm going to steal that line, except for Pamela and I, it would be 27 years. So I'm stealing that line as soon as this interview is done. We're doing well, making all the smart decisions, Buck, that I think we all should be making. Stay at home. Be smart. Stay at home. To go out for a walk or something like that, that's one thing, but be smart. Follow all of the leaders and the medical people are telling us to do. And by the way, shout out to all of the people who are on the front lines and who are being selfless throughout all of this. Buck, I know you're such a detail-oriented, organized guy. Tell me something you've organized during this quarantine. There has to be a sock drawer that you didn't like the way it was looking or a box of books or something like that. You know, Jack, it's kind of like, we were talking the other day, it's kind of like the all-season. First week you get home from the seventh, eight-month season, you hibernate for a week. You don't want to see anybody. You just barely talk. You just, you know, get your feet back on the ground in a different environment. But I've cleaned out every closet. All the things that I try to do in that four-month span, I never can get to everything. I've gotten to everything. We planted tomatoes yesterday. We painted the garage. You name it. We've done it. And a lot of this revolves around grandchildren, too. That changes your life. But you know, I think I'm just about out of things to do, but I'm inventing a few, to be honest with you. Well, I'm glad you're doing this. I'm glad you could join us to do this. And, fuck, I know the way your mind works. And I know you're not managing a team right now. But if you were managing a team, what would be some of the things that you would be doing right now in this time of uncertainty? Aaron Boone doesn't know the next time he's going to write out a line of cards. He doesn't know the next time Garrett Cole is going to actually need to pitch in a game. But I'm sure there are things that a manager could be doing to help his players, to help himself, to help his staff. What would you be doing? You know, Jack, there's so much unknown. This is uncharted territory. It's like playing a game when nobody understands. It's like going to spring, trying to leave, and then coming back. This is an uncharted territory for a lot of people. I think the big thing is communication. Stay in touch with people. Using your coaching to make sure there's an arm, an artery out to your players, regardless of if it's a guy you're depending on every day or if it's someone you think is going to be a what-if because that can change. I think, especially the pitching, you've got to stay on top of that and find out exactly what you're doing. I think the unknown is what makes them uneasy. I think letting it know what's coming, as you know, here's what I'm thinking about what we're going to do when we come back. Buck, within that last answer, you mentioned the idea of playing games with no fans. In this uncertainty of 2020, that's in the offing. You actually experienced that with the Orioles after the Baltimore riots. It was one game. I'm sure it was surreal. If that happens in 2020, what would that be like for players, for coaches, for a manager? I think, Jack, what hit me the game we played in Baltimore was how much of the game the players run up the emotion of the fans. You had to be careful what you said to umpires. Everybody could hear everything. You can hear Jim Palmer at that point doing the play-by-play, the color of whatever you call it, and Gary Thorn. There was no walk-up music. We played in like 205, 210. I gotta tell you, after the second inning, it was pure baseball. It was like the eighth inning of a game. It might have been extended spring and structurally. It was good for a day. Don't get me wrong, okay? It was something we needed to do, and all the players were going, wow, that's kind of neat in a way, but you played a pure game. It's not something you want to do day in, day out because there's a lot of time, Jack. You come off a West Coast road trip, and you need that to do the fans, knowing that something's important that you're doing. It was tough. I didn't have to call down a bullpen. I could yell down there, and it was not something you want to see done every day, but I know one thing umpires liked it because it was a fast-moving game with more. Pure baseball. I love that phrase by you, and when I think of pure baseball and adrenaline, I think of opening day. Yesterday would have been opening day, and I think we all understand the importance of everything that is going on around us and the importance of making sure everyone's safe, but when you work within this baseball industry, opening day is such a day that you cherish and look forward to. You've been involved with so many. What are some opening day memories that stand out for you? Well, Jack, I uh, you know, there are certain games that the Yankee manager, you want to be sure that, oh, I'll say it, do you want. When you play the Mets in spring training, when you play the Red Sox in spring training, we used to have a same called the Maers Cup, as you remember, where we would play X-Tissue, big games. Opening day was another one of those. You know, I always felt like, okay, the fans, it was like starting over, spring, flowers were blooming, everything's new, and you wanted the fans to come and go, boy, I want to go back to that again. You want to put on a good show. That's really what spring training is. You're rehearsing for a Broadway play that's going to run a long time hopefully. And