![]() Other than the weird moves, but then again, Ned Yost just won a championship. Give Baker a team without ambiguity, then, and he might flourish. Heck, Bell even lead off, which was almost progressive, considering he was slow. And looking through the lineups of 2002, there weren't a lot of bizarre, head-scratching choices to hit leadoff, other than the pre-Lofton games with Shinjo there. I was okay with him leaving after the heartbreak, but that just lead to Felipe Alou, who was a clear, unmistakeable downgrade by that point. Or is he a great choice? I can't tell! It's been so long since 2002. They hired a manager with a history of weird postseason decisions, and that's before you get to the regular season stuff. They are expecting to make the postseason. (Have I mentioned Tsuyoshi Shinjo at DH and Kenny Lofton in center this month? Probably.)īaker is a weird choice for the Washington Nationals, built to win now. And Baker was full of those easter eggs, playing speedy slap-weirdos over good players, and making sure his veterans were comfortable at the expense of logic. However! Still a silly decision with limited reward for a high risk. ![]() Probably not a strike and everything we know is built on a lie. He changed with the times, and seamlessly at that.Īll that's left are the mind-numbing in-game decisions. And that arm-shredding reputation? Probably out of date. He shows up in the postseason a lot, too. Everywhere he goes, players rave about him and his even-keeled personality. There were players with 100s of at-bats who didn't sacrifice at all, including Ramon Martinez and Marvin Benard. Outside of the starting pitchers, David Bell led the team with six sacrifices. I was going to make a joke about bunts, but lookie at this 2002 team: Well below the league average for sacrifice bunts. Way of the future."Īnd yet I have such fond memories of Baker. The don't notice Baker, still in the chair, muttering, "You always leave him in. Rizzo and Lerner leave the room, laughing. You do not bring in Drew Storen to face Pablo Sandoval and Buster Posey. Baker pauses, silently runs the question through his mind, looking for tricks, then answers.Ĭonfetti falls from the ceiling. Like, just strike strike strike, out out out, right? It's the ninth inning, and you're up by one, and he lets a runner reach base with two outs. "Okay, so, like, say you're managing a postseason game, and your pitcher is throwing really, really, really, really, really well. Baker squints, trying to see past the light, trying to see the faces of his interrogators. A Slinky from the commercial, not the dumb Slinky that never worked when you tried it in your own house. The answer will determine your fate."Ī bead of sweat moves like a Slinky down the wrinkles on Baker's forehead. Baker sits in a chair just under the lamp. The room is lit by a single lamp, hanging from the ceiling. In this room are Nationals GM Mike Rizzo and owner Ted Lerner.
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