Zoner Sports » Dusty Baker

Crane To Dusty: That’s The Ticket!

admin — Thu, 23 Apr 2009 12:24:22 +0000

I know it’s hard to believe. A corporate suit telling an out and out lie? To someone’s face? Sorry dear reader. It is true. From the Trib:

Cubs Chairman Crane Kenney met with Cincinnati manager Dusty Baker in the visiting clubhouse before Wednesday’s game.

In their meeting, Kenney denied telling an audience at last January’s Cubs Convention there was “not a chance” the ’07 team would have won its division with “our former manager” still in charge. The remarks, however, were caught on tape with more than 500 fans as witnesses.

Anyone who has read this blog for more than 30 seconds (thanks local nursing home!) knows that I didn’t trusty in Dusty. But this type of thing makes me ill.

Grow (or borrow) a set and tell it like it is. Or how about some of that sensitive man of the 90′s stuff? Just tell Dusty that’s how you felt and sorry if it hurt his feelings. But lying right to his face? Weak. Why even meet with him?

And here’s perhaps a better question: with your company in the midst of bankruptcy, why are you even taking time to meet with former employees? Get to work, pal!

NO WORD ON NEIFI YET BUT…

admin — Tue, 02 Dec 2008 14:18:35 +0000

…Apparently Dusty would like to again manage Kerry Wood.

“We have a closer already in [Francisco] Cordero, who we have under contract for a few more years,” Baker said Monday. “But somebody can use Kerry Wood. I am going to call him. I like Kerry Wood as a person, not just as a ballplayer, but as a person. I will give him a call and see what’s up.”

The Reds finished 5th in the NL Central last season with a record of 74-88. They are 0-1 in the offseason, in my opinion, letting Jeremy Affeldt sign with the Giants. They are trying to sign Arthur Rhodes to replace him. Rhodes just turned 39.

They have some good youngsters in Votto, Bruce, Volquez, Cueto and Dickerson. They have the potential for a good rotation and a decent closer in Cordero. Will this club spend some cash and get some vets for Dusty? Not likely. They traded Dunn and Griffey Jr. And there is a rumor of a Jermaine Dye for Homer Bailey swap. But other than that I don’t think the Reds are expected to jump into the free agent fray.

[tags]Cincinnati Reds, Dusty Baker, Jermaine Dye, Kerry Wood[/tags]

DUSTY STILL BACKS COREY

admin — Thu, 12 Jun 2008 04:50:28 +0000

It’s not just me. Dunn and Dunner reports the following, after Dusty Baker chose to bat Jay Bruce leadoff.

“Boy, Jerry was doing a hell of a job,” Baker said. “I’m going to have to get Corey (Patterson) in there sometime because he’s starting to swing the bat good again. Made some adjustments. We’ll see.”

Bruce went 1-for-4.

Corey starting to swing the bat good again? He’s 2 for his last 26 with zero walks.

When has Corey Patterson ever swung the bat good? The guy has a career line of .256/.295/.411.

Do ya think Jay Bruce was a bit surprised that Baker put him in the leadoff spot? I’m going to guess yes. The Reds are in last place in the NL Central and have dropped 7 of their last 10.

WALT TAKES AWAY DUSTY’S WUBBIE

admin — Tue, 27 May 2008 17:11:23 +0000

Haven’t really talked much about the interesting dynamic in Cincy. With Walt Jocketty assuming the role of GM, I wonder: Does he even like having Dusty as a manager? Having been in STL when Dusty was here in Chicago, you’d think Jocketty knows that Dusty isn’t a big fan of the young dudes and that he plays favorites. Or that he’s just not the best in-game manager. Or maker of lineups. You get the point.

Baker has continued to keep running Corey Patterson out in centerfield and occasionally batting him leadoff, despite the fact that Patterson is hitting .220/.262/.386. Well now Jocketty is taking away Baker’s wubbie as phenom Jay Bruce is being called up for the Reds/Pirates series. And he ain’t coming up to sit behind Corey Patterson.

Perhaps Jocketty has a trade in place to remedy the crowded outfield there in Cincy. Or perhaps Baker will just have to deal with the fact that Corey is now the 6th best outfielder on his roster.

The Reds have a tough road to hoe fromnow until the end of June. They have been terrible in the divison, winning just 7 of 20 games. They have the set against the Pirates and then Atlanta in Cincy. Then dig this: on the road against Philly and Florida, then back home to host the Cards, the Red Sox and the Dodgers. Then they finish the month by going to play the Mets, the Blue Jays and the Tribe.

Things could be really ugly in Cincy a month from now as they could be 15 under .500.

DUSTY ALREADY BEING QUESTIONED

admin — Wed, 09 Apr 2008 16:41:19 +0000

Dusty is already getting grief in Cincy. First there was the Edwin Encarnacion missed bunts then 3-run homer to win the game. Now over at Bugs and Cranks we read about this:

I am confused at Dusty Baker’s decision to let him hit in the 7th and, because they lost, I don’t feel as happy as I should after watching Cueto pitch.

With Cincinnati down 1-0, they had a runner on second with one out when Cueto’s turn to hit came up. He had thrown about 85 pitches I believe. I’m thinking you bring in a lefty (Hatteberg or Valentin?) to try and drive that run in. Burton was getting ready. You bring him out in the 7th, Weathers in the 8th, Cordero in the 9th if you get the lead.

