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
We were a lot closer before I got here. When you play 18 times against teams that have been long-time rivalries, and then it's against my former manager and my confidant before I came here, it increases things.
Well being a manager is sort of like being a father. I was always held to be responsible because I was the oldest of five. No matter what happened in my family I was always in charge and always at fault. Being a manger is like being a father where your dad is the ultimate last word and disciplinarian.
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.
They're avoiding him because he can hit you out of the ballpark. It doesn't have to do with anything but that. That's it. I don't believe any manager would let personal feelings - no matter how they feel - get in the way. They're trying to win games.
It's very intense. It's probably intensified more since Tony and I came here. When you play 18 times against a team that's had a long-time rivalry, and my former manager and my former confidant, that just increases things.
He's throwing the ball great. We just can't go to him when it means something yet. I have to talk to (general manager Jim Hendry ) and we have to figure this thing out, because we're not out of it yet.