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 want Jerry to play second base or left field. If there is a tough left-hander, he will play left.
I want Jerry to play second base or left field, ... If there is a tough left-hander, he will play left.
At this point, we're taking it slow. We're trying to get him on a course and program to be ready for his start Opening Day. We don't know if he'll be second or third on the list, but we're trying to get him ready.
Todd did a good job playing first base in Spring Training. He likes playing first base. He'll play first most of the time and second base some of the time.
Ain't nothing on hold. These games are going to go on regardless. They're going to go into the record, wins and losses, regardless. You wish you could stop time, but I'm looking at that clock and that second hand's still ticking.
Missing almost the second half of the season last year really slowed his progress some. Skill-wise, he has the skill. We know that. It's just a matter of him playing and doing the little things. He works hard.
He threw the ball pretty good. He was better the second inning than the first. The important thing was, he was on the mound. I thought he did pretty good.
Other than the second home run by Dunn, the rest were legitimate. He missed location all day. That's the first time I have seen four solo home runs in each of the first four innings.
You've got to make sure he's OK so this thing doesn't linger all year long. You saw the difference some last year in the second half after he hurt it.
The field's a lot faster than ours. That ball got to him a lot quicker than he expected. We'll try to get him some more time at second base, especially with the split squad coming up here.
I never asked him. I asked other guys and they all said, 'No.' I didn't ask Barry. If you've ever been around Barry, Barry's his own man.
I'm sure there is no miracle drug that's going to make it go away right away.
I'm sure he'd like to end the year pitching, knowing Woody. If we can get him in there, we'll try to do that.
I'm sure something will work out for him. I certainly don't think he's through. Injuries have hurt him the last couple of years. I'm hoping he gets a job.