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
Sometimes when you're 40 years old, it taps you on the shoulder and it's time to get out.
That's what you want, to be better than .500 on the road. That's usually the toughest part of the equation, but we didn't play well at home.
It wouldn't send me a message. It's his career. It's not my career.
He's going to have nerves -- that's natural. Hank Aaron told me when I came up, 'It's natural to be nervous. Just don't be scared.' You wouldn't be human if you weren't nervous. But after you throw that first pitch or two, your nerves subside and it's the same game.
The more times you come through, the more times you think you're going to come through. We like to see him come up with runners on base. He has a way of getting hits at the right time.
You're teaching at the big-league level, but you can't teach them until they make mistakes because you don't know what they don't know, ... It's not like they have a 'Baseball 101' manual that everyone studies.
One of the hardest things in this game is a fallen star. When a guy accepts the position that he's in in his career, it makes it easier on a manager and coaches and very beneficial to the guys on the team.
Zambrano threw a heck of a game. I tried to let him get his 15th (win). We just played a good game, an outstanding game. Pettitte threw a good game, and it was all knotted up. Michael B. (Barrett) got a clutch, clutch hit.
You can sort of tell that teams are here, or teams are improved. Watch the winter deals they make ? the maturity of the young players.
Carlos was awesome last night. It seemed like he was having fun and it seemed like the team was having fun. I'm sure he's glad he went.
Some of it depends on how healthy Todd's legs feel. He is still recuperating from last year. The hard ground down here puts pressure on your legs.
They'll have to get some concentrated at-bats. Every year, I send guys who I don't think are ready down to the Minor Leagues to hit at the top and bottom of the order so they get nine to 18 at-bats at a time. When they get back, I'll find out exactly how much they played. In the case of a catcher, you have to get his legs ready squatting up and down in a game, too. We'll do whatever we can to get them ready.
He said, 'Kid, you're swinging at everything,' ... He said, 'You've got to zone in or out,' which helped me a lot. He said, 'Look outside or look inside because you can't cover the whole plate.'
I think he has a lot left. If we use him right, play him right. He not only has something left on the field he has a whole lot left off the field.