Baker on Nationals' challenges and son Darren's draft future

Because of last night's late game and tonight's Washington Nationals Dream Foundation Gala, the Nationals weren't required to report to the home clubhouse until 10 a.m. for this afternoon's 12:05 p.m. game against the Rangers. But by 9:30 a.m., a steady stream of Nationals were saddling up to their lockers, readying for the middle game of the three-game interleague series.

Talk about your businesslike approach.

It's June 10 and the Nationals have a 10 1/2-game lead over the Braves in the National League East, the largest divisional lead in the NL and second only to the Astros' 12-game cushion in the American League West.

But as manager Dusty Baker looks ahead, he sees only challenges and potential obstacles for his club. He's not focused on how big their lead is, only on the next game. If football has a next-man-up approach, baseball's version is the next-game-up mantra.

"The challenges are probably the heat, as (much as) anything," Baker said. "You just came from the cold. Spring is like no more. It seems like spring is very, very short and you go right to the heat. Then you deal with consecutive games. Every team's going to have to go through it. And you hope you don't have any more rainouts. This is what you deal with. You deal with fatigue, mental and physical fatigue. Because there are some days you feel like playing more than other days. People work better some days than they do other days, as much as you hate to admit it. It's just a reality of life. ...

"The main challenge, I guess, would be the opposition. I mean, you got a new opponent every day. At least a new pitcher. And you got new challenges every day. The main thing is you have to learn how to get rid of distractions, how to feel good."

Baker bristled a little when asked if it was hard to avoid complacency.

"You don't fight complacency if you take pride in your job and what you do," he said. "The last thing on our minds is complacency. We haven't won anything - it's June 10. No, that's something that never crosses our minds. We don't like to lose no matter how big a lead you got. That's never crossed my mind or my team's mind."

* With the First-Year Player Draft two days away, Baker will be keeping one eye on how the Nationals go about stockpiling prospects for the future and the other on his son, Darren, an 18-year-old second baseman/outfielder who is draft-eligible for the first time.

Darren Baker committed to play college ball for Cal in May 2014, but his father has previously said it will be his son's decision depending on if and where he's drafted.

Dusty Baker isn't sweating what will happen when the draft commences Monday - perhaps because he knows it's out of his control and perhaps because he's got personal experience with this situation that many fathers don't possess.

"No, not really," Dusty Baker said. "It's going to get here. He's gone to a bunch of pre-draft workouts. I'm sure he's anxious, a lot like I was. I was anxious - both anxious and disappointed when my name wasn't called until the third day."

Regardless of what happens in the draft, the elder Baker sounds like a proud papa confident that his son has a couple of equally enticing opportunities ahead of him.

"Either way, his future's bright," Dusty Baker said. "He either goes to Cal, or if he's drafted real, real, real high, there's a possibility (that he signs). If he's not, then he'll go to Cal. We'll see."

Darren Baker, best known in baseball circles for being snatched away from a potential home plate collision as a 3-year-old by Giants first baseman J.T. Snow during the 2002 World Series when he served as batboy for the club his father skippered, is viewed by some scouts as an outfielder long term, though he played second base at Jesuit High School in Carmichael, Calif. Darren Baker interned last summer at the Washington Nationals Youth Baseball Academy.

At least in an advanced technological age - where the first rounds of the draft are televised on MLB Network and players are easily reachable by cell phone - Darren Baker won't have to wait for a telephone call like his father did. Dusty Baker was drafted in the 26th round of the 1967 June draft by the Braves and recalls coming home for several days to ask his mother if he'd gotten a phone call.

Dusty Baker didn't care where he was taken, just as long as he wasn't selected by the Braves because of their geographical location in the Deep South during turbulent racial times. But that's who took him and where he ended up beginning a major league playing career that would span 19 seasons.

"It was the best thing that happened to me," Dusty Baker said.