Fire Dusty Baker!

[Slateman]

I think he's good with black guys. They relate to him and vice versa. He always seems to have good encouraging things to say about them. And he doesn't seem to be as hard on them when they make mistakes. (like when Taylor used to strike out 4 times in a game)..
You know how gay guys are sometimes 'openly gay'? Well George Carlin once did a bit about how black guys can be 'openly black'.
Dusty Baker is 'openly black'... He invented the freakin high-five!

Difo's Hispanic.

[Baseball is Life]

I think he's good with black guys. They relate to him and vice versa. He always seems to have good encouraging things to say about them. And he doesn't seem to be as hard on them when they make mistakes. (like when Taylor used to strike out 4 times in a game)..
You know how gay guys are sometimes 'openly gay'? Well George Carlin once did a bit about how black guys can be 'openly black'.
Dusty Baker is 'openly black'... He invented the freakin high-five!

Just stop. I don't think he treats white players differently than black players. He's just being himself and he happens to be black and black players can identify with him. He's openly black like you're openly Canadian.

[UMDNats]

The Difo thread makes me wonder.

Is Dusty a prodigy when it comes to motivating toolsy but fringey/lost young players?

He lit a fire under Taylor's ass and Difo and Goodwin are both breaking out.

The man has some flaws, but this might be an aspect which is really helping us.

This is a good point and I think working with guys like that is one of Dusty's strengths. At least it's something we've seen here.

[JCA-CrystalCity]

In Cinci, he used to be criticized for more or less treating Zack Cozart how he treats Difo and Taylor - he's speedy, so hit him #2, show faith in him, and he'll work out. 

[Baseball is Life]

Scrubs was a great show. Way underrated.

[NJ Ave]

It makes a lot of sense that Dusty would have a long, successful managing career by playing favorites with black ballplayers, who are so plentiful in the majors compared with their white counterparts.

Kind of like how Pat Riley has succeeded by favoring white basketball players.

[Baseball is Life]

This is a good point and I think working with guys like that is one of Dusty's strengths. At least it's something we've seen here.

He was known as a "players' manger" and a good teacher before he got here. Seems accurate to me.

[Baseball is Life]

It makes a lot of sense that Dusty would have a long, successful managing career by playing favorites with black ballplayers, who are so plentiful in the majors compared with their white counterparts.

Kind of like how Pat Riley has succeeded by favoring white basketball players.

This. Interesting stat I've come across. Black American players were like 27% percent of MLB in the late '60s and are now down to something like 7%.

[bluestreak]

I think he's good with black guys. They relate to him and vice versa. He always seems to have good encouraging things to say about them. And he doesn't seem to be as hard on them when they make mistakes. (like when Taylor used to strike out 4 times in a game)..
You know how gay guys are sometimes 'openly gay'? Well George Carlin once did a bit about how black guys can be 'openly black'.
Dusty Baker is 'openly black'... He invented the freakin high-five!

This is absurd. I don't think there is any evidence of this at all in Dusty's career. And I think all the players universally like the guy. I mean if we are going to say he played favorites with anyone, it's Heisey. It's pretty clear to me that the only magic that happened with Taylor and Goodwin was regular playing time.

[NJ Ave]

This. Interesting stat I've come across. Black American players were like 27% percent of MLB in the late '60s and are now down to something like 7%.

White flight from the inner cities had to have something to do with this. It's shocking how rare baseball diamonds are in most city centers. Lack of access = lack of interest, by default.

[bluestreak]

Scrubs was a great show. Way underrated.

I maintain to this day that Scrubs is the most realistic medical show ever put on TV.

[varoadking]

I maintain to this day that Scrubs is the most realistic medical show ever put on TV.

Much like Barney Miller having been the most accurate portrayal of police work...

[bluestreak]

White flight from the inner cities had to have something to do with this. It's shocking how rare baseball diamonds are in most city centers. Lack of access = lack of interest, by default.

I don't think this is all of it. For instance, soccer here is a middle and upper class sport, and some people talk about lack of big fields in the cities and such. But everywhere else on earth it is the poor person's sport, despite all of the above issues. It's more complicated than that, but i am not sure exactly what it is.

[Ray D]

It makes a lot of sense that Dusty would have a long, successful managing career by playing favorites with black ballplayers, who are so plentiful in the majors compared with their white counterparts.

Kind of like how Pat Riley has succeeded by favoring white basketball players.

Joe Gibbs favored the holy rollers.  Don't know if that contributed to his success.   On the other hand Jim Zorn also favored them and I'm sure that didn't contribute.

[NJ Ave]

I don't think this is all of it. For instance, soccer here is a middle and upper class sport, and some people talk about lack of big fields in the cities and such. But everywhere else on earth it is the poor person's sport, despite all of the above issues. It's more complicated than that, but i am not sure exactly what it is.

Well some of that has to do with the fact that poor people literally can play soccer with a ball and a patch of dirt: http://www.businessinsider.com/soccer-fields-in-brazils-favelas-photos-2014-7

There are bigger impediments in baseball - first it actually requires investments in the fields you're playing on and the fields are significantly bigger. But you also need gloves, balls, and bats which are relatively expensive, and that's before cleats and uniforms.

But in general it doesn't make as much sense to compare a secondary sports in this country, just because it happens to be more popular abroad. Basketball is the better comparison. If I was a city planner without a great tax base (like most inner cities in the 1970s) I would build basketball courts over baseball parks for any number of reasons - density (how many courts could you fit on a single baseball field, and how many people could be playing simulaneous basketball compared with baseball in the same space), upkeep, etc.

