Dusty Baker
Dusty Baker
Johnnie B. "Dusty" Baker, Jr.is an American Major League Baseball manager and former player. He is currently the manager for the Washington Nationals. He enjoyed a 19-year career as a hard-hitting outfielder, primarily with the Atlanta Braves and Los Angeles Dodgers. He helped the Dodgers to pennants in 1977 and 1978 and to the championship in 1981. He then enjoyed a 20-year career as a manager with the San Francisco Giants, Chicago Cubs, Cincinnati Reds, and now Washington Nationals. He...
NationalityAmerican
ProfessionCoach
Date of Birth15 June 1949
CityRiverside, CA
CountryUnited States of America
My hope doesn't need reinvigorating. I had hope regardless.
I have learned from hamstrings that when a guy says he feels good, you give him a couple extra days. Invariably, you top a ball and have to beat it out. It happens every time.
I had to talk to one of my players, because we needed some luck. I talked to the luckiest guy I know on Earth --Kirk 'Woody' Rueter. I called Woody and said, 'Woody, I need some of the Woody luck.' He said he sent it to us.
I didn't have any choice because I had a short bullpen. If we tied the game up, and I'm out of pitchers, where I have to hit for them -- I only have five guys. That's why I double-switched, to get the most innings out of the guys pitching without running out of pitchers and running out of position players.
I can't say that, because everybody will be looking over their shoulder or afraid to answer the telephone, thinking some deal or something is going to happen. These things happen.
We want to get him in the position to give him the best chance to make the club. He worked hard last winter. We know he can help this club. I can tell he's helping some of the young guys and the veteran guys about how to go about their business and how to play this game.
We were one of the better teams in the league on the road. That's usually the toughest part of the equation. We need to play well at home and establish home-field advantage and superiority.
You hope it's just a minor setback. We have to stay positive and keep our fingers crossed.
You hear from being sub-.500 to the World Series. I don't think anybody really knows. There's a lot of variables here, a lot of variables that can go well and work. I don't see many variables that would cause it not to work.
With his health conditions of the past, we sort of considered that it might be better if he doesn't play. It's not necessarily final at this point but he's leaning toward that.
You hate to see it end in a tie.
You hate to say wait-and-see, but that's how it is, ... We're counting on him big time. At this point, I can't say in which capacity. We're hoping as a starter. If not, we'll do the next-best thing for him and us.
You hate to have a guy have back problems, then he starts changing his arm angle and compensating for it and you end up hurting something else. His teammates, they really convinced me he had had enough.
There are going to be some times when all of them will have to come off the bench. To me, that will keep all of them ready to come in the game at any minute.