Of star sluggers he's managed, Baker says Harper's best comp is Griffey

NASHVILLE - If you think new Nationals manager Dusty Baker has spent the last month poring over videotape to dissect swings, checking in by phone with all of his new players and communicating daily with the brass on South Capitol Street about how things will be run under his tenure, think again.

Since Baker had pretty detached himself from the day-to-day baseball grind until the Nationals came calling, he's been immersed in other business interests and has spent much of the time since being introduced as the new skipper getting his professional house in order ahead of spring training and the next chapter in his baseball life.

Baker had to lay out plans for his solar panel and wine making businesses, entrusting them to longtime friends while he plans for spring training in Viera, Fla. He had committed to help the Pericos de Puebla in the Mexican League, and recently returned from south of the border. He relaxed during a scheduled pheasant hunting trip. This week's Winter Meetings at the Gaylord Opryland Resort & Convention Center have provided Baker with his first chance to meet many of the key people in the organization, including the team's scouts. For now, everybody's "Dude," Baker joked when he met with the media today.

For the most part, Baker relies more on what he sees, feels and hears than anything he could glean from videotape or second-hand conversations. He doesn't know who's going to lead off for the Nationals come April, isn't sure how his middle infield will be configured, and hasn't spent hours writing out lineups only to crumple the paper into a little ball and start all over again.

But one thing Baker knows a thing or two about - and is supremely confident when speaking on - is how to deal with a star player. Remember, he had Ken Griffey Jr. in Cincinnati, Sammy Sosa with the Chicago Cubs and all-time home run king Barry Bonds in San Francisco.

And when the subject of managing Bryce Harper is the topic of conversation, Baker sounds authoritative and excited when he's asked which of his former star players the 23-year-old reigning National League MVP most reminds him of.

"I would say at his age, I would probably compare him more to Junior than I would anybody because Junior came in, he came in scalding," Baker said. "Let's not forget Barry struggled - I think he hit .236 one year. Sammy wasn't Sammy when he first came up with the White Sox. So I would say Bryce is probably closest to Junior."

Griffey, who appears to be a lock when National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum voting results are announced next month, was a two-time MVP who hit 660 home runs in a 22-year career, four times leading his league in home runs, winning 10 Gold Gloves and earning seven Silver Sluggers. As comps go, that's a nice nieghborhood to reside in.

Bonds batter .223 as a 21-year-old rookie in 1986, while Sosa didn't hit more than 15 home runs in his first four seasons and was dealt from the Rangers to the White Sox before exploding for 33 homers in Chicago in 1993. As a 20-year-old rookie in 1989, Sosa had four homers and 13 RBIs. So much for meaningful first impressions, right?

Though Harper turned himself into a much more patient hitter last year, drawing a franchise-record 124 walks while posting a .330/.460/.649 slash line, Baker is hoping he will manage a Nationals offense that makes opposing pitchers pay for throwing fat first pitches and hoping hitters take them. Count Baker as someone who thinks that hitter need to be more aggressive to keep hurlers on their toes.

When he and son Darren watched games the past couple of years, Baker said his son would ask if something was wrong when Baker winced and cringed as he watched perfectly hittable pitches pass by hitters for first-pitch strikes.

"If I would do anything, I think I would encourage the hitters to be more aggressive because everybody's talking about get deep in the count," Baker said. "All that's doing is putting you in a better situation to strike out. And I see guys taking the first pitch like right there. I'm cringing sometimes. And I see them taking hangers. ...

"I believe in getting deep in the count, but there's a way sometimes that pitcher shouldn't know if you're going to take or swing, and that's where the game comes in with hitting. I'd like to see us really work on that, which is why we've got one of my best buddies, (new Nationals first base/baserunning coach) Davey Lopes, watching games. I saw a ton of mistakes, a ton of bad baseball, especially on the baserunning side."

Baker thinks Bonds will fare well as the new hitting coach of the Marlins. As a player, Baker said, Bonds was incredibly perceptive, something Baker thinks will translate well into his new role as teacher and coach.

"I was hoping he'd go to the American League," Baker said of Bonds, drawing laughter from a crowd of reporters gathered around him. "This guy can see things that only a couple players that I've played with have seen - Hank Aaron and Reggie Smith. They see things that people (don't). What's obvious to them is invisible to others.

Asked if he considered adding Bonds to his staff in D.C., Baker said he already had a good hitting coach in Rick Schu, a holdover from the Matt Williams regime. Baker and Schu graduated from the same Sacramento high school - though years apart - and Baker wanted to offer Nats hitters some consistency from last season's staff.

"Plus I don't think our organization is going to pay Barry or anybody else as much as they're paying Barry (in Miami)," Baker said with a smile. "Plus I had Barry for 10 years. That's enough."

The man knows how to work a room and fill up a notebook.

Baker said he hoped to have the final vacancy on his coaching staff, his bullpen coach, named by the time the Washington contingent departs from the Winter Meetings.