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
I hope it comes out well. I hope it's not anything serious. I hope and pray it's something minor and he recovers well.
I heard Woody was very promising. He was low- to mid-90s with some of the things he threw. He's not that far off. But I can't speculate on what soon means.
I have three years, ... I don't have anything to do with the other 100 or something years. That's how I look at it. It's not a burden to me. I have three years and I'm hoping to turn it around in year No. 4.
I have to talk to him about it. It's mostly going to be up to him. You can't force anybody to do anything. But for his sake and his career, you kind of wish he will play somewhere for a while.
I'm seeing a fresh start to me. I've got a pretty good idea, watching him hit, of his strengths and weaknesses. When the games start, I'll get an even better idea. The thing I don't know yet is, is he a fast starter? Slow starter? It's like with D-Lee -- how many at-bats does he need?
I haven't been in this position in years. I'll mix and match and do what we can because we owe it to ourselves and to the fans to try to win. September is around the corner. We'll call up some people, though we don't know who yet.
I guess competition does bring out the best in everybody.
I'm trying to do something day to day to find out the best lineup. I'd prefer not to change every day.
I'm counting on him. I just don't know when we're counting on him.
They'll have to get some concentrated at-bats. Every year, I send guys who I don't think are ready down to the Minor Leagues to hit at the top and bottom of the order so they get nine to 18 at-bats at a time. When they get back, I'll find out exactly how much they played. In the case of a catcher, you have to get his legs ready squatting up and down in a game, too. We'll do whatever we can to get them ready.
They hit some balls on the nose. The elements were with us tonight. This is sort of strange. You think spring is here, then winter shows back up again, I guess that is Chicago; you've just got to deal with it.
They have to concentrate on what they have to do for us here and today. If it happens, it's part of the game. You can't make guys aware of that. You see certain guys went through waivers, and they have votes on who should be traded and who shouldn't. That has no merit, actually.
It was hard real hard. Rem was great about it. He's a real pro.
They've got some of the best hitters in the world on that team. We were going to have Carlos throw seven innings or 90 pitches. The 90 pitches came first.