Dusty excited for next season
Volquez won his 15th, holding the Cardinals to no runs and three hits over seven innings.
OK, what puts the starch in Baker's attitude right now?
"I believe all this, I really do," he said. "We're going to have the natural evolution of young men to men.
"Volquez should do much the same, Johnny Cueto is going to get better, Homer Bailey could be here to be better and we could make a couple of off-season pitching acquisitions.
"Jay Bruce talks to Albert Pujols and Lance Berkman about hitting," Baker added. "He's very inquisitive and Berkman told him he'll take control and be comfortable in a year. Joey Votto is going to be better. We have young guys like Chris Dickerson and hopefully we re-sign Jerry Hairston Jr. and we hope he stays healthy.
"There are some area we want to improve and we have some veterans to help us improve," Baker added. "We'll have more stability on the bench. Brandon Phillips is going to get better and our players will be more comfortable in the big leagues and feeling they belong."
Baker was just warming up, really getting into what he believes about this team, the only sixth-place team in the majors.
"We'll have more speed, better defense and we had a number of things that turned into distractions," he said. "We won't have nearly as many guys wondering who is going to be traded (like Ken Griffey Jr. and Adam Dunn). Our bullpen should be more stable.
"Young Bill Bray should be stronger next year and you have to think Francisco Cordero (who gave up two runs in the ninth Sunday) will be better, Bronson Arroyo will be better. And you can't tell me that Aaron Harang is going to repeat this year (3-13). That's impossible. Harang will be Harang."
And that's Dusty Baker being Dusty Baker and he said with emphasis, "That's what I believe."
http://www.daytondailynews.com/s/con...spredsweb.html
Re: Dusty excited for next season
A quote that was left out of the article:
"My main dude Corey Patterson will be back too. There's no way the dude will bat in the .200's again. Dude's got too much talent. I can't wait to see this dude take more playing time from the younger guys. This dude's the future forget everyone else. They should play him twice what he's making now since his average will be twice as high."
Re: Dusty excited for next season
Thank God we'll have more speed. That's exactly what this club is missing. If only we could get rid of some more of those pesky rally killing homers and base clogging walks we'd be all set.
Re: Dusty excited for next season
I hear the same song every year.... I'm not going to believe it until I see it this time. Since 2000 it's been a broken record, "just wait for next year"... well, I'm tired of waiting for next year!
Re: Dusty excited for next season
At first glance I read this headline as 'Dusty exited for next season and there was momentary joy.
Rem
Re: Dusty excited for next season
Dusty is excited about next season? I'm kinda excited about the season after that...2010.
That will be the last year with Dusty at the wheel. He's even worse than I was expecting.
If this was August 17, 2010, and the Reds had dropped 17 of the last 22, Baker would likely be fired with Jocketty telling Reds' fans, "We have decided to go in another direction."
Re: Dusty excited for next season
Quote:
We have young guys like Chris Dickerson and hopefully we re-sign Jerry Hairston Jr. and we hope he stays healthy.
I just died a little inside. I thought we were rebuilding, why bring Hairston back? Hell, I'd rather see Stubbs get his ABs.
Re: Dusty excited for next season
Quote:
Originally Posted by
Razor Shines
I just died a little inside. I thought we were rebuilding, why bring Hairston back? Hell, I'd rather see Stubbs get his ABs.
Indubitably.
Re: Dusty excited for next season
Dusty says everything will get better. Cordero will be better. Arroyo will be better. Harang will be better. Homer will be better. The bullpen will be better. He has no idea how or why any of these will occur, but he believes it will be. Naturally, it's just got to happen. Kind of like his lineup construction.
I'm on the next flight to Vegas with second mortgage in tow to put everything on the 2009 Reds.
Re: Dusty excited for next season
Reds need to remove the "c" from the thread title.
Re: Dusty excited for next season
July 2009: "I'm trying my best, but this is Walt Jocketty's team, not my team."
Re: Dusty excited for next season
Quote:
Originally Posted by
RedsManRick
Thank God we'll have more speed. That's exactly what this club is missing. If only we could get rid of some more of those pesky rally killing homers and base clogging walks we'd be all set.
Yep. Speed sucks. Who needs to stretch singles into doubles or doubles into triples? Who needs to score from first on a double? Who needs to score from third on a shallow sacrifice fly? And for crying out loud, who needs to chase down balls in the gaps and down the lines? Extra bases on offense, more outs on defense ... who needs it?
Re: Dusty excited for next season
Quote:
July 2009: "I'm trying my best, but this is Walt Jocketty's team, not my team."
Exactly. I suppose the guy's earning too much dough not to get a 2nd chance from ownership. But I can't imagine he'd be allowed to say anything like that again without suffering the loss of his job. Leadership required.
Re: Dusty excited for next season
Quote:
Originally Posted by
princeton
July 2009: "I'm trying my best, but this is Walt Jocketty's team, not my team."
I think the most recent quotes were spin intended to counter that.
Re: Dusty excited for next season
Quote:
Originally Posted by
princeton
July 2009: "I'm trying my best, but this is Walt Jocketty's team, not my team."
The scary part is, his guys are two of the worst hitters in the game (one may be the worst), and an injury prone utility player who can't stay healthy.
Let's have more of them!!