Seinfeld Predicted The Yankees Firing Buck Showalter
Seinfeld predicted the New York Yankees firing manager Buck Showalter after the 1995 season. At the end of Seinfeld season 5, George Costanza was hired as the Yankees' assistant to the traveling secretary, allowing the sitcom to use one of MLB's premier franchises for multiple seasons. Most notably, this plot development gave Seinfeld one of its most memorable supporting characters: the fictionalized version of former Yankees owner George Steinbrenner, voiced by Seinfeld co-creator Larry David.
On Seinfeld, David's portrayal of Steinbrenner was played for laughs, but baseball fans know the real man was infamous for his quick temper. Under his watch, the Yankees had «championship or bust» expectations, which frequently led to massive turnarounds. In his first 23 seasons with New York, Steinbrenner changed managers 20 times, with Billy Martin being fired five times alone. Steinbrenner's penchant for firing people was the final punchline of the Seinfeld season 7 episode «The Wink,» in which George's co-worker Mr. Morgan loses his job. Funnily enough, Steinbrenner's rambling turned out to be prophetic.
Related: Larry David's Favorite Seinfeld Episode Explained
At the end of the episode, as George is leaving Steinbrenner's office, «The Boss» lists the various Yankee employees he fired over the years. The last name was then-Yankees manager Showalter. Steinbrenner catches himself mid-sentence and exclaims, «George! You didn't hear that from me!» «The Wink» originally aired on October 12, 1995. Showalter left the Yankees just a couple weeks later on October 26, 1995. When «The Wink» premiered, the Yankees had recently been eliminated from the MLB Playoffs, losing 3-2 to the Seattle Mariners in the ALDS.
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