Instead, Cueto (who’s one armed flails at the plate will be the way he gets injured) hit a chopper that advanced the runner to third. Corey Patterson drove the run in to tie the game with 2 outs. Patterson bailed out Baker’s questionable call to let Cueto hit, but he still could have been trying to drive in the go ahead run instead of tying it in the clutch.

Cueto promptly made his one bad pitch of the night to Reds’ killer Bill Hall in the bottom of the inning, which Hall crushed to put Cueto on the hook for the loss once again. Johnny did strike out the next guy to end his night at 6 1/3 innings but was that worth the risk of injury for 1/3 of an inning?

Baker used to do that all the time in Chicago–bat a pitcher only to take him out the next half-inning. Wackiness. What will be awesome is if Cincy hangs in the race and Dusty starts pitching these guys 110-120 pitches. We’ll be looking for that.

WHAT THEY’RE SAYING ABOUT DUSTY

admin — Tue, 16 Oct 2007 22:26:43 +0000

Here’s what they are writing about Dusty’s glorious return to the bench:

Bugs & Cranks:

As a public service to the fine residents of Cincinnati, here’s a few quick suggestions on how to prepare for Dusty Baker.

Buy stock in toothpicks.
Trade Adam Dunn…y’know since “walks clog the bases”
Trade Homer Bailey. Get some value for him before he starts throwing 130 pitches a game. The Cubs yearn for the much discussed Mark Prior trades of 2004.
Of course, make a locker for Neifi Perez, because he’s coming to town next season.
Cancel all post game press conferences. Trust me, your sanity is worth it.
Change the listed age of all young players, Keppinger, Encarcancion, Votto, etc. to at least 30. Otherwise, they’ll never see the field.

Z: That’s awesome. And from Home Run Derby:

Baker seems to succeed in situations where he doesn’t have to manage a baseball game.

He relies too much on veteran players repeating their past successes (that’ll be Griffey in 2008), often to the detriment of younger players who need the experience.
He overtaxes his starting pitchers (Homer Bailey, meet Dr. Jobe) and will often replace them one batter too late.
Or he pulls a pitcher too soon to employ the double-switch.
His teams often employ a “swing-first-ask-questions-later” mentality at the plate (Adam Dunn will love it).
His teams are often lacking in baseball fundamentals.

Z says: The Dunn comment is a bit off because he draws walks, but can you argue with any of the rest of it? More after the jump…

Bleacher Report says:

Many detractors have brought up Baker’s stubborn loyalty to veterans over youngsters that may be better and his seeming inability to manage a pitching staff.

Still, everywhere he has been, Dusty Baker has been a winner, and he has done it the right way.

Z asks: What might the “right way” entail?

Sabernomics says:

The Cincinnati Reds just signed Dusty Baker to a three-year contract worth $3.5 million per year. Why do this? The mean and median manager salaries in 2007 were $1.45 million and $940,000. Yes, Dusty Baker has a lot of managerial experience, and because his broadcast position is opportunity cost is higher than some other managers. However, I don’t see why the Reds would fork out this money for a manager. Is this the main problem? Both the hitting and pitching are below league average when controlling for the ballpark. I would think the team could use is resources in a better way and just hire an unproven bench coach for less.

Z asks: Is Dusty worth, say $2.5 million more than Pete Mackanin?

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DUSTY IS BACK, RHETORIC TOO

admin — Tue, 16 Oct 2007 13:41:36 +0000

So Dusty is back. Perusing some of the articles about his glorious return to managing, Chicago bloggers would find plenty of material to write about. While there’s no need to belabor the feelings most Chicagoans have for Baker, I did find it reasonable to call him out on one thing.

“I’ve always wanted a young team,” Baker said. “Everybody says, ‘Dusty doesn’t like young players.’ Well, I was a 19-year-old player in the big leagues, how could I not like young players? I just didn’t have many young players to like. I think that probably followed me from the Giants, but the Giants are still in the same situation, and I haven’t been there in five years. They’re still complaining about not having young players.”

You’ll not find a bigger pile of dung than that. There are countless examples to cite, but all I need is two words: Neifi Perez.

As for the scribes, a John Shea of the San Francisco Chronicle had this to add:

“Similarly, 10 years later, he took over the Cubs, the year after they lost 95 games. Suddenly, the 2003 Cubs were a first-place team and finding themselves five outs and a Steve Bartman mishap from a World Series.”

Any writer who puts that in print should be relegated to watching a loop of “Yes, Dear” with eyes raked open “A Clockwork Orange” style until there is blood and/or hysteria. Heading to the Bartman excuse is lazy, inaccurate and lame.

DUSTY TO THE REDS?

admin — Fri, 12 Oct 2007 14:02:14 +0000

I read with amusement this morning a piece about Dusty Baker meeting with Reds owner Robert Castellini, “who is said to regard Baker as a high-profile hire who would restore credibility the Reds have lacked in the position since Jack McKeon departed in 2000.” Also, Foxsports.com and the Cincinnati Enquirer reported via sources that Baker interviewed for the position and could be the leading candidate.

After I was done laughing I thought about it. You had to figure he’d be back managing at some point. And maybe a team like the Reds is the perfect place for him. Younger players that he can puff up, smaller market and lower expectations.

And with the division the way it currently is, wouldn’t it be a blast to see Baker’s Reds and the Cubs battling it out for the division next year?

Only the Marlins allowed more runs than the Reds in the NL this season. If Baker can persuade Castellini to go out and get him a few more arms (Jon Garland is annually available), why couldn’t they win the division next year?

When does Neifi’s suspension run out? Get clean Neifi! A new gig awaits!