[DPMOmaha]

Well some of that has to do with the fact that poor people literally can play soccer with a ball and a patch of dirt: http://www.businessinsider.com/soccer-fields-in-brazils-favelas-photos-2014-7

There are bigger impediments in baseball - first it actually requires investments in the fields you're playing on and the fields are significantly bigger. But you also need gloves, balls, and bats which are relatively expensive, and that's before cleats and uniforms.

But in general it doesn't make as much sense to compare a secondary sports in this country, just because it happens to be more popular abroad. Basketball is the better comparison. If I was a city planner without a great tax base (like most inner cities in the 1970s) I would build basketball courts over baseball parks for any number of reasons - density (how many courts could you fit on a single baseball field, and how many people could be playing simulaneous basketball compared with baseball in the same space), upkeep, etc.

Doesn't have to. In a lot of places in the world you just need a ball and a stick. Back in the day, streetball didn't require more than that either, they just played in the street.

[NJ Ave]

Doesn't have to. In a lot of places in the world you just need a ball and a stick. Back in the day, streetball didn't require more than that either, they just played in the street.

Hate to break it to the geezers on the board, but players now are much better than they used to be You aren't going to become a major leaguer playing stickball. You can barely do it being a multi-sport athlete instead of devoting 12 months a year to baseball training.

Same with basketball, hence the rise of AAU and year-round travel teams.

[Ray D]

Hate to break it to the geezers on the board, but players now are much better than they used to be You aren't going to become a major leaguer playing stickball. You can barely do it being a multi-sport athlete instead of devoting 12 months a year to baseball training.

Same with basketball, hence the rise of AAU and year-round travel teams.

15 years ago the experts of the day were preaching 12 months.  For the past few years the current experts are preaching play as many sports as possible (because there are many moves required in basketball, soccer, etc. that are actually needed in baseball but baseball doesn't develop drills for them).  Nobody really knows which of the so-called experts have it right.  In another 10 years they'll be back on the 12 month theory.

[DPMOmaha]

Hate to break it to the geezers on the board, but players now are much better than they used to be You aren't going to become a major leaguer playing stickball. You can barely do it being a multi-sport athlete instead of devoting 12 months a year to baseball training.

Same with basketball, hence the rise of AAU and year-round travel teams.

In the states, you might be right, but many places in the Caribbean, they start playing just this way.

I can't find the stats for MLB players, but in the NFL, 88% of those drafted last year played more than one sport.

[NJ Ave]

15 years ago the experts of the day were preaching 12 months.  For the past few years the current experts are preaching play as many sports as possible (because there are many moves required in basketball, soccer, etc. that are actually needed in baseball but baseball doesn't develop drills for them).  Nobody really knows which of the so-called experts have it right.  In another 10 years they'll be back on the 12 month theory.

I'm just talking about what's happening, not what's being advised. You can't really blame them - check out the map of draftees by state. What kind of advantage do you think the ability to play year-round baseball gives you?

http://www.maxpreps.com/news/HXOyo9Er5kC-anYF36O2rA/states-with-the-most-mlb-draft-first-round-picks.htm

[Baseball is Life]

Great athletes (the kind that make it the pros) can be play a variety of sports and still make it. The ones on the fringe are the ones who focus and just might get that D1 scholarship and probably won't make it much further. Focusing on one sport absolutely gives athletes at the high school level a big advantage.

[NJ Ave]

In the states, you might be right, but many places in the Caribbean, they start playing just this way.

I can't find the stats for MLB players, but in the NFL, 88% of those drafted last year played more than one sport.

I just don't understand the comparison. Every team has a multimillion dollar complex in the DR, with an average of 30 employees. The Dodgers academy can house up to 100 players, most of whom are in their mid-teens. Does that sound in any way comparable to MLB's investment in urban black kids?

30 years ago, prior to these academies being built, MLB was about 18 percent black and 12 percent latino. Now it's 7 percent black and 27 percent latino.

The evidence just flat out contradicts was you're saying. The vast majority of DR players do not reach the majors playing stickball. They reach the majors with year-round training at world-class facilities throughout their mid-teens. And it's worked, demonstrably and without a doubt.

[DPMOmaha]

I just don't understand the comparison. Every team has a multimillion dollar complex in the DR, with an average of 30 employees. The Dodgers academy can house up to 100 players, most of whom are in their mid-teens. Does that sound in any way comparable to MLB's investment in urban black kids?

30 years ago, prior to these academies being built, MLB was about 18 percent black and 12 percent latino. Now it's 7 percent black and 27 percent latino.

The evidence just flat out contradicts was you're saying. The vast majority of DR players do not reach the majors playing stickball. They reach the majors with year-round training at world-class facilities throughout their mid-teens. And it's worked, demonstrably and without a doubt.

They START playing that way.

[JCA-CrystalCity]

Kind of like how Pat Riley has succeeded by favoring white basketball players.

Seeing the 30 on 30 about the Celts and Lakers reminded me of how much Rambis $ucked.  Greg Kite was a g-d, though.

[Baseball is Life]

I just don't understand the comparison. Every team has a multimillion dollar complex in the DR, with an average of 30 employees. The Dodgers academy can house up to 100 players, most of whom are in their mid-teens. Does that sound in any way comparable to MLB's investment in urban black kids?

30 years ago, prior to these academies being built, MLB was about 18 percent black and 12 percent latino. Now it's 7 percent black and 27 percent latino.

The evidence just flat out contradicts was you're saying. The vast majority of DR players do not reach the majors playing stickball. They reach the majors with year-round training at world-class facilities throughout their mid-teens. And it's worked, demonstrably and without a doubt.

Do the DR players have other options like our kids do? I think not.