Left field is a major hole in the Cincinnati Reds' lineup - some call it a mine shaft - but Chris Dickerson doesn't want to be left out in the cold.
"Manager Dusty Baker told me if I don't make the team he is going to kick my butt," said Dickerson. Dickerson, 27, isn't intent on making the team, he is intent on being the team's left fielder on Opening Day.
Lack of confidence by fans struck him deeply last week during the team's annual caravan and he related it with a smile Sunday during the team's stop at the National Museum of the United States Air Force.
"It was in an Evansville (Ind.) car dealership and two guys back-to-back asked Dusty - and I was sitting right next to him at the podium, 'Who is going to play left field this year?' Then the next question was, 'When Yonder Alonso moves up, will Joey Votto play left field?' "
Those are questions Reds fans constantly ask, but they sting Dickerson, who hit .304 with six homers in 31 games after his August call-up last season, his first major-league experience.
"I thought to myself, 'So, hey, where am I getting moved to?' I bit my tongue not to say it out loud. I'm a mild-mannered person, but that was such a slap in the face," he said
While Baker isn't handing Dickerson the job - he probably has to beat out Jerry Hairston Jr. and/or Jonny Gomes - Baker did tell Dickerson, "Don't let everybody take away your potential for the job with words."
Other than a propensity for injuries, a minorleague career full of them and a left ankle stress fracture that required surgery last September, Baker likes what he saw of Dickerson.
"I never heard of the guy when spring training began because he was barely on the radar screen," Baker said. "If we started right now, it probably would be a platoon situation with him and a righthanded bat, either Hairston or Gomes.
"I told Chris to fight for the job because it has been a long hard road for him to get to the big leagues," Baker added. "I told him I wasn't here to give away his job, but I'm not here to give him the job, either. I'll give him the opportunity to win the job, which is what he did last year."
Baker knows some players develop later than others, "In sports, not everybody figures it out at the same time."
Dickerson was hitting .136 on April 24 at (Class AAA) Louisville, "And it clicked in for me. Just clicked and locked in," he said. Before arriving in Cincinnati in August, he had built his average to .287.
"When it clicks, it clicks in a big way - all the hard work I put in last winter with batting coach Brook Jacoby. I was able to take the rest of the season," he added.
