For Mets and Padres Managers, a Little Explaining Goes a Long Way

In 20 previous seasons as a manager, Buck Showalter had 13 winning seasons and five in which his team qualified for the playoffs.Credit...Jeff Chiu/Associated PressSAN DIEGO — They were hired with much fanfare over the off-season and have received rave reviews around Major League Baseball for their early work with their new teams. Both have won three Manager of the Year Awards and, should things keep up, would be strong contenders in this year’s voting as well.

But before they became dugout peers and fast friends, Mets Manager Buck Showalter and his San Diego Padres counterpart, Bob Melvin, shared a moment together under different circumstances. It came in Yankee Stadium in 1994, when…