Dusty's Worst Nightmare

The Cincinnati Reds are currently clogging the bases with walks more than all but four teams in the National League. That must stop. Now.

How To Destroy Trade Value

MLB.com, Tuesday afternoon:

Ryan Freel and Bronson Arroyo are other Reds veterans who could have the value to bring significant young talent back into the Cincinnati organization.

Reds.com, hours later:

TORONTO -- With the way he pitched on Tuesday, Bronson Arroyo simply gave the Reds no chance to win. Arroyo was pounded for 10 earned runs and 11 hits, including three home runs, and wasn't able to record an out in the second inning, as the Reds were blown out by the Blue Jays, 14-1, at Rogers Centre.

Dusty Baker had this to say:

"Boy, that's a tough day at the yard right there," Baker said. "A lot of their guys got their averages healthy. I looked on the board and some of them had been up three times by the second inning."

That didn't even warrant a "man" or a "dude." Just "boy."

Life After The Cubs: Jim Riggleman Edition

Jim Riggleman is the new manager of the Seattle Mariners. If he follows the Dusty Baker model of bringing in lousy Cubs he has managed, you can expect to see Scott Servais, Jose Hernandez and Brant Brown in the Great Northwest any day now.

Riggleman joins Dusty as the only former Cubs managers to find work in the majors since Leo Durocher went on to manage a season-plus for the Houston Astros in the early '70s - unless you count the 49 games Jim Lefebvre managed for the Brewers in 1999. I do not.

Cecil Cooper, The Anti-Dusty

While the manager in Cincinnati worries about walks clogging the bases, the manager in Houston frets about his Triple Crown threat hitting rally-killing home runs.

Even slugger Lance Berkman, one of the hottest hitters in baseball this season, resorted to dropping a bunt single in the eighth inning, with the Astros down by four. It was only the second bunt single of his career and first since 2002.

"That's a good play," Cooper said of Berkman's decision to bunt with the third baseman playing him deep. "That's a baseball player's play. It's a nice job. We need baserunners. If you hit a ball out of a ballpark, I call them rally-killers when you get down like that. We need to keep a rally going, and that was a nice play to me."

This was the eighth inning. Astros down 5-1. Thanks in part to Berkman guaranteeing he would not kill the rally with a home run, the Astros lost ... 5-1.

Perhaps we could get Dusty and Cecil together to use Berkman, Bruce & Co. to lay down empty-base bunts.

Dude...

The Reds make a roster move that could catapult them in the NL Central standings.

In a related story, two red wristbands were found on the ground next to a Reds' #23 jersey.

In a totally unrelated story, I hear this Jay Bruce is good at the baseball.

Dusty Baker, Enjoying The Holiday Weekend

Dusty Baker is going to have quiet start to the Memorial Day weekend, now that he's been suspended two games for erupting into a violent, Hulk-like rage and attempting to give poor Eric Cooper face cancer:

Baker made contact with umpire Eric Cooper during a dispute in the seventh inning of Thursday night's 8-2 loss at San Diego. The suspension was set to start Friday night as the Reds continued their series against the Padres.

"I didn't see that I made contact with him, but he told me (Thursday) night that I did," Baker said. "He told me that I sprayed him with tobacco and I grazed him with my left shoulder. I was not trying to make contact with him."

Baker went onto the field after Cincinnati's Edwin Encarnacion was ejected by Cooper. Encarnacion had been called out on strikes in the seventh inning. When the Reds took the field after the inning, Encarnacion was at third base waiting to warm up when Cooper ejected him. Baker wound up getting tossed by Cooper, too.

"Edwin said to me that he looked at him the whole time that he was going out to his position," Baker said. "Why was (Cooper) looking at him?"

Baker said that Encarnacion gestured to Cooper, holding up two fingers, indicating he had missed two strike calls. Baker said he was fined $1,500.

Perhaps if the owner of this 1973 Dusty Baker card sold that treasure for its current bid price, he could help Dusty offset the price. And then he would only need another $1,499.99.

Willie Randolph, Worried About TV Types

Willie Randolph, taking a lesson from the Baker-era Cubs. Not a good idea, especially in New York.

Dusty Baker Insults Floridians, Maims Pitchers

This story is chock full of goodies from Dusty Baker, including his insistence that Edinson Volquez must "cut down on his pitches" without acknowledging that he may play some role in doing so.

And then there's this:

Volquez pitched winter ball and there are questions about him running out of gas. Baker couldn't disagree more.

"Bob Quinn (former Yankees, Reds and Giants GM) told me once that pitchers usually rust out before they wear out. Latins guys who I've seen play winter ball rarely have arm problems — Julian Tavarez, Luis Tiant played winter ball somewhere every year, Diego Segui. Japanese pitchers throw more.

