Grudgingly at best. 
This is a perfect example of why it’s pointless engaging with you on the issue of baseball.
This thread has been going for over a month, with all sorts of lively and interesting discussion about the great game of baseball, and some of the close races for the playoffs, and your first and only contributions have been to complain that my praise of Showalter’s managing was not praise-y enough because i noted the possibility that the Orioles’ turnaround might be partly due to a change in their luck. And that fucking stupid sad-face smiley.
I do happen to believe that Showalter had a big effect on the organization. A lot of the players themselves said so, and i also think it’s possible that a team under an experienced manager like him is less likely to be allowed to put their heads down when things get tough. First-time managers like those who preceded Showalter sometimes have trouble motivating a team (either with the carrot or the stick), while an old hand like Showalter can read the riot act and the players will pay attention.
But the Birds have, in fact, had some luck, of different sorts, since Showalter took over. Brian Roberts made his return from long-term injury just a week before Showalter signed on, shoring up both the defense and the offense. The pitchers’ Batting Average on Balls in Play (BABIP) fell 30 points between the first and second half of the season, something that is largely attributable to good fortune rather than repeatable skill. And the team, despite its offensive and defensive improvements, was an excellent and also somewhat lucky 12-5 in 1-run games under Showalter.
Anyway, this isn’t really addressed to you, because i know you don’t care about the stats stuff at all. And i know that my interest in Sabermetrics means that i’m not a real baseball fan at all, but just a basement-dwelling nerd who spends his whole life looking at spreadsheets instead of watching actual games.
This is what I meant. And unfortunately, I’ve been proven correct.
Yanks are so far into the Twinks heads now it is silly. The things they did before game 2 were nuts. Burying uniforms, changing up meals and the other silly stuff.