The man who could be the key to the Orioles' 2017 season sat in a chair in manager Buck Showalter's office last week, listening as his new boss discussed the just-concluded minicamp with a small group of reporters.
Roger McDowell, who replaced Dave Wallace as the team's pitching coach, was originally supposed to meet with reporters in the Sarasota, Fla., media room. Instead, he watched Showalter conduct a typical, wide-ranging briefing.
McDowell listened carefully, joking with one reporter about an interruption when her cellphone inadvertently rang.
In his long playing career, which ended with the Orioles in 1996, McDowell was known as a prankster, but he was serious when talking about his job.
