men at work

In a game that has Josh Donaldson, Jose Bautista, Manny Machado and Adam Jones – to name a few star players – the matchup of managers is hardly a feature attraction. But let’s give Baltimore’s Buck Showalter and Toronto’s John Gibbons – hard-working skippers with Mississippi connections – their due as two of the game’s best. Their teams currently cling to the two wild card berths in the American League, the Blue Jays up 2 games on the Orioles after winning Tuesday’s series opener in Toronto 5-1. Gibbons, who starred for the Jackson Mets in 1983, is 642-611 in nine years as an MLB manager, all with Toronto. He is in the midst of his third straight winning season. Showalter, a Mississippi State All-American in 1977, is 1,425-1,314 in 18 years and is a three-time manager of the year. His O’s have been .500 or better in each of the last five years. And keep in mind that both clubs play in the AL’s Big Boy Division – the East. Tonight’s game features a good pitching matchup – Chris Tillman for Baltimore against Francisco Liriano of the Jays – but considering the power bats both teams possess and Rogers Centre’s rep as a launching pad, a laser show wouldn’t be a shock. And tempers might flare, too, with both managers known to run a little hot.