you know, you rehearse everything down in spring, rehearse run-downs and relays and pick-offs and every little thing that front defense that might come up, signs, so that when you put that Broadway play on, it runs smoothly with some adjustments as you go. And I thought, I always thought opening day was a almost, okay, we're going to put this on and everybody's going to see what we've been doing. I remember the first one I had as a manager, Jody Reed popping up and Wade Catch in the ball. I didn't think it was ever going to come down. I've been Charlie, I've got to think about that. But that was an attempt, trying to act cool, even though, I mean, my heart was coming through my chest. I didn't think that pop-up would ever come down. Breaking ball from Steve Fark. There you go. I'm not surprised that you remember that specifically. I was at that game. I'm going to look up my game story later and get a few more details. What about 2020? Both sides don't know what lies ahead of them. One thing that we've heard both sides say is they love to play a representative number of games. Now, in my mind, I hear that and I'm thinking 100, 120, that would be representative to me. Do you have a number in your head that you think they need to play to constitute a representative season? Not really. I think, obviously, in Jack, I know you agree with this completely. We've talked about when we start, where it ends. We'll figure that out later. I'm thinking 100. I first was thinking anything over half a season, 81. I go back to the strike year or we went to the airport to replace the players. I think around 100. As long as every team's playing the same number of games, what difference does it really make to give validity to a season all face? I'll tell you the sense of urgency. We're going through a tough stretch here. A tough stretch might put you in the Dixie Highway. You might want to have one of those. The other thing is we're probably going to see regular season games played in October. You're going to see post-season games stretched into November. They've talked about neutral sites because you could have snow in the Northeast City in November. I think all that is on the table and I think though it may upset some fans, 2020 is just going to be that anomaly season where things are just going to always be different. In this situation, shut up and go, yeah, it's fine. Whatever's best for our country, our world, and the game of baseball I'm in. Whether you're playing in a dome, whether you're playing in a central, there's been a lot of thought, Jack, about having a World Series play to a neutral side every year in the central part of the country and put it on kind of like the Super Bowl. I don't think, I think our regular season means so much and everything that makes the regular season matter. I'm poor, but I think this is a different cat. I think at the end of the day, if you have to play in a covered roof stadium in November to finish a season, you know, just suck it up. There's a lot of worse things going on. Yeah, I think that's a great answer. I concur with you. I think we're going to see some double headers, which players in the past have been against teams. What do you think about the seven in a game? And that's a great question, Buck. There are a lot of things in baseball that I don't think you should tamper with. The nine innings of a baseball game is one of them. I understand how extreme these circumstances could be. And I wouldn't stand on a mountaintop and say, no, don't play seven innings games. But it almost seems to me that it could be trending that way. And, and by the tone of your question, I think it sounds like maybe you'd be okay with seven innings games. Yeah, Jack, it's one of those things you're okay in a minor league, but you're developing players, you're trying to keep from stretching pitchers out too much. It sounds good on the surface. Seven in games are going to go by so much quicker than a one nine in a game. I'm talking about a double header seven innings, but I'm with you. I think it's such a stat driven thing. I think you're better off playing less games and playing nine innings games than you are playing seven in a game and playing more. Just to say we played X number of games, I think you're asking for some statistical things that you're going to have a tough time offsetting. Buck, I want to have a little fun with you. We've talked a lot of the seriousness of what's going on in baseball. I want to hit you with a couple of names from Yankee history. I want either the first word phrase anecdote story that comes to mind. We're going to do this rapid fire. How about Billy Martin? You know, I read some of these stories. I was saying about this the other day, I've been some of these coaches and they can't throw batting practice or hit a fun goal in today's game. That's how I got Billy's attention on the back field. We used to have this big bazooka that she would pump up. You remember it, Jackie, and hit the balls up where the, shoot the balls up where the planes are. We were worried about and for Laura to knock it down one of those small jets. Well, the thing broke and I'm a little minor league manager, 28 years old from Moaniana and Cleat Boyers. Billy, don't worry about it. Buck can hit fun goals. I said, what? I've seen him work instructionally. He can hit batting, but I'm like, oh my God. Well, Jack, I got in a groove. Good Lord, shine on me. I got in a groove and Billy loved it. Hey, put one on the mound. He put one behind the catcher. Put one between the shortstop and left fielder. And I gotta tell