"Almost all foreign pitchers throw more than American pitchers," he added. "Rarely do you hear anybody say some American pitcher has a rubber arm."

Bronson Arroyo was mentioned and Baker said with a sly grin, "He's Cuban." Actually, he was born in Key West.

"Close enough. Key West is as close as you can get to Cuba," he said.

In related news, Dusty thought Mark Prior was Mexican because he was from San Diego, which is "as close as you can get" to Mexico.

Found via Another Cubs Blog.

Dusty Baker, "Hit Doctor"

The only prescription to cure Adam Dunn's problems is not more cowbell. It's more hits. So sayeth Dusty Baker.

"The cure to most ills is two hits a day for a week," Reds manager Dusty Baker said. "You'll be in pretty good shape. That's my prescription as a doctor, a hit doctor. I just wish I could write that prescription and get it filled all the time."

I understand not writing a prescription for walks, given the clogging-associated side effects. But as a hit doctor, why in the world can't he write prescriptions for hits?

This is Too Easy (Update)

Corey Patterson can manage to get out without even making an at-bat. He's that terrible.

This is fascinating:

In the Reds/Mets game this Sunday, Reds catcher David Ross batted out of order. Corey Patterson was supposed to be at the plate. Rotoworld explains:

"Per MLB rules, Ross has to complete his at-bat to be ruled out, and the outcome of his at-bat is then discarded with no runners allowed to advance. The Mets allowed him to do so, and since he lined out to right there was little harm done. Ross was the batter listed in the order after Patterson, so he was forced to come back to the plate for his 'real' at-bat and Patterson was charged the out. Ross singled after returning to the batter's box."

I don't know what's funnier; that Corey Patterson can get out without even making it to the plate, or that Dusty Baker is so much of a moron that he can't keep track of his own senile lineups.

We'll go with "equally as funny." Dopes.

Update: This, of course, is not the first time Dusty has done this. And his explanation in 2004 was golden:

Baker said he tried to get Bucknor's attention, whistling and wiggling his fingers in a switching motion. But Bucknor never turned around. When Martinez led off the bottom of the inning with a double, Reds bench coach Jerry Narron asked Bucknor if there'd been a lineup switch. Bucknor said no, and Martinez was called out because the Cubs had batted out of order.

"We saw that Martinez was in the game, but the home plate umpire never motioned to us," Narron said.

Baker sprinted out to the mound with his lineup card and argued, but to no avail. When Baker was told the call stood, he got irate. Yelling and screaming, he tossed the lineup card on the ground, and Bucknor ejected him. Then Baker threw his hat on the ground.

He walked away from the umpires but then went back, tossing his hat again and gesturing wildly. A tennis ball came flying out of the stands, and the crowd chanted "Dus-ty! Dus-ty!"

Baker finally stomped back to the dugout, kicking a bat cloth and then a heavy warmup bat. When the bat didn't travel very far, Baker kicked it again before heading down the dugout steps.

"I haven't been that mad in, WHOO!" Baker said. "I'm not proud of it. I called my wife and asked if my son saw it. She said he was in the bath tub. I'm glad he didn't see it. I hope he doesn't see the replay."

WHOO! Managing is hard.

Around The Blogs: Cincinnati Reds

The Cubs celebrate Cinco de Mayo by visiting Dusty Baker, Corey Patterson, Jerry Hairston Jr., Paul Bako, Kent Mercker and the rest of the 2004-05 Cubs. Before we visit our friends in the Reds blog world, Buster Olney has this to say about the state of the Redleg franchise:

The Reds are 3-7 since changing general managers, and if you think that's a meaningless stat, than you would probably subscribe to the notion that changing GMs 21 games into the season made no sense.

They're 3-8 now, after after losing to the Braves 14-7 Sunday. Yikes. Anyway, after five straight losses, Red fingers are being pointed at our friend Corey Patterson:

The Church of Baseball says "!!?!This is beyond comprehension??!?" and "The Reds are not this bad. What the heck is going on? We need someone to blame. Well, I blame Corey Patterson. Get rid of him now and bring up Bruce." Seems right.

Redleg Nation makes a plea to Dusty Baker to move Corey to the 8th spot in the batting order, but notes that "at least Corey isn't clogging up the bases." Heh. The comments should be reassuringly familiar to any Cubs fan circa 2005-06.

Chris Sabo's Goggles don't like what they see, especially out of Bronson Arroyo and Josh Fogg.

And The Reds Rocket, well, you can see for yourself in all of its polka-dotted glory.

Fridays with Dusty: Yes, Lou, You Are Stupid. Did I Stutter?

"You damn right I thought about it. You think I'm stupid or something." - Lou Piniella, Washington Post (and certainly many other newspapers today), when asked why he didn't pull Alfonso Soriano late in yesterday's game. Alfonso promptly misplayed a ball that helped blow a Cubs lead and lose a series.

