Buck Showalter talks about his Manager of the Year honor

Many Orioles fans are happy tonight as the manager they appreciate got honored as American League Manager of the Year. After winning the Baseball Writers' Association of America award for the third time, the Orioles' Buck Showalter was asked about the great fit he has become in Baltimore. The fans love him and he feels the same toward them. All that winning and two playoff appearances in three years doesn't hurt either. "I take a lot of pride in it," Showalter said of being the Orioles skipper. "I told the players after the season ended, you are trying to take away some positives and it tugs at your heart at the end. But the country got reminded of what a great baseball town and a great city Baltimore is. It's become a destination where players want to play at. "I've gotten calls with just the pride of the players going around with their peers around the country in the offseason. It's always been there. It was our responsibility and is every day. We were doing things today and yesterday to try and keep this thing going. It's our responsibility. "I know there are people counting on us to be as good as we can be next year. We want to sustain this and have it be something our fans can count on. "I like getting Baltimore. If somebody else doesn't get it, that's their loss. We've made a lot of strides in putting a better team on the field and that is an ongoing challenge, an ongoing process. It's so competitive. It's hard to separate yourself and that is why it is so gratifying if you can pull it off." Showalter became the second manager to win the award with three different teams, joining Tony La Russa, and the sixth to win the award three or more times. What did that mean to him? "Probably means people get tired of your schtick after a while," Showalter said laughing. "I don't know, those are some pretty good names, I can tell you that. "The game is about the players and managers come and go. Timing is everything. I'm the first to tell you the groundwork of Andy MacPhail and the work he did. Dan Duquette has taken it and run with it and even done as good as things if not better. "Never once have I assumed. It is such an honor to manage in the big leagues. Not a day goes by that I don't look around and go, 'Really?' It is pretty cool and I don't ever take it for granted." Showalter addressed the Orioles before the start of the postseason and thanked the players for, in his words, "taking me along for the ride." "We were talking about plans for the postseason and yeah, you have to keep in mind they allow you to manage in this game," he said. "You have to feel like you are all on the same page. "I just hadn't had a real good chance to tell them thanks for the way they played, the standard they held for themselves. I had a great seat and there are so many things that happen where you take a real prideful moment." Showalter is the third Orioles manager to be named BBWAA Manager of the Year, an award that began in 1983, joining Davey Johnson (1997) and Frank Robinson (1989).