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 likes doing that. He's actually been pretty good at it. Right now, we're using him like that. I'm not sure if that's how he'll pitch. We're trying to get guys innings.
He likes being with the team and we like having Kerry around,
Guzman has missed a lot of time. He's very close. You don't know if he's quite ready. Certain guys need to pitch. He has missed parts of the last three years (with injuries).
Guys tell me they sleep on the road a lot easier and better than they do at home, ... At home, you end up waking at 7:00 in the morning because you're used to getting up early. On the road, you're not worried about sleeping in and missing batting practice. You're always conscious here of oversleeping. You don't want to wake up in a panic, especially if it's cloudy or dark outside. If it gets sunny early, you're jumping out of bed and it could be 6 o'clock.
Guys gravitate towards him. You need those kind of guys. There's a lot he can still do.
Harold Reynolds told me that maybe he should have gotten a Gold Glove over Bret Boone. That's pretty good company right there.
It doesn't send me no message. It's his career. It ain't my career.
It doesn't matter if we're in the playoffs or not, we're trying to get to .500. We've got something to play for. Guys are still trying to get hits and get wins.
It embarrassed me into learning how to get the signs,
I think he has a lot left. If we use him right, play him right. He not only has something left on the field he has a whole lot left off the field.
I think he can become a very good player. He can hit, he can run, I think his power is coming, especially when you're strong in the lower half -- that's where the power comes from. You have to learn how to do it, how to use it without abusing it and losing what got you here which is base hits.
It depends on the severity of his injury, how he feels upon recovery and upon rehab. I don't have any answer to that right now.
It depends on how he feels and what they say, a combination. We're just hoping it turns out to be nothing. He'll do as much as he can tolerate.
I think more success is on the horizon.