Dusty Baker

St. Louis manager Tony La Russa and Pittsburgh manager Lloyd McClendon have been picked by Dusty Baker to be NL coaches for the All-Star Game. Baker will guide the NL team. He earned the honor by winning the pennant last year with San Francisco. He moved to the Chicago Cubs in the off-season. The game will be played July 15 at U.S. Cellular Field in Chicago. Baker will also bring his Cubs coaching staff, which includes hitting coach Gary Matthews, a former Phillie, first-base coach Gene Clines, and third-base coach Wendell Kim. The Montreal Expos recalled righthander Sun-Woo Kim from triple-A Edmonton to start tomorrow against Toronto and optioned reliever Anthony Ferrari to the Trappers.

Lou Piniella could become Dusty Baker's successor as manager of the Chicago Cubs before the World Series gets under way, ESPN.com reported yesterday. On Saturday, the Chicago Sun-Times reported that negotiations between the Cubs and Piniella, 63, could begin as early as today. Piniella, who has spoken to the Washington Nationals and Texas Rangers about their managerial openings, removed himself Friday as a candidate for the San Francisco Giants' job. In 2005, Piniella ended three difficult years as manager of the Tampa Bay Devil Rays and began working in television.

Former Giants manager Dusty Baker has a long history of problems with the Internal Revenue Service, ESPN.com reported yesterday. ESPN discovered documents from a California court, detailing Baker's tax trouble, with the largest lien totaling $2.3 million. The news comes as Baker prepares to interview with the Cubs Monday about their managerial vacancy. The IRS and the California State Franchise Tax Board filed multiple liens over a 12-year period against Baker, claiming he owes several million dollars in back taxes, including penalties and interest.

It took one swing for Barry Bonds to remind Dusty Baker what he'll be missing this season. Bonds homered on the first pitch he saw in training yesterday, but Baker won his debut as manager of the Chicago Cubs with a 7-5 exhibition victory over the San Francisco Giants. "Same old Barry," Baker said, smiling. "One pitch. " With his former manager watching from the opposite dugout in Mesa, Ariz., Bonds connected against Mark Prior in the first inning and sent a ball rocketing over the fence in center.

Dusty Baker and the San Francisco Giants decided to keep their good thing going. After a tense negotiation, Baker and the Giants reached agreement yesterday on a two-year contract extension that makes Baker the game's second highest-paid manager. Terms weren't disclosed, but a source told the Associated Press that Baker will make more than $2 million per year, second only to the Yankees' Joe Torre, who makes $3 million. "We're all very happy about the outcome," Baker said.

It's beginning to look as if Scott Rolen may not play in the National League Championship Series, and if he does, it probably will be only in limited duty. Rolen has shown improvement in his recovery from the sprained left shoulder he suffered in Game 2 of the NL division series 11 days ago. The St. Louis third baseman is still having trouble with range of motion, though, and that's affecting his ability to make backhanded stops. He also is having trouble unleashing his most powerful swing in the batting cage.

For two days, Dusty Baker - who once managed Barry Bonds - had watched how Ryan Howard, like Bonds, could send a buzz through a crowd just by stepping to the plate. The Chicago Cubs manager also marveled at how Howard was already seasoned enough to relinquish his slugger's credentials when needed and intelligently chip in a two-out, opposite-field hit. And when he ran the bases well enough to score from first on a two-out double to left in a 4-1 Phillies victory Tuesday? "Big Boy can roll," marveled Baker.

There was a time in this city - not long ago, and not forgotten, either - when the idea of the Phillies simply reaching the baseball playoffs was a romantic notion, a fantasy you sometimes entertained in private but never uttered aloud when company was present. It would have sounded silly, like an earnest child who says he'll become an astronaut but has no appreciation or understanding of how far away he really is from the moon. Philadelphians were put-upon for so long, a lump of beaten and battered fans rendered disconsolate by savage sports gods that had no trouble kicking the lot of us while we were down.

Dusty Baker, baseball manager and cancer survivor, is a man of perspective. That's why he thinks all the hubbub that has been made over the collapse of his Chicago Cubs team in the National League Championship Series is a bit much. In particular, Baker thinks it's wrong to blame Steve Bartman for the Cubs' squandering their three-games-to-one lead over the Florida Marlins. Bartman is the fan who got in the way of Moises Alou as the Cubs leftfielder tried to catch a foul ball with one out in the eighth inning of Game 6 at Wrigley Field.

Dusty Baker felt the cold wind on his face and saw the snow on the winter-brown ivy at Wrigley Field. His Chicago debut as manager of the Cubs didn't seem like a home opener, not on a 32-degree day with thousands of empty seats at one of baseball's most popular parks. What warmed Baker up yesterday was the way his new team responded to the elements and overcame them in a 6-1 win over the Montreal Expos. "It was very cold, the coldest I've ever been on a baseball field, but you've got to eliminate those thoughts," said Baker, who came to the Cubs after taking the San Francisco Giants to the World Series 6 months ago. "You got to try to put those elements out of your mind, especially when people come and see you. Imagine how cold they are. They probably have the advantage of having a flask or two. I saw a lot of people [reach]

Of all the characters in Office Space , both human and inanimate, the printer is easily the most loathed by the downtrodden subjects of the cubicle kingdom. Before the infernal machine is taken to an empty field and given a brutal beating while Ice Cube plays hard in the background, the employees take turns wrestling and pleading with it to do its job. The printer doesn't comply. The device displays a paper-jam error message even though that's clearly not the case. That infuriates everyone.

