DUSTY BAKER QUOTES

American baseball manager (1949- )

Managers are never 100 percent in control. You're at the mercy of the players. When you're a player, you're driving. I'm the navigator. I hardly ever think about driving anymore, unless there's two out in the bottom of the ninth.

DUSTY BAKER

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You have to be a student of the game if you want to reach the top and stay there. Reaching the top is not the obstacle. Staying on top and making adjustments, that's the obstacle.

DUSTY BAKER

Tags: success

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I don't know why I do stuff sometimes. Sometimes I go by the numbers. Sometimes I go on what I feel. Sometimes I go on what I hope.

DUSTY BAKER

Tags: motivation

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You don't want to get beat, number one, and you hate getting shutout, number two, and even worse, no hits.

DUSTY BAKER

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Everybody can tell you how to do it, but very few have ever done it.... I'm at the point where I don't care. I really don't care. That's the last thing on my mind. I'm doing what I think is right every day. There's a good chance with my background and experience that I know better than most.

DUSTY BAKER

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Well, you know, I mean, we are usually good at getting multiple hits, and we couldn't string together multiple hits. But you know, we know that it's right around the corner, and our back's against the wall, so we've got to get them tomorrow. We've got to get those hits, and hopefully they don't.

DUSTY BAKER

Tags: losing

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It's all good, man. It's part of the game. I like battle. That's what makes the game fun. You hope that it doesn't turn into physical battle, but at some point in time ...

DUSTY BAKER

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It's gonna take someone getting seriously sick. Football didn't do much 'bout steroids until Lyle Alzado died. That's the way of the world. Until your house burns down, you don't worry about getting smoke detectors.

DUSTY BAKER

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I've just always worn wristbands. I'm not trying to be a player. It's just part of my uniform. Hell, I just got to be me and hope I don't hurt anybody in the meantime.

DUSTY BAKER

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I've been a manager for a long time. This ain't my first. Sometimes it's not that easy to get along with your boss. Sometimes it's not that easy for your boss to get along with you. You gotta give love to get love, and show respect to get respect. I got this other side of me, too. But it's up to you to bring that out.

DUSTY BAKER

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When I was with the Giants I signed two-year contracts. They said I might as well be a lame duck, I was on crutches, you know what I'm saying. It's no big deal to me. How many people in life have one-year contracts? How many of you out there have one-year contracts? A lot of people are on paycheck-to-paycheck contracts, so I feel very fortunate to be even on a one-year contract.

DUSTY BAKER

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At the very end, somebody took a dump right where I stood in the dugout every day. That was the low point. The grounds crew guy cleaned it up. He said, "Oh, I think it's dog crap." I said, "No it ain't. That's human crap."

DUSTY BAKER

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I remember one time I asked Pete Rose, I was on first base, I said, "Pete why did you..." -- he fouled off about fifteen, and I could tell that he wasn't even trying to put them in play. He said he called it "sending the fans souvenirs" because he didn't like the guy on the mound.

DUSTY BAKER

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Everybody's the next somebody. I was the next Hank Aaron. You see what happened.

DUSTY BAKER

Tags: Hank Aaron

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I asked him was he limpin' or pimpin'. He said he was pimpin'. I said that looked like a limp to me.

DUSTY BAKER

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Everybody knows something, and nobody knows everything.

DUSTY BAKER

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I'm part ocean, part mountain. Maybe that's why I love California.

DUSTY BAKER

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