Dusty Baker Quotes on Time (54 Quotes)

We didn't have our team, No. 1. A lot of times you get new guys and they have a hard time adjusting to Chicago initially.

It was dangerous when you saw Eckstein went down. That's when you knew the field was getting too sloppy to play on. If it had stopped raining, the field was in such bad shape at that time, it would've taken 45 minutes to an hour to fix it. Then they risk Friday's field conditions, too. It's supposed to rain through Friday morning.

It came at the right time. Michael, the last couple of days, came through with some heroics.

The main guy will get the majority of the playing time. Is that 60 percent Is that 70 percent Is that 51 percent I'll talk to them. Quite frankly, that's a fortunate situation to have three quality guys. It's not a problem it's a fortunate situation.

Everybody was a rookie at some time. They've all had starts now they all know what it's about.

It's not easy. We've been looking for that guy all winter. How easy was it to find a right-handed hitter to back up D-Lee at first base this off-season You can't envision much playing time. That's what was difficult. It's probably a little easier now.

He's had that from time to time. That's the first time he's had it this year, but when a guy comes to you and says his back is really tight, you can't leave him in there. It's just unfortunate that it happened tonight at the end of this trip, a bad road trip.

It's a great sight to see on this side. We saw it on the other side all the time. We're just glad he's on our side instead of cursing him on the other side.

Williams was real good one time, then the next time equally as bad. You just want to get some consistency.

It was filled with ups and downs and a constant struggle. There was never a point where you felt you were in control for a long extended period of time.

You might think it matters to some of the guys who are still in contention. But at the same time, how many guys think that far in advance

We were really watching him this time, that why we took him out so early.

It's better now than later. He's been working out real hard on his lower half all winter, so fortunately this is the time of year when he shouldn't be set back too far.

You hate to say wait-and-see, but that's how it is, ... We're counting on him big time. At this point, I can't say in which capacity. We're hoping as a starter. If not, we'll do the next-best thing for him and us.

I'll think about it when the time comes. My thing is if I can keep it simple, don't distract my team, and if the team wins, everything else takes care of itself.

It's a situation where his emotions are his best friend and also could be his nemesis at the same time. This is what drives him and motivates him. On the other hand, it's destructive, not only to him but possibly to a teammate at some time.

The incentive is the game. You've got to play the game. Regardless of where you are. It seems like this month of August has been horrible and we've been fighting uphill the whole time. Tomorrow is Sept. 1, and hopefully we'll have a great September.

If you rescue him every time, you'll have to rescue him all the time. If you leave him out there, you learn about them or they become a pitcher by coming through. He can say, 'I can handle the situation,' but until you've been in the situation, you don't know if you can handle it or not.

He threw a ton of pitches. He threw a lot of near strikes, and he wasn't sharp. We thought that was the time to get him out of there.

That's what we're here for is to see. Eventually, I think he'll be a fine No. 2 hitter. I don't know if the time is now or not. Playing shortstop and batting second is a lot for a young man. We're just trying different things.

Some of it has to do with the fact that we have a strikeout pitching staff. I always liked my teams at the top of the league in defense and double plays. Any time you can get two outs on one pitch, it's a lot less pitches for your pitchers. A lot of times, it gets you out of the inning out of trouble.

Not really. I'm curious to see, sometimes you change stadiums, you change atmospheres, it changes things. So we'll see if they have the same atmosphere and spirit in the new stadium that they have had here for a long time.

The more times you come through, the more times you think you're going to come through. We like to see him come up with runners on base. He has a way of getting hits at the right time.

He's such a great human being that you want him to go out on his terms. Very rarely do guys get to go out on their terms, how they'd like to go out. He just told me it was time.

I've been going through this for a long time, either chasing somebody or being chased. This is the most fun part of the year. You derive energy from it. When you're in the race and have something to play for, you have some energy. I enjoy it a lot. This is what I manage for.

To me, and he may not like it, but I point to him all the time as the way to be. It's not his personality to accept that, but I single him out, which I don't do that often. I say, 'Hey, this is how you want to go about your business. This is how you want to perform. This is how you want to work on fielding, hitting, bunting, everything.

