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
Without his 5-0, we wouldn't be close to where we are. He's not gloating or reveling over what he's done, he just continues to do what he's doing.
Without his 5-0, we wouldn't be close to where we are.
On a close play, you're going to do what feels most natural to you.
Guys get a chance to get more rest, ... Guys get a chance to do life stuff: Go do laundry, go to the car wash, go to the bank, shopping. Regular stuff you don't get a chance to do, stuff that's closed when you get to the park, stuff that's closed when you leave the park.
We were a lot closer before I got here. When you play 18 times against teams that have been long-time rivalries, and then it's against my former manager and my confidant before I came here, it increases things.
Yeah, I've got a problem with it, but it's modern baseball. On a close play, you're going to do what's most natural to you. ... There's too many things that you can hurt ? fingers, wrist, elbow, shoulders. There's a lot of things that can get stepped on. There's a lot of things that can happen on a head-first play.
It has gotten more intense since Tony and I got here. Me and Tony were a lot closer before I came here. But when you play 18 times against teams that have long-time rivalries, that just increases (any friction).
It reminds me of old Busch without being closed in. Even though it looks different, it still reminds me of a mini-Busch. I like the amenities that come with it. We don't have to share the weight room, we have our own cage. This is what the new ballparks have. We have a large training area and large locker room.
Running is the hard part. It's getting close to having to make a decision.
The Cardinals have a fine team, a real good team. We'll come out next year and try to get the lead or at least stay close -- and stay healthy. They're No. 1 or 2 in pitching, and that shows you how important pitching is. We get our starting pitching healthy and we'll be all right.
I love my daughter, but she had me on couscous and fixed me pastas and made me eat oatmeal every morning and what else, turkey burgers, turkey bacon, and that kind of stuff. So she wants her dad to live a long time, and I do, too.
You don't want to get beat, number one, and you hate getting shutout, number two, and even worse, no hits.
That's the reality of it. Everybody has a big two or three. The health of those big two or three ... there's a lot riding on it.
I'm not a guy that sits around and does nothing.