The book on new Orioles manager Buck Showalter is a fairly easy read. He's known as a master of preparation, a student of the game, a micromanager and a guy who can see the big picture and the small picture at the same time.

That was on display at his introductory news conference Monday afternoon at Camden Yards. He talked about the Orioles' proud history. He was deferential to outgoing interim manager Juan Samuel. He deftly navigated inquiries about the sensitive, uncharted territory he will inhabit alongside Orioles president of baseball operations Andy MacPhail and owner Peter Angelos.

In other words, Showalter said all the right things during a 40-minute question-and-answer session with the media the day before he takes the field as the 17th full-time manager in franchise history. And yet, when it was over, there was still one question that hung in the air like a room-service curveball.

Does he really know what he's getting into?

"I'm not naive," he said on a couple of occasions.

Of course, he's not. He spent a big chunk of his career in George Steinbrenner's New York Yankees organization. He has been hired and fired three times at the major league level. He's certainly no babe in the woods, but -- let's be honest -- he has never encountered a situation quite like this one.

Showalter took over a Yankees team during one of that franchise's longer competitive dry spells, but it was still the richest organization in professional sports. He managed the Arizona Diamondbacks from birth, so he didn't have to deal with expectations or past resentments. He took over a struggling Texas Rangers franchise, but it was not all that far removed from several playoff appearances under his friend and mentor Johnny Oates.

The Orioles are two months from completing their 13th consecutive losing season. They have alienated a huge percentage of their fan following. The owner has become the poster boy for how not to run a professional sports organization. Showalter is aware of all this, but can anyone truly be prepared for it?

Maybe not, but you get the sense that if anybody could be, it would be Showalter, who displayed a fair grasp of the situation even as he tiptoed around several questions about the way he might handle it.

"I think I've done my homework," he said. "I love the team, the tradition, the people, the feeling. Everybody talks about the Cardinals in the National League in St. Louis and the fans, and there's just a certain karma and feeling to the culture there. And I feel the same way about Baltimore.

"And it's a challenge. It's our challenge. It's not the people out there who are waiting to embrace this. You've got to give them something to embrace you about."

Whenever a new manager is hired, Angelos is the elephant in the room, but Showalter seems comfortable enough with that part of the equation, or else he probably would have waited to see which other managerial opportunities presented themselves at the end of the season.

"Mr. Angelos owns the team, he bought the team, he supports the team and I know the passion and energy he has for it," Showalter said." I am sure it has been very tough on him, knowing how competitive he is."

Not surprisingly, Showalter showed mostly his softer side at the news conference. He was there with his family and his agent. He was funny and charming. At one point, he quoted the movie "Braveheart" and then allowed that maybe this wasn't the best time to use Mel Gibson to illustrate a point.

Then there's the other side. He's a tough master who requires a total effort, a winning attitude, an unflinching respect for the game and players who are willing to put their personal priorities aside to join in the pursuit of the team's common goals.

"And if somebody doesn't share those goals," he said, "I'm sure they are going to be comfortable playing somewhere else."

That's what a lot of fans have been waiting to hear. There is the perception that the players have gotten too accepting of their current fate … that someone needs to shake them out of their comfort zone and shatter the culture of losing that permeates the organization from top to bottom.

Which brings us to another question that was on everybody's mind Monday.

Why would anybody in his right mind -- and with other options -- want to undertake the seemingly impossible task of turning this mess into a masterpiece?

"I think all competitive people like the idea of people saying it can't be done," he said.

If that's true, he's going to love it here.

peter.schmuck@baltsun.com

Listen to Peter Schmuck on WBAL (1090 AM) at noon Fridays and Saturdays and with Brett Hollander at 6 p.m. on Tuesdays and Thursdays. Also, check out his blog, "The Schmuck Stops Here," at baltimoresun.com/schmuckblog.