Taking things a bit too far
3 Comments Published by Colin Wyers on Monday, April 14, 2008 at 11:53 AM.
There are a lot of things you can criticize Dusty Baker for, and there's even a kernel of truth to this, but still - huh?
Yep, it's Dusty's fault that... that what? That we missed out on a half-season of The Riot? That Theriot isn't very good? What are you even saying here?
With the Cubs out of the race in '06, Baker often played veteran Neifi Perez over rookie Ryan Theriot, leading to criticism he slowed Theriot's development.
"I don't think that's a fair criticism," Theriot said. "Neifi was a great player, and a proven veteran, a guy that did a lot of good things for a long time. There's a flip side you never hear about. He could've thrown me to the wolves and it could've turned out bad. I learned a lot just sitting back watching. There wasn't very much pressure, so just sit there and understand the big-league life. I learned from guys like Neifi and Todd [Walker]. They taught me a lot. One thing Dusty did do, when he started seeing some confidence, a couple good games in a row, he kept throwing you back out there."
Yep, it's Dusty's fault that... that what? That we missed out on a half-season of The Riot? That Theriot isn't very good? What are you even saying here?
Labels: Baseball, Chicago Cubs, Dusty Baker, Ryan Theriot
