Dusty Baker was talking to some Cincinnati reporters the other day in Sarasota, Fla., when he described Reds prospect Jay Bruce as confident without being arrogant.
“I can tell the difference,” Baker said, “because I had some of both.”
Baker’s brash personality and a winning team made him the toast of Chicago in 2003 and much of ’04, but he left town seemingly a beaten man after the Cubs’ steady downfall in ’05 and ’06.
Now the former Cubs manager is resurrecting his career in Cincinnati with the help of some of his old Chicago crew, including pitching coach Dick Pole and bench coach Chris Speier, hoping to knock the Cubs off their pedestal in the National League Central.
At the very least, Baker’s arrival should add some spice to the 118-year-old rivalry between the Cubs and the Reds.
“A little friendly rivalry will be fun, and I’m happy for him,” said Cubs first baseman Derrek Lee, who saw Baker in Sacramento shortly before the start of spring training. “I think the year off was good for him. It refreshes you a little bit.”
Lee is one of several Cubs players who talked to, texted or left messages for Baker after he got the Cincinnati job in October.
“I called him from the Dominican to congratulate him, and I talked to him a few times after that,” third baseman Aramis Ramirez said. “He’s pretty excited. That’s what he wants to do, get back on the field. It’s not like he didn’t like the ESPN stuff, but that’s not him. He likes being on the field.
“He’s a great guy, a baseball guy on and off the field. He’s a players’ manager, so I’m sure everybody is happy for him.”
Baker is still treated like a hero in San Francisco six years after he left the Giants, but he remains a polarizing figure in Chicago 11/2 years since his forced departure.
The Cubs made the playoffs in 2003, but Baker took much of the blame for the ’04 collapse, when they faltered and missed the postseason by three games. Baker also got torched for a 79-83 record in 2005 and a league-worst 66-96 his final year. In an interview with the Tribune this off-season, he said he expected all the old controversies to be dredged up when he returns to Chicago with the Reds on April 15.
“Probably so,” Baker said. “But that sells. I’ve sold plenty. That’s enough.”
Some consider Lou Piniella the managerial antithesis of Baker because of their divergent styles.
When general manager Jim Hendry lauded Piniella on the first day of camp by saying “a big key to us getting back on track last year was we had a manager who played the people who came up right away,” it was interpreted as a shot at Baker, who often was criticized for playing veterans like Neifi Perez over younger players such as Ryan Theriot.
Hendry said he had been misinterpreted, insisting he simply was praising Piniella. But the bitter ending in ’06 can’t be rewritten, and there’s no love lost between Baker and the Cubs organization.
“It didn’t end the way he would like, but I can’t say he didn’t get a fair shot,” Lee said.
“He finished out his contract. Sometimes you just have to go opposite ways. A lot of things that went on were out of his control.
“It’s just part of the game. A miracle worker couldn’t have gotten us out of some of the trouble we were in. But Dusty is a great manager, and he’ll be fine.”
The Baker-Tony La Russa battles were must-see games in ’03 and ’04, and now he’ll match wits with Piniella in a contest of star managers who both have spent a year off in the TV booth.
“I’m looking forward to competition,” Baker said. “I know we have some good [managers] in this division, some of the top ones in the game.”
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psullivan@tribune.com
