ATthe intersection of irony and coincidence, Joe Torre this week received his first public slap from George Steinbrenner while far away from The Boss and seemingly further away from this kind of controversy Buck Showalter found himself suddenly fighting not only for a playoff spot, but his job.

On Tuesday, a columnist for The Arizona Republic, the largest paper in the state, called for Showalter’s immediate firing as Diamondback manager because the team was stagnating and playing tight under what the writer described as Showalter’s control-freak nature and fun-squeezing rules.

The paper also ran a poll for its readers to weigh in on “should the Diamondbacks keep Buck Showalter as manager?” Positively for Showalter, of the 1,366 voters, 64.93 percent said to retain the manager.

On Thursday, another Arizona paper, the East Valley Tribune, detailed that Showalter’s problems are actually worse with front-office personnel because he believes he knows how to do their jobs better than they. As an example, the paper said, he has told the scoreboard operators to stop showing AL homer leaders because former Diamondback Tony Batista – who was dealt in a terrible trade for Dan Plesac – was among the leaders.

The matter became so overt D’back owner Jerry Colangelo was forced to publicly comment upon it with remarks that were supportive, but lukewarm at best when it came to offering long-term security. He did say he had no intention of firing his manager during the season, but admitted the club was not living up to lofty expectations.

Colangelo did not return a phone call, but he told Arizona reporters, “If I felt there were changes that needed to be made, I would’ve done it.”

Still, the perception around baseball now is if the Diamondbacks were to fall hopelessly behind in September or do not make the playoffs that Showalter very well could be fired.

See it is not only New York where this occurs. From the outside, it would seem Showalter is a roaring Southwest success. He led the D’backs to the NL West title in their second season of existence last year and had them one game out of first place this year at the time of the Republic column.

But let us not forget Showalter has visited this arena previously in both success on the field and criticism off due to a controlling nature. The Yankees had steady improvement under his stewardship, producing the best record in the American League at the time of the 1994 strike and their first playoff appearance in 14 years in 1995. That would be his fourth and final season as his relationship with Steinbrenner dissolved.

Torre replaced Showalter, who ended up signing a seven-year, $7 million contract with Arizona two years before the Diamondbacks were even scheduled to play a game. That year SportsIllustrated described Showalter as having “the most secure managing job since Connie Mack.” So much for security.

“My job description is to win a championship as quickly possible and if the perception is we are not making progress toward that goal, then you are going to be open to criticism,” Showalter said by phone. “That comes with the territory.”

Showalter, though, said he was not worried about losing his job and added the perceptions expressed in the column – mainly that he had lost his players’ allegiance because of restrictive rules – was wrong. Showalter has much in common with his managing idol, Billy Martin, and Bobby Valentine. Their obvious managing skills can be obscured by off-field issues.

The Diamondbacks set a record for quickest expansion team to the playoffs last season. This year, however, they have been beset by injuries, off years and young players regressing. Recently, they were bolstered by the acquisition of Curt Schilling, who has been marvelous in tandem with Randy Johnson. But the offense is flimsy and the schedule brutal. The Giants and Dodgers will be tough to beat in the NL West and the Mets for the wild card.

Still, this is a third-year team that has had unprecedented quick success with Showalter as the foremost architect.

“I understand how the flavor of the month works,” Showalter said.