Former Orioles outfielder Nick Markakis, respected hitting coach Terry Crowley and longtime scout Dick Bowie are the newest inductees of the Orioles Hall of Fame, with a luncheon sponsored by the Oriole Advocates to honor the inductees on Aug. 23 and a pregame ceremony for formal inductions on Aug. 24.
Former Orioles manager Buck Showalter worked with Markakis and Crowley extensively. The longtime big league skipper managed Markakis from 2010-2014. The 6-foot-1, 210-pound right fielder hit .290/.358/.435 during his time in Baltimore (2006-2014). His 1,547 hits with the Orioles included 141 home runs and 316 doubles.
Markakis was one of the players Showalter built his lineups around after taking over as manager in the middle of the 2010 season. Now, Showalter is thrilled to see Markakis enter the Orioles Hall of Fame.
“I texted him. I said, ‘Hey, congratulations. I’m going to be in town.’ What I’d love to do is slip in the back of the room right before they speak and then slip out just as they get done, just to see it,” Showalter said on Glenn Clark Radio Aug. 22. “Nick’s the type of guy that players love him, great teammate, played the game right, never a look-at-me mentality, just about winning. He was special. He was a guy we built a lot of things around.”
Markakis signed a six-year, $66.1 million deal after a career year in 2008 to buy out arbitration and remain in Baltimore. It appeared he and the club would find a way to continue their partnership when his contract expired following the 2014 season, but the condition of his neck threw a wrench into those plans.
Markakis signed a four-year, $44 million deal with Atlanta and ended up enjoying six productive seasons with the Braves that brought his career hit total to 2,388.
“I remember when [former Braves executive] John Hart called me in Atlanta about signing him,” Showalter said. “I said, ‘If you want to give these guys direction about how to play the game right …’ They still talk in Atlanta about the impact that he had on them and all their young players there.”
Markakis helped Showalter set the tone every year in spring training. For example, Showalter had his team take infield and outfield on the first day of camp. That surprised newcomers, but Markakis and Jones knew Showalter was sending a message about the kind of work the group was going to put in.
It’s no surprise Markakis could stand out in such a setting given his arm strength. (He was a two-way star at Young Harris College in Georgia.)
“Nick had a shoulder issue and he had to really watch [himself],” Showalter said. “It’s one of the reasons he had to quit pitching, but he would air it out the first day, one hop everything, right on the button. And he would go, ‘Boys, there it is. I’m done for the year.’ And he would show all these young guys and first-year players what it meant to take infield and outfield and work. Nicky always worked hard at everything, but he knew he only had so many bullets in his arm.”
Crowley, meantime, worked as the club’s hitting coach from 1985-1989 and 1999-2010, then served as an adviser from 2011-2018. Crowley also played for Baltimore from 1969-1973 and 1976-1982, mostly as a first baseman, designated hitter and pinch hitter.
Showalter inherited Crowley as hitting coach after taking over midseason in 2010, but the two never stopped working together.
“He was a great confidant,” Showalter said. “I’ve got to tell you, there’d be somebody in Bowie or Norfolk or Frederick and I’d go, ‘Crow, can you go over and look at this guy and tell me what you think?’ He would come back with pure eyes — just honest, crisp. ‘Hey, here’s what I see.’ He’s not going to pop his gums and show you how smart he is. He’s got a nice, calm way about him.”
As such, Showalter loved how Crowley evaluated players and was never afraid to lean into that.
“He had a way of visually seeing the game and knew that what was good for Nicky Markakis may not be good for Adam Jones,” Showalter said. “It was more than just stats or analytics. I remember him saying, ‘This guy will get a hit off a good pitcher late in the game.’ And I always remembered when he would say that about somebody. ‘This guy, you don’t want him around when your finger’s on the trigger,’ so to speak. He had little ways of saying things, but Crow had great eyes.”
For more from Showalter, listen to the full interview here:
Photo Credit: Courtesy of the Baltimore Orioles