you, since that day, he thought I was pretty hot stuff. But that part of that, I could hardly get out of bed the next morning. Doing this for half an hour, he wouldn't stop. That's not Billy Martin today. I was thinking about, I got something that somebody can even throw batting practice. That's fantastic. How about a guy you were a minor league teammate with and then you later managed him, Don Mattinger. You know, it's funny, you're hitting these names that I've had a lot of time to think. I remember Don coming up and saying, can I talk to you on the way back from Seattle after game five in the playoffs there in 95 and telling me that he was going to have to retire. That's when I think of him, how sad that was for both of us and the guts he had to tell us that early where we could go out and make the Tino Martinez trade before everybody else knew that we needed a first base. That's very difficult, Don Mattinger. Jim Abbott told me a story yesterday. I'm going to speak to your Don Mattinger story with a Don Mattinger story. He said his first meeting with Mattinger was his first spring training, PFPs, pitchers fielding practice on a backfield. A lot of times that the person catching the ball at first base as a coach or an extra pitcher, he said there's Don Mattinger and MVP doing PFPs with the pitchers and exhorting us to, imploring us to do better. And Jim Abbott said, I realized right then and there, this guy was going to be a great teammate. Donny said, hey, put me in Abbott's group for PFPs. I got to watch how he does this. It's one of the greatest things I've ever watched. I got to hit you with Stick Michael. As wide as the baseball guys I think I've ever encountered, I know how close you were with them. Two things. I remember, you know, I don't think I was at the first on his list initially to manage. I got that one-year contract. But we were about the 10th day in spring training and he walked in mom and says, hey, he's coming. Hey, boy, he said, you can do this. We're going to be okay. I've been watching. You can do this. Okay. See you later. You know what that meant to me, Jack? And he used to call me after every game when losers draw and go, hey, boy, you all right? 13 to two, we get big. I would be fine. See you tomorrow. You need anything? The other thing he used to do, Jack, when he was called for rain, he had to make the decision. A lot of people running for government. When he made the decision, he would turn his phone off, get in the car, drive home. The son came out. He didn't care. He made the decision, don't call me. I'll see you tomorrow. You can start again tomorrow. That's why Stick was as wise and as smart a guy as he was. And when we miss him dearly, just a couple of more before we let you go. How about Bernie Williams? How mad he got at me trying to make him switch it down in the extended spring. He was 17, 18, his dad had given me his number. He said, Bernie's going to want to come on. He said he's probably going to, if he gets frustrated and he was really frustrated hitting left handed. And I told him, I said, one day you'll thank us for stick with it for another week. But if you want to go home, I got your dad's number. He said that you'd be wanting to go home. And Bernie said, no, no, no, no, no, no, no. Don't call him. I'll try it for another week. And I got to tell you about, I don't know, seven or eight years later, I saw him over in the winter league and he called me down to on deck, sort of, hey, thanks for switching it. That's all you needed. That's pretty cool. But Bernie, Bernie was a beautiful man in a lot of ways and a great player. Recent Hall of Fame soon to be inductee Derek Jeter. Oh, geez. Just alert eyes. First time I saw him, his eyes were darting everywhere. And he was picking up things around and he wasn't living in a tunnel. His mom and dad were so solid with him. And I knew that things had challenged a lot of players off the field in New York were not going to challenge Derek. But he had some things. He wasn't a finished product. He was very raw. There were a lot of coaches. He made a lot of errors early on in his career, but he worked at it. He was going to be as good as he was capable of being. Obviously, pretty good. I think 56 errors one minor league season. I remember Stick telling me about that and he used a Mickey Mantle comparison about how Mickey Mantle had made 50-something errors in the minor leagues. But let's close it out with one more Hall of Famer, Mariana Rivera. Extended spring, structurally, I didn't tell you about it. They used to get so bored on. We used, on the practice day with no games, we used to play a pickup game with the pitchers. And Mo was the best player. I remember saying to him, hey, this guy can't pitch because he's got no breaking ball. He's got a real stiff wrist. He can't get through the ball. And if he can't come up with another pitch, you might want to try him out, Phil. He's like a man playing with shoulder. He's our best centerfielder by far. Well, he found another pitch, Jack, and it worked out okay, huh? He found another pitch. He rode that cutter all the way to Cooperstown. And Buck, we go back a long way. Always a pleasure to talk baseball with you. And I'm very eager to have you back in the studio with myself, Pablo Renz, John Flaherty. I thought we had some real fun times breaking down the Yankees in 2019. And I look forward the chance to do it again in 2020. In fact, this was fun. Hey, blessings to you and yours. And I miss you guys. We'll get through it and I'll see you down the road. Sounds good, Buck. We'll talk to you soon.