Speaking of clubhouses, the Reds players had a Players Only meeting before sunday’s game - hopefully to flail themselves for supreme ineptitude in losing two straight to the Nationals.
Manager Dusty Baker is not big on meetings, but gave his permission.
“As long as they ask permission, which they did, it’s fine with me,” said Baker. “We used to do that in LA, except we didn’t ask. We just kicked Tommy Lasorda out.
“Can’t tell you who, but a couple of ‘em came in and asked if it was OK and I said yes,” Baker said.
Baker, though, says not much happens after these meetings.
“I think we overmeet as a society,” said Baker. “My opinion. You can talk, but you have to follow through in your talking and put it into action. I’ve done motivational speaking and the first thing I tell them is, ‘I can only motivate you for a little while. Motivation comes from within, but one thing I can do is light your pilot light so it burns inside you.’”
Baker said former San Francisco manager Roger Craig once told him, “Don’t let them have a Players Only meeting because it looks as if you’ve lost the team. I love Roger Craig, but I never believed that. Thanks for the advice. If you feel secure in yourself, you don’t have to worry about that.”
Baker agrees that if a manager says no to a Players Only meeting, then the manager feels threatened.
“I had a meeting Friday after Ken Griffey Jr. was traded,” said Baker. “After my meetings, I always ask if anybody has anything to say and invariably nobody does. I hope that’s not the case in the players meeting - I hope they all have something to say.
“We have so many young guys on our team and they need to hear from some of the older players - like I used to hear from Hank Aaron and like when I was with the Dodgers they used to hear from Davy Lopes, Reggie Smith and me,” Baker said.