BALTIMORE -- Orioles manager Buck Showalter still has vivid memories of his childhood days playing baseball. In fact, some are even visible beneath his right eye, where a faded scar sits.
Before Sunday's series finale with the Tigers, Showalter recalled a story from when he was just 8 years old living in Florida. He joined a pickup game at a local sandlot with some 12-year-olds and went to retrieve a foul ball underneath a neighbor's porch. Two German shepherd puppies were waiting for him.
"I started petting the puppies, grabbed the ball and ran out," he said chuckling, "and momma showed up.