Lou's comment is analogous to the old saying: "It's one thing to be thought a fool, and another to open one's mouth and remove all doubt."

Lou, you are stupid, always have been as a strategist. (What are you keeping Soriano in for -- his sterling 0-4 day at the plate and Buck-80 batting average in the leadoff spot?) What you're good at is screaming and yelling and kicking and creating tension so that players play on edge. That seems to work for you. And you've been around the game long enough to have just enough sense not to screw up too much on the strategy end. But it is in stark contrast to the cool, collected and successful Dusty Baker. Clearly that's what the Cubs wanted -- a screamer and a yeller, not someone in the Bob Melvin mode.

Dusty, for the record, always got Alou the hell out of there at the end of a close game.

Again, a contrast in styles: Lou, thinks about something, doesn't do it, then screams and yells at others afterwards. Because nothing is ever his fault. Fine. Keeps everyone on edge. Works for him to some extent.

Dusty, thinks about something, does it, and lives with the consequences. He man's up to his bads. And did so with $300 million less in talent on the field.

Actually, the uneasy Lou-Soriano relationship -- which bore itself out yesterday in a bad non-move -- was eerily similar to last night's episode of The Office. Lou is clearly afraid of Alfonso and confronting him, just as Michael is of Stanley. A Buck-80 in the lead-off spot? And many bloggers here moan about Theriot there? Come on. Soriano does not belong in the leadoff spot. He's a No. 3 in his best dreams; a No. 5 hitter with any team with a manager with any balls. Especially now that his legs are going. The 3-4-5 should be Lee, Ramirez, Soriano. But for whatever reason, ranting and raving Lou won't take on Alfonso. You can understand why the Nats wouldn't (and HOF Frank); they needed to fill the stands and keep him smiling.

But one reason we supposedly brought Lou in here was to kick some butt, not be a "players manager" and get players to do things that are best for the team. Lou's not doing that with Alfonso. Until Lou does, he will hereby be known in this blogger's post as "Michael Scott."

Dusty would have removed Alfonso. And Dusty would have gotten Alfonso into the 5 spot where he belongs -- with a smile on his face. But, Hang-'Em-Out Hendry, didn't go get Dusty an Alfonso, now did he? He got him a Murton. Though, right now, there's not much difference between the two.



PS: Nutsack, sorry to glom onto the same quote from your post....but had this working since reading the Post this morning.

Welcome To Dustyland

The Cincinnati Enquirer discovers some hard truths about scoring runs in baseball:

For all the talk about the Reds not being able to hit with runners in scoring position (RISP), they are hitting higher in that situation than the Chicago Cubs, who led the Reds by 6 1/2 games going into Saturday night's games?

It's true: The Reds are hitting .257 with RISP, and the Cubs are hitting .244 in the same circumstances. (The Reds are hitting four points higher than the National League average with RISP - .253.)

So, why have the Cubs outscored the Reds by 42 runs? Because the Cubs have 82 more plate appearances with RISP than do the Reds (220 plate appearances with RISP - 14th in the 16-team league).

Conclusion: You've got to get runners on base in order to score them.

That is the downside of unclogged bases.

Meanwhile, In Cincinnati...

Corey Patterson is who we thought he was.

Since starting the season with four home runs in his first 11 games, Corey has managed a .143/.231/.257 line, with no home runs, two RBIs, one stolen base and three runs in the last 14 games.

Good signing, Dusty.

Hairston Called Up To Wrigley On The Ohio

Dusty Baker is determined to prove he got value in the Sammy Sosa trade.

An Update On the 2004 Chicago Cubs

Here's a look at how they are faring at Wrigley on the Ohio:

Corey Patterson, slugging leadoff hitter
2008: .186/.258/.475, 4 home runs, 9 RBIs, 2 SB.
2004: .266/.320/.452, 24 home runs, 72 RBIs, 32 SB.

Paul Bako, nondescript catcher
2008: .313/.389/.479, 1 home run, 4 RBIs.
2004: .203/.288/.283, 1 home run, 10 RBIs.

Kent Mercker, mediocre reliever and professional tattletale
2008: 0-0, 3.14 ERA in 5 2/3 innings, 3 Ks, 2 BBs.
2004: 3-1, 2.55 ERA in 53 innings, 51 Ks, 27 BBs.

Dusty Baker, nonsense spewing nice-guy manager
2008: 8-11, .421, 4th place and 4.5 games back (of the Cubs).
2004: 89-73, .549, 3rd place and 16 games back.

So there you have it: Corey, Dusty and Mercker worse. Bako better. Seems almost all of the personnel moves since 2004 have worked out, scientifically speaking.

