Nationals Manager Dusty Baker was really nice to a nine year old kid

by Steve Dunford

Dusty Baker’s 1979 Topps baseball card. (Amazon photo)

As I was watching the Nationals whip up on the Cardinals tonight, my mind went back to August 14, 1979.  I did not remember the date.  I looked it up on Baseball Almanac.

There were a few things I remembered about that night.  The first was it was the night after Lou Brock picked up his 3,000th hit. There was a pregame ceremony Jack Buck was the emcee.  Cardinal owner “Gussie” Busch drove a Corvette onto the field and gave to Brock.

We had field boxes down by the Dodger bullpen.  I was still mad at the Cardinals for trading Reggie Smith to the Dodgers.  I still listened and watched all the Cardinal games.  With the Dodgers appearing in back to back World Series, my loyalty was leaning toward Tommy Lasorda’s Dodgers.

Smith went on the DL the night before.  Every Dodger starter and the whole pitching staff was great to sign autographs.  I remember that shortstop Bill Russell was a snob though, and I never liked him since the date.

Steve Garvey was great to all of us kids that were begging for autographs.  He spent time and had a conversation with each and every one of us.

My parents bought me a Dodger hat at the ballpark that night.  Dusty Baker noticed I had a Dodger tugged at the bill, and said he was going to hit a home run.  He also would look up at me and talk to me, while shagging balls in left field.

I knew he homered, but looking at the box score it was in the 8th inning off of John Denny, who was later a Cy Young award winner for The Phillies in 1983.

Burt Hooton was the starter for the Dodgers that night as he pitched a two hitter for the Cardinals.  I never knew why, but I did not like Hooton.  I guess because he pitched for the Cubs at one time.

This was two years before Fernandomainia swept across the U.S.  My favorite pitcher for the Dodgers was Don Sutton during that era who later went on to be a long time Atlanta Braves broadcaster.

The current Nationals manager is with his fourth team now.  Whether it was when Baker was managing the Giants, Reds. or the Cubs, the rivalry between him and then Cardinal manager Tony LaRussa was intense.  When Baker was with the Cubs especially those two would bark at each other in opposing dugouts.

Baker played for TLR in his last year as a player in Oakland in 1986, which LaRussa took over as the A’s manager in mid-season.   I always wondered if something carried over from that.  One thing I noticed was interesting when looking up some stats tonight, Baker was only four years younger, when he played for Tony LaRussa.

When the two butted heads, even when Baker was managing the Cubs, I always had a soft spot for him because of that night in 1979.

As I get older, I realize that when you show an act of kindness toward a small child, they will never forget it.   I have always said if you have an extra five minutes and an extra 50 cents never pass a lemonade stand up.  You will never regret it.

Here is the link to the box score from that night.

http://www.baseball-almanac.com/box-scores/boxscore.php?boxid=197908140SLN