I'm glad for Jim, big time. It's business as usual for me.

It was a tough decision for him. I'm sure his country would love to have him. We both would love to have him. He's a heck of a player. He wrestled with this for a while. You want to represent your country but, at the same time, you want to make sure you're healthy for the season, too.

I've noticed Guzman has spent a lot of time with Carlos Zambrano and Henry Blanco. They're leading him down the right avenues and paths as far as how to work out and conduct yourself. That's always big for the young guys.

He doesn't appear that concerned. I think we stopped it in time. It helped that he didn't play in the World Baseball Classic after March 12 and didn't do any more damage to it.

I would say he's not where he was last year at this time, yet. Sometimes you have to hit with your mind. I'm sure he can do it.

They'll have to get some concentrated at-bats. Every year, I send guys who I don't think are ready down to the Minor Leagues to hit at the top and bottom of the order so they get nine to 18 at-bats at a time. When they get back, I'll find out exactly how much they played. In the case of a catcher, you have to get his legs ready squatting up and down in a game, too. We'll do whatever we can to get them ready.

They are both throwing the ball good. It's just a matter of location most of the time. I'm confident it will come. They've pitched well in the past, so why wouldn't they pitch well in the present and future I'm not too worried. You want them to be in great form right now, but we do have some time. They have a couple of starts left.

It's not about Kerry as much as it is about us. It's about where we are realistically and where he is now and to find out, when that time comes, the severity of whatever is in there. If it's nothing, we're pleased. If it's something, then we'll take care of it and give him ample time to rehab so he can start the season on time next year.

I try to have businesslike camps all the time with mixing in some fun in there with a little laughter in the workplace at the same time.

Todd did a good job playing first base in Spring Training. He likes playing first base. He'll play first most of the time and second base some of the time.

Hank Aaron used to tell us all the time, 'You may not understand what I say, but retain it because someday you might be able to use it when that light comes on,'

I try to protect the young guys as best I can, but at the same time, if you're in the big leagues, you're in the fire every day no matter who you're playing.

It's getting closer to a decision time, yes. It'll get here soon enough. We'll deal with that when it gets here.

I have learned from hamstrings that when a guy says he feels good, you give him a couple extra days. Invariably, you top a ball and have to beat it out. It happens every time.

He's doing fine. You always want him further ahead than he is but in our minds, he's right where he should be at this time. There have been no setbacks, his rehab is going well. He hasn't been off the mound yet, but right now we're satisfied with his progress.

That makes it sound like somebody's lying. I went through that a couple years ago, which was untrue at the time, and I'm not going through that. I've never been accused of that. I don't know if Walker was accusing me, but it was kind of general. You need to be more specific and you need to address that person, man to man. That's how I like to treat guys and how I appreciate being treated in return.

I'd like to get it done, most definitely. I'm sure he'd like to get it done. We'd like to keep him here, and he'd like to stay here. They're not called negotiations because people agree right off the bat. Sometimes these things take a little time.

We appreciate the fans, big time. We're just saddened that we didn't come through for them. They've been supporting us. We had a hard time holding up our end of the bargain.

He only had 15 good years in a row -- maybe it was time. I don't know anybody who stayed on top and excellent every year in their career, but he's done a pretty good job of it.

Guzman has missed a lot of time. He's very close. You don't know if he's quite ready. Certain guys need to pitch. He has missed parts of the last three years (with injuries).

This is something you hoped you wouldn't have to do, but it's one of those realities in sport and in life. It's not a pleasant situation, but it's here and it's real. This is a major blow. There's a lot to play for, knowing that he's with us and he gave us all he had all the time. We'll play for him, play for us, and play for everybody like we've been doing.

Ain't nothing on hold. These games are going to go on regardless. They're going to go into the record, wins and losses, regardless. You wish you could stop time, but I'm looking at that clock and that second hand's still ticking.

I don't really spend a lot of time thinking back, but it means a lot that my son is here to see this. He never saw me play and is starting to ask about my career.

The ball kept coming over the heart of the plate. It was supposed to be outside and it caught too much of the plate. He threw a lot of pitches (105) in a short period of time.