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 understand how they feel. I was sitting there last year seeing things I haven't seen since junior high school. I completely agree with them.
Pressure is what you put on yourself. You can't do anything about what the Sox did. And you can't do anything about the last year of your contract.
I've always been told, 'You start the year hurt, it makes for a long year.
There's good years and bad years -- there's great years and good years. This might be one of the great years. ... I don't know anybody who stayed on top and excellent every year in their career, but he's done a pretty good job of it.
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.
Right now, it's so early that you want to get rid of whatever is in there. I was always told you start the year hurt, it makes for a long year. We're trying to get rid of whatever is in there, get it well, get it subsided and hopefully get on with it.
No. 1, you have to make sure he's OK so this thing doesn't linger all year long. Fortunately for us, he did get some at-bats during the World Baseball Classic and the fact that he did pretty well shows he's not that far off. He saw better quality pitching in that than he would down here. It was to his advantage and ours that he did play.
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.
We want to win. I always want to win. It's a big year for all of us, a big year for the organization, a big year for the city, a big year for the staff, me, different guys on the team. There's no more pressure than usual.
It's better now than later. He's been working out real hard on his lower half all winter, so fortunately this is the time of year when he shouldn't be set back too far.
I've got a game plan. Some of it depends on how healthy Todd feels, how his legs feel. He's still recuperating from last year at the end of the year. With the hard ground down here, it puts pressure on your legs.
I've got a year and some change (remaining) on my contract. I've never not honored a contract in my entire life. I didn't sign here for four years to be thinking about going somewhere else.
Back in our day, they called this 'salary drive,' ... Try and continue to have a good year and win as many games as you can win. You are playing for respectability right now. What I'm looking for is you play hard and play for love of the game and respect and try to finish as high as you can.
This is the youngest team I've had, which is what I've been yearning for really for years now. The younger the team, sometimes the more mistakes, but the more open and willing they are to be taught how to play. It seems like the older players are set in their ways.