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Showalter shows his closet to the Athletic.
Nothing is as synonymous with Showalter's on-field look as his jacket.
When he was a rookie manager with the Yankees in the early 1990s, Showalter got all of his coaches custom-made Starter jackets. The company had a plant in his hometown in Florida and Showalter made friends with the family. He says he did it in his next stop, Arizona, too. That was before the league tightened up rules governing what could be worn on the field. Now, you have to wear MLB-issued stuff.
Showalter does technically wear MLB-issued stuff, but none of it is new. He instead wears previously OK'ed items from years ago, a loophole he thinks drives the league nuts and one they'll probably try to close when he's done managing.
“I know the head clubbie KK (Kevin Kierst) would not go to yard sales but look at thrift shops for old Mets stuff and try to get a cool one-of-a-kind windbreaker for him,” said Nationals pitcher Trevor Williams, who was with the Mets last year. “He was looking at eBay and Craigslist for jackets.”
Shopping for Showalter is simple: find something unique and, if he likes it, buy a boatload so you don't run out.
No one can quite figure out the pattern to the jackets. If the Mets are winning, you'd think Showalter would ride with the same one but he doesn't. He's not superstitious so much as he's detail-oriented. On Fridays, he likes to wear black. But the rest of the rotation — there are usually two or three jackets in his locker — appears totally random. There are heavier and lighter jackets, the latter of which have the lining removed to keep them even cooler during the summer months. The elastic inside is also adjusted.
“It's too long (otherwise),” Showalter said. “I'm 5-foot-10. Does that qualify as custom?”
What Showalter wears under the jacket is a source of great debate. The only photos of him in the team's uniform top are from the Mets' official photo day in spring training.
“And maybe a commercial?” Williams said.
“I'm not going to say he does or doesn't wear (the uniform), for politically correct reasons,” Hunter said.
Showalter grins.
“You're going to get me in trouble,” he said. “Let's just say, when they do those (game-worn) giveaways during the season, whoever gets mine, it's a really new jersey.” |
https://theathletic.com/4542155/2023/05/23/mets-buck-showalter-fashion/
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