As a symbolic grace note, a pitching legend from a prior era, Satchel Paige, then 62 years old, coached for the Atlanta Braves.
Paige was there mainly to accrue pension time that he never got in the Negro leagues and to throw a few pitches before games. Dusty Baker, now the Reds’ manager, was a Braves rookie. “I was his caddie,” Baker said.
People gave Paige gifts, like fishing rods, and Baker carried them for him. “He never could remember my name,” Baker said. “He called me Daffy. He would tell stories. Hank Aaron would say, ‘Half of them are lies,’ but we’d laugh anyway.”
Paige is dead now, so I think it's OK if I steal "Daffy Baker."
1 comment:
I saw the Daffy in the Times, too. I almost spit up the juice I was drinking, I was laughing to hard. My wife asked me what was so funny and I read the line to her and she just stared, blankly.
Amos
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