Dusty Baker Throw Quotations

He's a ballplayer. These are things a ballplayer does -- they run the bases well, they hit well, they throw, they throw to the right base, they steal a base. I think we're very fortunate to get such a talent at such a low price.

He was going to third, but the runner had beaten him because the ball was high. He decided to throw to first, but it was too late.

He had his control today and was changing speed. He didn't throw a lot of balls in the same location and used various speeds.

He's going to have nerves -- that's natural. Hank Aaron told me when I came up, 'It's natural to be nervous. Just don't be scared.' You wouldn't be human if you weren't nervous. But after you throw that first pitch or two, your nerves subside and it's the same game.

He's getting more confident, more control of the strike zone, more confidence to throw any pitch in any count. That's what you call progress and what you like to see of the young man.

Usually you come right in and face 'live,' but you get into bad habits because you're trying to protect your hands and protect your bats. Basically, this is more for the pitchers the first couple days than the hitters. The main thing is, you hope they can throw strikes.

We executed that cutoff play perfectly. That was a very athletic play. That ball went into the gap, and it was obvious that they were going to send him. It was a perfect hop, a perfect throw and a perfect tag.

The throw wasn't high enough to do that. But we want our guys to be aggressive on the bases. He knows he made a mistake on that one.

You've got to throw strikes. That's with most young guys. Throw strikes, throw quality strikes. Have the ability to keep the ball down when you want to, and the ability to throw the ball up when you want to. When you throw the ball outside, you don't want it to creep back inside. The main thing is just relax. Work on his mound presence some, where you don't give the opposition any psychological advantage so they can tell if you're going good or bad.

I had Bo. I know Bo has good stuff, especially if he's healthy. He said his arm is good. The guy knows how to pitch. He can throw every day, he'll never complain, you won't know he's around. He was a pleasure to have on my team. He's looking for an opportunity, and that's what will give him an opportunity.

His doctor said it would be better if he continued to throw until the surgery to keep his arm strength going.

He's poised. If he's going to play short, he has to work on getting his throw truer. Right now, it runs into the runner.

They've got some of the best hitters in the world on that team. We were going to have Carlos throw seven innings or 90 pitches. The 90 pitches came first.