PORT CHARLOTTE — A few weeks ago, Johnnie B. Baker Jr. — goes by “Dusty” — sat in the visitors dugout before his team’s spring opener against the Rays. The new Washington Nationals manager wore designer wristbands bearing his likeness and signature. How many managers have that? Baker, among the coolest cats in baseball history, has that.
He was fresh from a 3 1/2-hour bus ride from Washington’s spring headquarters in Viera. He found the trip fascinating. What Dusty Baker journey isn’t?
“I saw parts of Florida I hadn’t seen,” Baker said. “I came through my dad’s old hometown, Lakeland.