Dusty Baker reflects on the time he was traded to the Dodgers

The Nationals face off against the Los Angeles Dodgers in the National League Division Series starting Friday. Inevitably, the matchup will bring back memories for manager Dusty Baker about his time as a player with the club.

Baker played for the Dodgers from 1976-1983. He was traded to the Dodgers from the Atlanta Braves, where he started his big league career in 1968.

Baker was asked what he felt about getting traded to the Dodgers.

It turned out to be another one of the all-time great Baker anecdotes.

"What was my reaction? Man, that's what I wanted because I didn't like losing," Baker said. "They had traded Hank Aaron, that winter of '75. I didn't know the business end of baseball at that time. They traded all of us at the same time, and then sold the club to Ted Turner. They traded Ralph Garr to the White Sox, traded me to the Dodgers, traded Darrell Evans and Marty Perez to the Giants.

"My reaction was, I went in and I asked Mr. (Eddie) Robinson. I wanted to be traded back to California because I was tired of being in the South at that time and I was tired of losing. And his reaction to me was, had I ever been to Cleveland? So I called Hank, and I asked Hank, 'How come every time I ask them to trade me, they ask me have I ever been to Cleveland?' Cause Cleveland wasn't Cleveland as you see it today (Aaron said.) Cleveland's a good town. But back then, they played in old Browns Stadium. That was like where you sent the bad actors."

Baker wasn't thrilled about the possibility of ending up in Ohio. So he got out of town.

"So I went in and I told them I'm getting out of here," Baker said. "And I packed up my, I had a 914 Porsche. I had sold Fords. I sold my Thunderbird to my mother-in-law. And then I packed up my Porsche, built a little rack on the back, and like Route 66: across America, going to California.

"They didn't have cell phones, so I stopped in Carlsbad Caverns. I stopped at the Grand Canyon to see things I hadn't seen. And that night I was going to bed. I always wanted to be a Dodger, because I heard the Dodgers had the best athletes, the pretty uniforms, the good bodies. And I was like, shoot, you're talking about me. That's the way I thought. I'm serious. You asked me what I thought."

Back in the mid-1970s, instant communication wasn't what it it has become today. There were no cell phones to alert him. He found out on television he was headed to the Dodgers.

"So then I'm watching the news, and they showed like four players: Jimmy Wynn and (Tom) Paciorek and (Lee) Lacy and Jerry Royster. And I was like: 'Dang, who's this bad dude they just traded for?'

"And then I saw my picture come up, myself and Ed Goodson. And I called my dad. He said: 'We've been looking for you for two days. You've been traded to the Dodgers.'

"Eddie Robinson did me a favor, traded me to where I wanted to go. And I think Tom Paciorek had worn No. 12, one of the guys I was traded for. So they had No. 12 waiting for me when I got there."

Baker struggled in his first season with the Dodgers. He hit .242 in 112 games that first year, battling various injuries.

"My first year there, I had a bad knee," Baker said. "I hit a home run my first at-bat, and I didn't hit another one til July 4. That's when I quit reading the newspaper and watching the news and stuff. Because I was like, man, I'm being crucified. So why should somebody else control my self-esteem? So I quit reading it."

The next season, his power numbers went way up. Baker now reflects on his legacy with a pair of California teams.

"Then after that, I hit 30 home runs, people forgot all about it," Baker said. "And I was on all the all-Dodger team. And probably the thing I'm most proud of, I was on the all-DodgertTeam as a player and the all-Giant team as a manager. I don't think there's been another one that's done both. I mean, Bruce Bochy soon will take over for me, for sure, if he hasn't done it already. But that's part of my history there."