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
When we hit it hard, it was right at somebody. He (Lowe) got strike one low and away. He had good stuff today.
When we hit it hard, it was right at somebody,
Every time I think about giving him an off-day, he hits two or three home runs. Maybe I'll start thinking about that off-day. You don't want to give him time off against the Cardinals.
Every time I think about giving him a day off, he hits two home runs. Maybe I'll start thinking about that off day for him.
I would say he's not where he was last year at this time, yet. Sometimes you have to hit with your mind. I'm sure he can do it.
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.
Ordinarily, they'd be in charge of catching kids their age and the young guys. Now they're on the fast learning curve. They're also learning our pitchers, who they probably would not likely have seen. They're also learning the other hitters in this league. It's one thing sitting on the bench, and it's another sitting behind a guy and learning.
It got a little hairy there when we had a 3-0 lead and Delgado hit that home run. But that was the only mistake Zambrano made.
I was pulling for him to get one more hit to get to 200. It's even more for him to shoot for next year.
I didn't have any choice because I had a short bullpen. If we tied the game up, and I'm out of pitchers, where I have to hit for them -- I only have five guys. That's why I double-switched, to get the most innings out of the guys pitching without running out of pitchers and running out of position players.
I don't walk across the street thinking I'm going to get hit by a car,
He (Maddux) gave us the innings, he gave us the quality, he gave us a hit to start a rally, gave us base running -- he gave us anything you could get from a position player and a pitcher. We needed it badly.
What do I want to find out for? ... I know already. I'd be foolish to try to find out at this point, right? I mean, this guy is going to hit until he can't even walk.
He's a ballplayer. These are things a ballplayer does -- they run the bases well, they hit well, they throw, they throw to the right base, they steal a base. I think we're very fortunate to get such a talent at such a low price.