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
You'd think he's left-handed when you watch him throw. He's one of the best athletes I've been around. People are surprised when they see him run. This guy can fly.
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 owe it to ourselves, we owe it to our fans to put the best team we can on the field to try and win because people want to see us win,
We owe it to ourselves and our paying fans to put the best team we can on the field. We'll do the best we can every day.
To the best of my knowledge right now, nobody is leaving.
It's one of the best trades you don't make. Walker made some fine defensive plays tonight. He's hitting the ball outstanding.
You talk to him, and he's in a hurry. We're in a hurry to have him, but we don't want to do anything to set him back. I talked to him the other day, and he said that's the best he's felt after he has thrown. We want to continue on that same progress.
That's the best he's looked so far this spring. It's the right time for him to get it together.
Everybody says, 'Play the kids, play the kids.' But I've got seven games against Houston. Against Houston, I've got to play my best team. We could have a direct impact on who goes. There's always something to play for.
I try to protect the young guys as best I can, but at the same time, if you're in the big leagues, you're in the fire every day no matter who you're playing.
We'll take it to the end before we make our decision on who's throwing the best and what we need.
We'll figure it out. I don't have a set thing. We'll do what we think is best that day.
We'll mix and match and do what we can. We owe it to ourselves and our paying fans to put the best team we can on the field. People want to see us win. September is right around the corner. There are probably some guys who will get called up. We'll do the best we can every day.
(Zambrano) struggled early. He made a couple young mistakes. I guess that comes with young players. He started working his breaking ball and had them off-balance. In the sixth and seventh, he probably had his best stuff. Fortunately, we got a couple runs in the top of the seventh.