Baltimore Orioles: Buck Showalter and Trick or Trot for Kids

Not everyone in baseball has always liked Buck Showalter of the Baltimore Orioles. I suspect that nearly everyone around the game respects the guy, but we’ve all heard the stories of how at previous stops along the way players, GM’s, and owners grew tired of his obsession over attention to detail. However I would submit that is a good thing, and it’s served him well in Baltimore – in more ways than one.

Since arriving in town in August of 2011, Showalter and his wife Angela have been very close to a charity called Kids Peace, which helps foster children in the state of Maryland. Yesterday they hosted their annual “Trick or Trot,” which in effect is a fundraiser for the charity. It’s an annual 5K walk or run which brings participants through the harbor, and it finishes up on the field at Camden Yards where they’re all greeted by Buck, Angela, and the Oriole Bird. Registration was $40 per participant, with all of the proceeds of course going to Kids Peace.

Courtesy of Kevin Jairaj-USA TODAY Sports

The Showalters connected with this charity almost immediately after they came to Baltimore. And that fact almost immediately registered with the fan base. This is not to say that any of Showalter’s predecessors weren’t well-intentioned or that they flat out didn’t care about the community. However keep in mind what I said above about Showalter and his attention to detail. While that’s still concentrated primarily on the field, this time around he’s also put some of that attention into the community that he’s serving.

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How often have we heard about how Buck “gets Baltimore,” and how he feels that Baltimore “gets him?” If the city of Baltimore were a person, it would probably look and feel a lot like Buck Showalter. He’s kind of a journeyman who’s worked hard, been on the wrong end of a few jokes over the years, and in some instances is somewhat misundestood. Sound familiar?!

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There’s more than one reason why Showalter connects so well with the city and it’s people, but the fact that he invested in the community through Kids Peace almost immediately spoke very loudly to the people here. Again, his predecessors were just as well-intentioned and odds are they didn’t care any less. However Showalter’s investment in the community told the people that he was now one of them in their community, and that he also had a stake in life in this area. While it may be a simple deed, it speaks volumes in a place like Baltimore.

At the end of the day, both Baltimore and the Showalters are family-oriented, hard-working, and blue collar. That’s why they connect so well. We’ve all seen the Kids Peace commercials on MASN, and you can tell by the looks in their eyes that Buck and Angela truly want to help the foster children involved in the program. Kudos to them, and kudos to the people of Baltimore for recognizing it.

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You don’t have to “get” a city like New York, Boston, Los Angeles, or even DC. There are so many other things going on there on a daily basis. However both the Orioles and Ravens are a huge part of the fabric of the city of Baltimore. Much of that is due to the fact that it’s a smaller city than some of those aforementioned places. It’s also a blue collar place, and speaking for myself I love that about it. So, incidentally, does Buck Showalter. And it’s for all of these reasons that all of the good done by Buck and his wife Angela seem to resonate so much louder in Baltimore.