There was a time in this city - not long ago, and not forgotten, either - when the idea of the Phillies simply reaching the baseball playoffs was a romantic notion, a fantasy you sometimes entertained in private but never uttered aloud when company was present. It would have sounded silly, like an earnest child who says he'll become an astronaut but has no appreciation or understanding of how far away he really is from the moon. Philadelphians were put-upon for so long, a lump of beaten and battered fans rendered disconsolate by savage sports gods that had no trouble kicking the lot of us while we were down.

Lou Piniella could become Dusty Baker's successor as manager of the Chicago Cubs before the World Series gets under way, ESPN.com reported yesterday. On Saturday, the Chicago Sun-Times reported that negotiations between the Cubs and Piniella, 63, could begin as early as today. Piniella, who has spoken to the Washington Nationals and Texas Rangers about their managerial openings, removed himself Friday as a candidate for the San Francisco Giants' job. In 2005, Piniella ended three difficult years as manager of the Tampa Bay Devil Rays and began working in television.

For two days, Dusty Baker - who once managed Barry Bonds - had watched how Ryan Howard, like Bonds, could send a buzz through a crowd just by stepping to the plate. The Chicago Cubs manager also marveled at how Howard was already seasoned enough to relinquish his slugger's credentials when needed and intelligently chip in a two-out, opposite-field hit. And when he ran the bases well enough to score from first on a two-out double to left in a 4-1 Phillies victory Tuesday? "Big Boy can roll," marveled Baker.

Dusty Baker, baseball manager and cancer survivor, is a man of perspective. That's why he thinks all the hubbub that has been made over the collapse of his Chicago Cubs team in the National League Championship Series is a bit much. In particular, Baker thinks it's wrong to blame Steve Bartman for the Cubs' squandering their three-games-to-one lead over the Florida Marlins. Bartman is the fan who got in the way of Moises Alou as the Cubs leftfielder tried to catch a foul ball with one out in the eighth inning of Game 6 at Wrigley Field.

DUSTY Baker's comments about blacks being able to take heat better than whites were incredibly stupid. Probably the last thing that anyone would want to do is further divide these highly paid men with their sometimes-fragile egos by making a statement about race with no scientific proof. Dusty Baker may be a good and wise man - but that statement was not one that a good or wise man would make. Walter Van Dyke, Philadelphia Taking issue with Donnellon Re Sam Donnellon's July 9 column comparing Allen Iverson to Kobe Bryant: 1. You refer to Iverson's four months on a prison farm.

St. Louis manager Tony La Russa and Pittsburgh manager Lloyd McClendon have been picked by Dusty Baker to be NL coaches for the All-Star Game. Baker will guide the NL team. He earned the honor by winning the pennant last year with San Francisco. He moved to the Chicago Cubs in the off-season. The game will be played July 15 at U.S. Cellular Field in Chicago. Baker will also bring his Cubs coaching staff, which includes hitting coach Gary Matthews, a former Phillie, first-base coach Gene Clines, and third-base coach Wendell Kim. The Montreal Expos recalled righthander Sun-Woo Kim from triple-A Edmonton to start tomorrow against Toronto and optioned reliever Anthony Ferrari to the Trappers.

Dusty Baker felt the cold wind on his face and saw the snow on the winter-brown ivy at Wrigley Field. His Chicago debut as manager of the Cubs didn't seem like a home opener, not on a 32-degree day with thousands of empty seats at one of baseball's most popular parks. What warmed Baker up yesterday was the way his new team responded to the elements and overcame them in a 6-1 win over the Montreal Expos. "It was very cold, the coldest I've ever been on a baseball field, but you've got to eliminate those thoughts," said Baker, who came to the Cubs after taking the San Francisco Giants to the World Series 6 months ago. "You got to try to put those elements out of your mind, especially when people come and see you. Imagine how cold they are. They probably have the advantage of having a flask or two. I saw a lot of people [reach]

It took one swing for Barry Bonds to remind Dusty Baker what he'll be missing this season. Bonds homered on the first pitch he saw in training yesterday, but Baker won his debut as manager of the Chicago Cubs with a 7-5 exhibition victory over the San Francisco Giants. "Same old Barry," Baker said, smiling. "One pitch. " With his former manager watching from the opposite dugout in Mesa, Ariz., Bonds connected against Mark Prior in the first inning and sent a ball rocketing over the fence in center.

Former Giants manager Dusty Baker has a long history of problems with the Internal Revenue Service, ESPN.com reported yesterday. ESPN discovered documents from a California court, detailing Baker's tax trouble, with the largest lien totaling $2.3 million. The news comes as Baker prepares to interview with the Cubs Monday about their managerial vacancy. The IRS and the California State Franchise Tax Board filed multiple liens over a 12-year period against Baker, claiming he owes several million dollars in back taxes, including penalties and interest.