DaytonDailyNews: Dayton, Ohio, news and information

Sun	Mon	Tue	Wed	Thu	Fri	Sat
			1	2	3	4
5	6	7	8	9	10	11
12	13	14	15	16	17	18
19	20	21	22	23	24	25
26	27	28	29	30

Home > Blogs > The Real McCoy | Cincinnati Reds baseball news > Archives > 2010 > September > 30 > Entry

Baker will sign a new Reds contract

By Hal McCoy | Thursday, September 30, 2010, 11:29 AM

FOR THOSE WONDERING, “Will he or won’t he,” the answer is, “He will.”

Cincinnati Reds manager Dusty Baker will be back next season, armed with a new multi-year contract - probably a three-year extension.

The deal could be announced before the Reds begin postseason play next mid-week for the first time in 15 years, but more likely after postseason play is completed.

A close confidante to Baker told me Wednesday, “They’re close, just a matter of dotting I’s and crossing T’s and Dusty will be back managing the Reds next year.”

The source said it is by Baker’s design that a deal wasn’t announced or negotiations made public during the season, “Because he hates to have the focus pointed at him when the team is in the middle of a pennant race. He wants no distractions away from the team and he doesn’t want himself distracted. That’s the way he always is. That’s him. That’s the man.”

WHEN ASKED pointedly if he is coming back, Baker was true to character in never lying to me. He smiled broadly and returned perusing a stack of statistics on his desk.

All he would say is that he and the team are close. While Baker and his team are very close - as far as respect and relationships - what he meant in this instance was that he and the team are this close to announcing a new contract.

“He gives us leadership, direction and is a father figure to us and we want him here,” said second baseman Brandon Phillips, a free-spirited player who has required more than his share of direction and leadership from his manager.

It would be a public relations disaster if the Reds didn’t bring back a manager who brought the team out of total darkness into broad daylight in three short years.

HIS CURRENT three-year, $12 million contract expires after this season, but there will be no emptying of his memorabilia-filled office in the Cincinnati clubhouse, the walls covered with photographs of family, friends, entertainers and people he admires. And he has a table in the room with the top covered with signatures from Hall of Fame players.

When Baker came to town, he carted three Manager of the Year awards with him (1993, 1997, 2000), plus four postseason appearances as manager of the San Francisco Giants and Chicago Cubs.

His 2002 Giants team was the NL wildcard team and he took them to the seventh game of the World Series before losing to Anaheim.

His 2003 Cubs made it to the NLCS, where they lost to the Jack McKeon-managed Florida Marlins, a series memorable for the Steve Bartman foul ball incident, another seven-game series.

After his not-so-pleasant removal as Cubs manager, when injuries permeated the team and Sammy Sosa became a major distraction, Baker became an ESPN analyst, from where he was plucked in 2008 by Reds CEO/owner Bob Castellini.

“I came back because I knew I wasn’t finished as a manager, my life on the baseball field was not completed,” he said.

And he knew he had a daunting task. The Reds hadn’t been to the postseason since 1995, losing four straight in the NLCS to Atlanta, and hadn’t had a winning season since 2000 under Jack McKeon.

He finished 74-88 and in fifth place in 2008 and 78-84 and in fourth place last year.

Gradually, things turned toward the better as general manager Walt Jocketty and Baker began plugging in productive pieces and hints of better things to come surfaced last September when the Reds went 20-11.

His team started fast this season and it quickly became a two-team argument between the Reds and the St. Louis Cardinals, one or the other leading the NL Central the entire season.

Finally given a workable blend of experienced veteran winners like Scott Rolen, Orlando Cabrera, Miguel Cairo and Arthur Rhodes, blended with a large supply of promising young players, Baker worked magic all season.

Whenever a regular went down with injury, Baker plugged in the right substitute at the right time. Whenever a pinch-hitter was needed, Baker pushed the right button. Whenever a regular needed a day off, Baker put in the right substitute for that day and more often than not that player produced a big hit or a big play that led to victory.

When young players like Jay Bruce and Drew Stubbs struggled and stumbled, and fans wanted them sent to the minors, Baker stuck with them and they produced and got better.

It is exactly what a manager is hired to do and Baker does it the right way constantly.

He is known as a player’s manager because he communicates - a player knows exactly his role and he is told what is expected of him and he is told a day or two beforehand when he will or won’t be in the lineup. And he never embarrasses a player publicly. Mistakes and misdemeanors are handled quietly, but forcefully.

In 38 years of covering baseball, I have never dealt with a more honest manager or a more media-friendly manager. He answers questions directly and he doesn’t lie. He may evade when necessary - and that, too, is part of the job — but he doesn’t tell untruths.

Baker and I became friends in 2000 when he discovered that I was the only member of the national media to predict the Cubs would win the NL Central in 2003 and for the next couple of years he always acknowledged my prediction.

And he is a man who knows how fleeting opportunity can be, as far as the Reds finally making the playoffs.

“You strive to get to this point for so very long, run the race, and then you are one or two steps from the finish line,” he said. “In this situation, you are full of anticipation and have a desire to finish it.”

Baker’s first dose of playoff baseball was as a player with the 1977 Dodgers, “After coming from losing all the time with the Braves. All it does is make you want it more and more and more and more. That’s what it does for you. You never get enough of it. That’s why you play the game. You talk about it in the winter, in spring training, all during the season, wondering who’ll be standing on top at the end. But you have to win the games.

“It’s a tough road,” he said. “I think about some of the guys who have been there. I think about Bobby Cox and how long he has been with the Braves and he has won one. Tony LaRussa has won two. Gene Mauch, a baseball genius, didn’t win any. Everything has to go right for you. It has to go right and you have to make it right.”

And the Reds and Baker are about to make it go right in the manager’s chair with their decisions to stay together in Cincinnati - a fortunate decision for all involved.

Permalink | Comments (59) | Post your comment |

Comments

By AuthodaArrott

June 5, 2011 12:05 AM | Link to this

I’ve been visiting your blog for a while now and I always find a gem in your new posts. Thanks for sharing.

By sdfsdgfd

April 16, 2011 10:09 PM | Link to this

You certainly have some agreeable opinions and views. Your blog provides a fresh look at the subject.

By Injurffut

March 21, 2011 4:24 AM | Link to this

You certainly have some agreeable opinions and views. Your blog provides a fresh look at the subject.

By troxiaethex

March 6, 2011 7:38 AM | Link to this

You certainly deserve a round of applause for your post and more specifically, your blog in general. Very high quality material

By repossessed cars for sale

March 2, 2011 9:03 PM | Link to this

Very informative post. Thanks for taking the time to share your view with us.

By treatment for tramadol addiction

February 6, 2011 8:14 PM | Link to this

You certainly deserve a round of applause for your post and more specifically, your blog in general. Very high quality material

By mainaStoots

January 14, 2011 7:30 AM | Link to this