Dusty Baker has not had time to change before his media availability the last two days, conducting his pregame session in street clothes because, as he said Wednesday, “I’ve got things to do!” But he did pause long enough Wednesday to share one of those memorable Dusty Baker stories he launches into once in awhile. This one came when he was asked about the Nationals‘ offense, which has scored one run in each of its last three games. Is it a blip? Or a cause for concern?
“It’s a little past a blip right now,” Baker said. “But, see, my mother was a schoolteacher, and I got mostly A’s and B’s, and then I got a D in conduct. And so my dad was really, really upset. My dad told me that his son wasn’t going to be a clown. He said, ‘Oh, so you want to talk in class?’ So then next thing you know he pulled out his belt. So I went to my mom, and I said, ‘Mom, what do I do?’ Because the second semester I was about to get another D. And so she told me be good the last couple weeks or month and people will forget about it, and I can get a C and people will forget about that first six weeks, seven weeks. Same thing applies in baseball.”
Add this to Dusty Baker’s growing list of animated musings from this season, from his top quotes of the first half, to his story about the kid who used to wash his car in Los Angeles, to his thoughts on batters who get hit more frequently than others.
Undoubtedly, more thoughts to come.