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SPORTSWednesday 4 November
Washington Nationals hire Dusty Baker as their next manager
HOWARD FENDRICH In this Sept. 20, 2013, file photo, shows then-Cincinnati Reds agers in the major leagues. ultimately it was clear that
AP Sports Writer manager Dusty Baker (12) in the dugout before a baseball No season had started Dusty’s deep experience
WASHINGTON (AP) — Dusty game against the Pittsburgh Pirates in Pittsburgh. without at least one since was the best fit for our ball-
Baker got another man- 1988; in April that year, club.”
aging job, this time with Associated Press Frank Robinson replaced Washington said general
the Washington Nationals. Cal Ripken Sr. with the Balti- manager Mike Rizzo and
And Major League Base- that in this case the best I am intent on making con- more Orioles. Robinson lat- Baker will wait until Thursday
ball got another black skip- person turned out to be tinued progress on diversity er managed the Nationals. to hold a news conference;
per, something the man in African-American,” base- in the managerial ranks go- “Dusty Baker is highly quali- Rizzo spoke about Williams’
charge of the sport called ball Commissioner Rob ing forward.” fied, has years of mana- firing on a conference call.
“encouraging.” Manfred wrote in an email When the Seattle Mariners gerial experience and is a In the news release about
The Nationals announced to The Associated Press. fired Lloyd McClendon last proven leader,” Manfred Baker’s hiring, Rizzo said:
Baker’s hiring on Tuesday, “This is a positive step and month, it left no black man- wrote. “We are excited to bring
nearly a month after fir- In the 66-year-old Baker, him to Washington and
ing Matt Williams when the the Nationals get someone put his steady demeanor,
club missed the playoffs. who has worked 20 seasons knowledge and many
With Baker joining the Na- as a manager in the ma- years in the game to work
tionals, baseball avoids jors and whose 1,671-1,504 in our favor.”
what would have been its record — a .526 winning Rizzo let Williams go a day
first start to a season since percentage — includes after Washington, which
1988 with zero black man- the second-most victories had World Series aspira-
agers. among active managers. tions, finished the regular
“I am certain that the Na- He led the San Francisco season at 83-79, seven
tionals, like all of our clubs, Giants to the 2002 World games behind the New
hired the best person for Series and reached the York Mets in the NL East.
the job. It is encouraging postseason a half-dozen Williams, who played un-
other times. der Baker with the Giants,
He becomes the second- had never managed in the
oldest manager in the ma- majors when he was hired
jors at the moment, a few for the 2014 season. The
weeks younger than Terry Nationals won their division
Collins, who just led the and he was voted NL Man-
New York Mets to the World ager of the Year; a division
Series. series loss to San Francisco
Baker also managed the followed.
Chicago Cubs and, most Williams then presided over
recently, the Cincinnati a 2015 season filled with
Reds, who fired him in 2013. defeats, discord and the
He has a reputation for be- embarrassing spectacle of
ing able to handle different a dugout dustup between
clubhouse personalities, NL MVP front-runner Bryce
including managing Barry Harper and teammate
Bonds while with the Giants. Jonathan Papelbon during
Baker won NL Manager of a game the day after the
the Year honors in 1993, team was eliminated from
1997 and 2000. He retired playoff contention.
as a player in 1986 after Williams said he had no idea
19 years in the majors, win- of the extent of the skirmish
ning a World Series title with until much later in the day,
the Los Angeles Dodgers in even though he was in the
1981. dugout at the time, Williams
“We were looking for said he hadn’t been aware
a manager to help us of exactly what happened
achieve our ultimate goal — including that Papelbon
of competing for a World grabbed Harper by the
Series championship,” Na- throat. None of his players
tionals owner Ted Lerner or coaches told him about
said in a statement. “Dur- it right away, and he said
ing our broad search pro- he hadn’t asked to know
cess we met with many more.q
qualified candidates, and
