Dusty Baker Teaches Hitting

Invasion of the Dusty Snatchers?

The Reds have Adam Dunn hitting second against A.J. Burnett on Tuesday night. Which can only mean an extra-terrestrial has gained control of Dusty Baker's body. Dunn has been in a pretty horrible slump, but this might be just the thing to shake him out. Kudos to Baker for trying it. With Dunn hitting second, the Reds have Jeff Keppinger batting sixth and Jay Bruce hitting seventh tonight.

This Makes Twice..."Dustiny"?

This is wonderful:

"He actually is one of the best bunters on the team, believe it or not. We were trying to get the runners in scoring position, and he threw him a pitch he could hit. We're playing pretty good baseball now. Things are starting to go pretty good."
--Reds manager Dusty Baker, on Adam Dunn attempting to bunt before bashing a walk-off homer this week. (ESPN.com)

Adam. Fucking. Dunn. Get the hitters in scoring position.

There it is. I think Dusty has finally actually completed the circle. He has become the best Dusty he can be.

They Shoot Horses, Don't They? (cont'd)

Adam Dunn is hitting seventh Monday for the first time since 2005. Meanwhile, Ken Griffey Jr. continues to get a free pass. Dunn has the better OPS of the two by 55 points and has the same exact number of runs+RBI as Griffey despite using just 85 percent as many outs and always batting lower in the order. That Dusty Baker won't even try hitting Dunn second or third in an effort to get him going speaks poorly of him as a manager.

Now, the real test for Dusty will be when he tries to double switch Dunn out for defense in the 8th, and we'll see if he mistakingly puts the pitcher in batting 5th where Dunn normally hits.