Happy 62nd birthday to Buck Showalter, who always has the best pop culture takes
Buck Showalter has been around baseball for a long time. As a player, he spent seven seasons from 1977-83 as an outfielder and first baseman in the Yankees organization. Ever since hanging up the cleats, he's been a coach. He's managed the Yankees, D-backs and Rangers before finding his current -- and longest -- home with the Orioles.
With more than four decades spent around professional baseball, Showalter has become something of a legend, and not only for his managerial chops. Over the years he has always managed to entertain -- and even surprise -- with his views and knowledge about non-baseball topics.
Today, on his 62nd birthday, let's celebrate Showalter by enjoying some of his most entertaining takes.
On baseball movies
Showalter has spent his entire life around baseball, so of course he enjoys a good baseball movie. In fact, his favorite baseball movie is "The Sandlot." Given his strong feelings for the original, it probably comes as no surprise that he also feels strongly about its sequel:
On Star Wars
Based on his love of "The Sandlot," it's clear that Buck has an eye for fine cinema with one notable exception: He doesn't "do the Star Wars thing." In fact, he doesn't even know who Yoda is:
On Seinfeld
In 1994, Showalter was the Yankees manager and appeared on "Seinfeld" as himself in the episode in which George Costanza convinces the team to switch from polyester uniforms to a more breathable cotton version.
Since he appeared on the show, one would naturally assume Showalter was a big fan of it. That would be wrong. "I didn't even know the show was popular," he said at the 2016 Winter Meetings. "My kids said, 'Hey, dad, you've gotta go do that.'"
It was certainly more popular than the cotton uniforms...
On sunscreen varietals
We've all experienced the burning sensation that occurs when you get sunscreen in your eyes. It's not pleasant and takes forever to go away. During Spring Training, Showalter was simply trying to avoid sunburn in the Florida heat and ran into that very problem.
Well, someone suggested that he try a different variety of sunscreen, perhaps something a little more sensitive. Perhaps baby sunscreen. His response was as simple as it was factual:
Happy birthday, Buck! Thanks for giving us so much wisdom throughout the years.