As a former manager of the Chicago Cubs – during one of the highest profile seasons in recent memory, no less (EDIT: this made a lot more sense before the 2016 season than it does now) – Dusty Baker holds a special place in my Cubs fandom.
Sure, he’s made some unusual decisions with starting pitchers, he’s decreed somewhat of a vocal resistance to change and advanced analytics and he’s even made some … uhm … questionable comments about Yankees reliever Aroldis Chapman.
But, he led the Cubs as far into the playoffs as they had been for some time and was one of the first managers I truly remember following/analyzing/etc…
Not unlike your cooky old grandpa, though, Baker continues to be a hot spring of hilarious, unorthodox stories:
Say what: Dusty Baker keeps referring to Bryce Harper as 'Royce' https://t.co/ez6R55gVre
— Big League Stew (@bigleaguestew) February 25, 2016
That’s right. Dusty Baker, 3x manager of the year and former big league manager of the San Francisco Giants, Chicago Cubs, Cincinnati Reds and current manager of the Washington Nationals, does not know Bryce Harper’s freakin name.
Bryce Harper, the superstar NL MVP … on THE WASHINGTON NATIONALS.
Not only is Harper a player worth knowing (to say the absolute least), it’s not as though he has stayed out of the media in his short, but exciting four-year career. From “Clown question, bro,” to “Don’t sell me short,” to being choked by teammate Jonathan Papelbon, I can’t imagine how many times we’ve seen the name “Bryce” in the news.
But that’s Dusty, for you. He kinda just plays to the beat of his own trumpet (see? so do I). Who knows, maybe it was all a ploy to knock Harper down a peg or two (I kid … mostly).