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
It's better now than later. He's been working out real hard on his lower half all winter, so fortunately this is the time of year when he shouldn't be set back too far.
It was a privilege for me to manage one of the greatest players in the history of the game, so it will be tough to replace that personality when Barry does retire.
It wasn't a very clean play right there. That was poor judgment.
I've got to talk to him first. I'm sure he wants to get back to .500.
I've known guys who go home early and, especially when you don't go to the postseason, it makes for a long, long winter. That extra month at home, you start getting ready to go back in December.
I've heard it's a greater problem in high school with young kids. Baseball is attempting to clean it up by testing. That's where it starts. It appears to be cleaner now than a couple years ago because of the testing.
I've got a game plan. Some of it depends on how healthy Todd feels, how his legs feel. He's still recuperating from last year at the end of the year. With the hard ground down here, it puts pressure on your legs.
I've got a fine system, ... Short of that, you're weakening yourself and the team if you take this guy or that guy out of the lineup.
I've got a year and some change (remaining) on my contract. I've never not honored a contract in my entire life. I didn't sign here for four years to be thinking about going somewhere else.
Oh, I know what it's going to be like. I believe in it stronger now than ever. I dreamed about it before I got here. I still dream about it. It's going to be wonderful.
No -- I wish he'd gotten better. We all wish he'd gotten better. He wishes he'd gotten better. You don't just lose your skill. Sometimes you can't put your finger on it. He's tried a lot of stuff. It's not through lack of effort or hard work. He's worked hard. Guys around the league ask me, 'What's up?' and I don't know what to tell them.
New York hasn't been too good to us. It hasn't been too good to a lot of people.
It was a great comeback victory after we gave them those two runs. 'Z' pitched outstanding. Our bullpen did a great job.
It takes awhile. I'm glad all these guys are here. They've been doing a lot of drills. They've been doing a lot of things. You've got verbal direction instructions to each other. ... It's a unit you want to get together as quickly as possible, especially on defense.