DaytonDailyNews.com

SAN DIEGO — Cincinnati Reds manager Dusty Baker was back in the dugout Sunday, May 25, after serving his two-day suspension, thankful that his bench coach, Chris Speier was 2-0 as Baker's stand-in.

"As I watched the games (on TV), I sat here thinking about why you hire good people," said Baker, who brought in Speier. "I've always been told that, and it paid off with the circumstances of the last two days.

"And that's another reason you have split-squad games in spring training so you can say, 'Hey, Chris, you take a team, and I'll take a team.' That's a good feeling to have confidence in the people who work for you."

Baker watched the two games in his clubhouse office and said, "I learned a lot about the San Diego players listening and watching. And I didn't send any messages or signals to Chris. He was on his own."

Scorecard for the trip: Baker 0-5, Speier 2-0.

Valentin: overworked

After playing rarely for a month, Javier Valentin had a pinch-hit single Friday and a pinch-hit walk Saturday and said with a smile after the second game, "I'm going to ask for a day off. I'm going to be sore Sunday."

No day off, though. Valentin was at first base Sunday to face San Diego's Greg Maddux.

"Joey Votto had a good night Saturday (three-run homer, four RBIs), but Javy has had great days against Maddux," said Baker, referring to Valentin's 8-for-23 (.348) with four homers against Maddux.

"I thought about catching Javier, but David Ross has had good success catching Matt Belisle and caught him in the minors this year on rehab."

Griffey's bucket list

Three things Ken Griffey Jr. has on his Bucket List: "The Indianapolis 500, the Kentucky Derby and the Sport Super bikes in Europe."

That came up as Griffey watched on TV as 19-year-old Graham Rahal crashed in Sunday's 500.

"I rode with his dad, Bobby Rahal, at a test track in Savannah, Ga.," Griffey said. "We were going 206 in a Porsche Carrera. At one point, I was looking at him and he was looking at me, and nobody was looking at the road. And I heard the 500 once when my daddy played Triple-A at Indianapolis."

The versatile ones

Baker calls what Jerry Hairston Jr. and Ryan Freel do, "The toughest thing in baseball, playing so many different positions. It isn't often you see a guy who can play infield and outfield, and we have two of them."

Baker, though, said the best he ever saw was Derrel Thomas (Padres, Giants, Dodgers), "and he used to have eight gloves piled in his locker like pancakes."

Quote of the day

"He is trying to get into our rotation, and he and (suspended manager) Dusty Baker had two days to talk about it." — Griffey on what retired pitcher David Wells was doing in the Reds clubhouse Saturday.

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