Kerry Wood Has A Request

Be nice to Dusty, he says:

"I'll be excited to see him," Cubs pitcher Kerry Wood said. "People forget he was the first manager in a long time to have back-to-back winning seasons. Eight years ago, if you would've talked about a guy coming in and turning the organization around and winning in back-to-back seasons, they would've said, 'We'll take it.'

"Obviously, it didn't end the way he wanted it to, and the way we wanted it to end," Wood said. "Dusty puts his heart and soul into whatever team he manages. I think the players understand that, and people around him on a daily basis understand what he puts into the game. I hope [the fans] treat him well."

Seems reasonable.

Broadcaster Trouble In Cincinnati Already

History appears to be repeating itself for Dusty Baker with the Reds. Good times.

'04 Cubs Edge Phillies In Cincinnati

CINCINNATI (WV23) - Paul Bako's infield single with one out in the bottom of the ninth gave the 2004 Chicago Cubs a 4-3 win over the Philadelphia Phillies on Saturday.

Corey Patterson hit his second home run of the season and scored two runs for the '04 Cubs, while Kent Mercker allowed one run on one hit in one inning of work.

"We came this close to the World Series last year," '04 Cubs manager Dusty Baker said, holding his fingers five outs apart. "I don't see how we don't make the playoffs this year, and I hope we can finish the job we started last year."

Fridays with Dusty: Chapter 1 -- Why

As WV has warned you, I am a big Dusty Baker fan. Have been since I was 10. So no, my real name isn't Dusty. It's taken in honor of No. 12.

Over the course of the next many Fridays -- and I'm sure during many, many, many opportunities in between -- I will work to vindicate, in the eyes of Cubs fans, one of the best players, greatest managers and terrific human beings that has come through baseball in the modern era.

Why? Because Dusty is a good man. A very good man who deserves a strong, tireless defense. He's a man who was given the greatest expectations of any Cubs manager perhaps in team history, without always the full support or latitude to meet those expectations -- save for one year, 2003. His first.

So I ask for an open mind, an open heart as we have these "discussions" on Dusty's credentials. It's time for many of you to let go the anger and look deeper inside the Baker Years. Think of this as the VH1 version of Behind the Scenes -- The Baker Years.

First -- the human element. I became a Dusty fan because he was cool. He played ball, didn't talk and let his work on the field make his statements. A stark contrast to many of his Dodgers teammates at the time. He played the game the right way and carried himself the right way. He was a role model in the truest sense. And, since the Cubs sucked in the mid-to-late 70s and had no one to really cool or worth looking up to (at least after Jose Cardenal left) -- well there was Dusty.

Fast-forward 25 years....My sister tries to do nice thing for Big Brother. Sends FedEx to Dusty saying it would be great if her brother could meet him. (I'm feeling goofy when she tells me because I'm an 35-year-old exec at the time and Dusty's gotta think I'm some stalker.) Anyway, Dusty calls her, personally. Tells her to have me and my kids meet him at Wrigley (he's managing the Giants at this time...World Series year for them). So we head to Wrigley. But there's no tickets waiting as promised. Something got screwed up. And game sold out, so no way to buy our way in.

So sister Fed Ex's Dusty telling him what happened. Dusty calls her again, himself. Apologizes profusely. Gets my number. Late one Friday night, out of the blue, I get a call. It's Dusty -- calling me to apologize for the mixup. It's also 15 minutes before his West Coast game that night...yet he's thinking about making good on a screw up with a fan. (No cheap shots, please - remember this is SF World Series year.)

Later that week a box shows up. Signed baseballs for me and my two sons and daughter. Each with a personal message apologizing for the mixup in Chicago. Also autographed photos, baseball hats, new Pac Bell baseball hats, baseball cards -- a plethora of treats for the boys.

When he becomes manager of Cubs -- remembers the screw up. Calls my sister again (still had her number). Invites me and my dad to Wrigley. Gets us on field for entire pre-game BP, etc. This is 2003. Get autographs for kids from Sammy, Moises, Kenny. Plus, we're on fricking Wrigley Field -- what else matters? We sat in dugout talking to players.

I tell you all this as a tone-setter. Dusty is just a great guy -- a great guy at a time when there's not a lot of "great guys" in pro sports anymore. Who would go to those great lengths and maintain those lingering thoughts of a screw-up in today's professional sportsworld -- any sport? Very, very few.

So that's the foundation. In the coming chapters, we'll talk baseball and how Dusty is a great baseball man who found himself in an impossible situation in Chicago. A man who proved himself in SF and now is back in a similar situation in Cincinnati to the SF one (well, without Barry.) And frankly, a man whose team is going to be more of a barrier to Cubs titles in the next 5+ years than the Milwaukee Brewers or anyone else in the Central.

A man whose treatment in Chicago has been unfair and unwarranted.