Wayne Kirby’s presence in a room is often accompanied by his hearty laugh and maybe a joke or two.
A former major league outfielder, the 58-year-old Kirby was hired to manager Buck Showalter’s staff last winter as the Mets first-base coach and outfield instructor. Kirby previously worked under Showalter with the Orioles from 2011-18.
Kirby spoke to Post Sports+ this week about working for Showalter, his own bout with prostate cancer and a Mets team headed to the postseason for the first time since 2016.
What has it meant for you to reunite with Buck Showalter this season?
Wayne Kirby: It’s the way I grew up playing baseball — no gimmicks. Doing what your position requires you to do. Run the bases. We don’t give teams easy outs and we let our players play. As a manager, when you take [restraints] off players and let them do what they’re good at, they will show you what they can do instead of what they can’t do, and that way they’re not timid to steal a base. If you feel it, take it.
You played for Bobby Valentine with the Mets in 1998. How does his managerial style compare to Showalter’s?
WK: Buck is a little more detail-oriented than Bobby. There were some things when I first got into coaching that I didn’t understand, and I would ask Buck questions. The only way you’re going to find out about situations is to ask questions. I think in this industry, a lot of people don’t understand about asking more questions. I don’t have all the answers, but trust me, after being with Buck for nine years, I know what he’s thinking, I know how he’s thinking.
How are you feeling after undergoing prostate cancer surgery in July?
WK: I am cancer-free right now, so I’m very happy with that. It was a strange process because you don’t know what’s in your body until you do the blood work and all that. And when the blood work came back, I said, ‘Really?’
When was the cancer discovered?
WK: I found out in late spring training. And then they had to do the biopsy, and in my mind [I was thinking,] ‘This is negative.’ But it wasn’t negative, it was positive, so from then, you have to take a step back and find out the best thing to do for yourself. Baseball becomes second after that to just taking care of my body to get back here. … Buck didn’t want me to wait [for the surgery]. That’s usually the way Buck is going to go after it: ‘Take care of yourself, baseball isn’t going anywhere.’
How would you describe your rapport with the players? You seem like a player’s coach who keeps everybody loose.
WK: Maybe and maybe not. I am direct with the players sometimes. People don’t tell the players what they need to hear. I’m a straight shooter. I’m all about telling them, ‘Clean your [stuff] up. I don’t want you sitting over here with me.’ When players make mistakes, I don’t jump on them. Every once in a while, I’ll ask them about their thought process. I don’t let it get away; if they give me a good answer, move on. Everybody makes mistakes in this game, and just because you make a mistake at a bad time doesn’t mean you are supposed to jump all over a player.
Do you have managerial aspirations?
WK: (Laughing) Nah, I’m good. I love meetings enough, but my whole thing is between the white lines. I have enough homework as it is. Going over these [opposing] hitters and finding out where they hit fly balls and communicating with the analytics team. … [The manager] has got meetings on top of meetings, and I tip my hat to all of them. That’s why they make the big bucks.
How satisfied are you with the way the outfielders have played this season?
WK: The biggest thing we addressed in spring training is dive after the balls you know you’re going to catch, and if you can’t catch it, play it into a single. Hit the cutoff man, back up and secure the baseball … don’t be overaggressive. So far, I’m probably the happiest I’ve ever been. We’ve only had a few errors in the outfield.
Why is this a team that can succeed in the postseason?
WK: Baseball players. You go on the field and look at them: Squirrel (Jeff McNeil), baseball player, he understands. Francisco [Lindor], baseball player. Pete [Alonso], understands his position. They’re not out to hit home runs. They’re chasing hits, how to get on base and still performing at a high clip, and they don’t strike out a lot. If you go back and look at all the World Series teams — Kansas City, Dodgers, Houston — and they don’t strike out. They put the ball in play, and when you have a team that puts the ball in play and plays a high level of defense and then the pitching, it’s a good mix.
Playoff preview
Mark Canha has a message for Mets fans: The postseason is already underway.
“I know the playoffs don’t start for a week, but this is it,” Canha said Wednesday night before the Mets boarded their charter for Atlanta, where a three-game series is scheduled this weekend that could determine the NL East champion. “This is playoff baseball we’re playing every night here, and those three games, I don’t need to say it’s going to be a hostile environment; it’s going to be crazy.”
The series could come down to a contrast of styles. The Mets grind out at-bats and look to put the ball in play. The Braves try to maximize the value of their swings.
“They swing big and hit home runs and have got a lot of arms, and they’re a very talented team,” Canha said. “But I think we tend to rise to the occasion and will have to play like it’s do or die every night, like it’s playoff baseball.”
Weathering the storm
Now for the final word on the drama that played out this week regarding whether Hurricane Ian might force the series to be played somewhere other than Atlanta. With a dramatic shift in the forecast, it appears the Braves made the right call keeping the games on schedule at Truist Park. Mets officials had lobbied to move up the series opener to better ensure games wouldn’t have to be played next Thursday, after the regular-season schedule concludes, and were upset the request got denied.
But the situation only underscored a level of distrust the Mets have for the Braves, believing Atlanta officials are always trying to gain an unfair advantage, either through scheduling or weather protocols.
But as a person connected to the Braves pointed out this week, the Mets were looking out for their own interests in August when they changed the start time of a Sunday game at Citi Field that followed a doubleheader against Atlanta the previous day.
Play ball — and hopefully all three games as scheduled.