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
Be more specific of who you are talking about. Yeah, I talked to Walk. We got it straight.
Everybody talks about small ball, but you have to have the personnel to play small ball.
Everybody talks about a fresh start, but it seems like whatever reputation you have follows you to the next job, the next place, which really isn't a fresh start. I certainly don't condone the things that have happened and transpired in the past but everybody deserves a fresh start.
Baseball's not separate from the world. (Racism) is real. Nobody wants to talk about it. You don't hear guys talk in depth too much, especially minority guys, because you get accused of playing the race card.
You know it's there, but you don't really see it. Guys don't discuss it or talk about it much. It's something you have little control over. I'm sure some guys are conscious of it and aware of it, but until it happens, you can't do anything about it.
You know he's feeling better because he's eating up everything in the locker room again and he's talking a lot.
I didn't get a chance to talk to him so I know it's an emergency.
I was talking to Michael about it -- it's an honor to be chosen to play for your country.
I was talking to (Giants coach) Mark Gardner the other night. He told me how much that did for the team, how much fun it was. The thing about Barry, he likes to have fun. He's always been that way. He just doesn't want you (the media) to see it.
I had to talk to one of my players, because we needed some luck. I talked to the luckiest guy I know on Earth --Kirk 'Woody' Rueter. I called Woody and said, 'Woody, I need some of the Woody luck.' He said he sent it to us.
It's the same with pitching. You talk to Greg Maddux and I'm sure he has a game plan, but he also sometimes can feel when a guy is looking inside or if a guy is looking for something else or it depends on which pitch he takes and how he takes it. Some guys get it early, some guys get it late, some guys never get it.
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.
I've got to talk to him first. I'm sure he wants to get back to .500.
It's something we talked about. Again, the decision is up to the player. There's quite a bit of pressure on these guys, especially the guys from Latin America more than anybody because of the magnitude and importance of baseball in those areas.