Dusty Baker's Son May Be Running the Reds

Ken Griffey Jr. arrived to the park last night thinking he was going to play, and when he saw the lineup card without his name on it, he grilled Dusty Baker's nine-year-old son Darren why his dad wasn't playing him. One kidney shot to the ego later, Griffey probably wished he kept his mouth shut. From Hal McCoy of the Dayton Daily News:

"Why am I not playing tonight, Darren?" asked Griffey.

"Because you can't hit lefthanders," said Darren, son of manager Dusty Baker. "And you're old."

"How old am I?"

"Fifty."

Ouch. Technically Junior is 38, he just stays healthy like a 50 year old. But Darren was right about the lefties: Griffey is hitting just .200 (17-for-85) against them this year. Griffey did redeem himself by hitting a walk-off home run (ahem, off right-hander Matt Capps) after coming into the ninth as a defensive replacement, but Darren's quick wit before the game makes you wonder if Dusty is letting the youngster have some input on the lineup.

Of course, if a nine-year-old is making calls in the dugout, it might also explain why one of the team's biggest bats was trying to bunt with two runners on and no outs in the eighth inning.

From C. Trent Rosecrans (via the Frog)

Griffey's late-inning heroics glossed over some head-scratching moves by the elder Baker earlier in the game and the team's own inability to get runs in. The Reds left two men on in the first, sixth and eighth innings.

In the eighth inning, the first two batters got on base when Adam Dunn walked and Brandon Phillips singled off left-handed reliever Damaso Marte. Baker put Corey Patterson in to run for Dunn after his walk and then with the two on, asked Joey Votto -- whose only career sacrifice came in Class A Sarasota in 2005 -- to bunt. Votto couldn't get the bunt down and struck out.

Mind you, this is the same Joey Votto whose .831 OPS ranks second on the team to Dunn -- letting him swing the bat with runners in scoring position is exactly how the Reds should have won this game. Instead, Baker squandered the opportunity and needed Griffey to bail out the team one inning later.