Zach Wilt: Celebrating Buck Showalter's seventh anniversary as O's skipper

On August 3, 2010, the Baltimore Orioles were 33-73, sitting in last place in the American League East, and 34 games out of first place. That day, Buck Showalter managed his first game for the O's and led the team to victory with a 6-3 win over the Angels. The Birds would go on to sweep Anaheim and win nine of their next 11 games. Showalter's club would finish the season 34-23 and he became the first skipper in major league history to take over a club in August and earn more victories the remainder of the season than the team had prior to his hiring.

The Orioles haven't been the same since. Though they finished with a losing record in 2011, Buck's Birds were part of a memorable walk-off victory over the Red Sox in Game 162 that eliminated Boston, who had a nine-game lead over the Rays on Sept. 1, from playoff contention contention entirely. It was arguably the biggest moment in Orioles baseball in a decade and it had no significant meaning to the team's fate.

Showalter's team built on that moment the following season and went from a last-place club with 69 wins to one playing baseball in October for the first time in a 15 years with 93 victories. The Orioles shocked the rest of the baseball world in 2012 with one of the most memorable seasons in recent history. Their 29-9 record in one-run games and 16 extra-inning wins were often deemed "lucky" by those who failed to predict the O's success. Fans of the Birds knew that much of this success and surprise could be credited directly to the skipper, who masterfully managed the bullpen and brought winning baseball back to Charm City.

The Orioles haven't had a losing season since, won the AL East title and advanced to the League Championship Series in 2014, have made the postseason three times, and have become the AL's winningest team since 2012. The past seven years have made my dreams come true as a lifelong Orioles fan. I don't think I ever would have believed this run of success and Showalter has been at the center of it all.

What has always impressed me about Showalter has been his ability to get the absolute most out of his rosters. Orioles starters ranked 21st in ERA in 2012, but the team still won 93 games. The Birds lost Manny Machado to a knee injury in August 2014, but still managed to finish atop the standings in their division. Showalter doesn't let his club's weaknesses or misfortunes get in the way of their ultimate goal. He's done an amazing job of keeping the Orioles grounded and focused.

This week, Showalter won his 1,481st game as a manager in the big leagues, passing Earl Weaver for 24th on the all-time list. Of course, all of 1,480 of Weaver's victories came with the Orioles. Showalter ranks fourth among active managers behind San Francisco's Bruce Bochy, Washington's Dusty Baker, and Anaheim's Mike Scioscia.

As the Orioles sit two games below .500 and 3 1/2 back of a wild card spot, I can't help but remain a bit optimistic about how they will finish this season. Sure, they have had their setbacks this season. The starting rotation has struggled mightily, the offense hasn't hit homers at the rate in which they have over the past five seasons and the defense has taken a step back. But with Showalter in the dugout, would you honestly be surprised to see the Orioles have a strong August and September and make this race interesting? After watching the club reel off five straight victories this week, I know they're capable of staying competitive the rest of the way. If there's anyone that can keep this team on track and make the last 54 games interesting, it's Buck Showalter.

Zach Wilt blogs about the Orioles at Baltimore Sports Report. Follow him on Twitter: @zach_wilt. His views appear here as part of MASNsports.com's season-long initiative of welcoming guest bloggers to our pages. All opinions expressed are those of the guest bloggers, who are not employed by MASNsports.com but are just as passionate about their baseball as our roster of writers.