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
He's done well for me. What he's done has excited me. He's going to the fall league and was thinking about Puerto Rico.
He's healthy. Sometimes he's not swinging well and other times he runs into some hard luck. It's a combination. I can see him getting frustrated. He needs one or two days and he'll get rolling.
He's had that from time to time. That's the first time he's had it this year, but when a guy comes to you and says his back is really tight, you can't leave him in there. It's just unfortunate that it happened tonight at the end of this trip, a bad road trip.
He's got the legs (to be a power hitter). We know he can hit the ball to right field, he's got a good eye for the strike zone and he can run and he's making fine progress for a young man who came out of Double-A.
He's got some skills, definitely. He's got great range, quickness. His bat has really improved over the last year and a half. Fundamental stuff? There's still a few things he needs to work on. He'll probably get a pretty good shot of that here.
His velocity appears to be up, his location was good. I'm sure he's not happy about not covering first base. He's been working on it, and we've been making him very conscious of it, but the way he falls off, I don't know, it just looks like he has a lapse or something. Other than that, he threw the ball good.
He's going to play now because we're out of outfielders. This is an opportunity to salvage the season.
He's going to play now because we're out of outfielders, ... This is an opportunity to salvage the season.
He's going to hit. You don't usually stop hitting, and if you do, then somebody's in trouble, because a lot of hits are coming.
He's going to have nerves -- that's natural. Hank Aaron told me when I came up, 'It's natural to be nervous. Just don't be scared.' You wouldn't be human if you weren't nervous. But after you throw that first pitch or two, your nerves subside and it's the same game.
He's going to get better. It's a big jump from Double-A to the big leagues. He's hit everywhere he's been. If you've hit everywhere you've been, you should hit where you're going.
He's going to be a fine, fine player. It's just a matter of when we clear that spot for him, and do we hold somebody in reserve in case he doesn't do it.
He's been working with Tony Gwynn in the winter and you can't find a better guy than that to work with. He works hard, he appears to be an outstanding teammate. I think he'll be an excellent catch for us.
He's given us a lot of quality, period,