SARASOTA, Fla. - There will be nobody wearing a captain's wishbone 'C' on their Cincinnati Reds jersey as long as Dusty Baker is manager.
"It ain't up to me who is the leader," Baker said. "Whoever steps up. And I believe in leaders in different departments - like the bullpen, the infield, the outfield. We need some leaders on the bench. "And I've always said, leaders are not appointed, they are anointed," he added. "The teammates anoint - somebody they know they can talk to under any circumstances, who they can trust with their utmost secrets. You hope it is somebody with a consistent personality so you can approach them the same way every day.
"Just because you are the best player and the highest paid player doesn't make you a leader," he said. "And not everybody wants to lead. That's why I don't appoint."
Shattering experience
Washington Twp.'s Bill Johnson had a surprise waiting for him after a workout this week when he walked to his Lexus SUV behind a left-field fence - a hole in his windshield, compliments of Edwin Encarnacion.
"I saw Edwin hit a ball and thought, 'That's close to my car,' " Johnson said. After finding the shattered glass, Johnson stepped off the distance as 455 feet.
No, no Pedro
Every year there is one pitcher whom the hitters prefer not to face and this year it is lefthander Pedro Viola. He throws 98 mph, but what leaves hitters with trepidation is that he doesn't always know where it's going. On Thursday, it was Alex Gonzalez's turn to hit when Viola went to the mound and Gonzalez turned to Brandon Phillips and said, "Go ahead." Said Phillips, "Be my guest." On Viola's first pitch, Phillips said, "98." Then it was Encarnacion urging Ryan Hanigan to drop in ahead. Hanigan declined and said, "What's he doing here?"
Switching around
Just because it says catcher or infielder or outfielder on your Baseball card doesn't mean that's where you'll find yourself at all times - especially under Baker.
Examples? Ramon Hernandez is a catcher. "But he played a lot of first base in winter ball and I didn't know he played first base," Baker said. "That's good to know, gives me another option."
Baker also has outfielders Jacque Jones and Jonny Gomes working with the infielders during drills, "Learning how to field bunt plays, which they don't know.
"And we're going to work (third baseman) Juan Francisco some in the outfield."
Quote of the day
"What drives you crazy is when you teach a player who doesn't get it right away then he goes to another team and suddenly he gets it." - Baker
Play FOX Fantasy Baseball today
