Baker and Strom not afraid of COVID-19
Friends assume Dusty Baker has nine lives. He survived prostate cancer in 2001. Eleven years later, he overcame heart failure while managing the Cincinnati Reds. When doctors discharged Baker from Northwestern Hospital following his 2012 heart episode, a receptionist asked for his name.
Baker thought he said “Dusty.” Instead, he slurred “Da Da.” The receptionist asked again. Baker repeated the wrong answer.
Nurses instantly readmitted him, leaving a car service waiting on the bottom floor and Reds owner Bob Castellini’s private plane idle at a nearby airport.
Baker suffered a mild stroke, one he realizes could have happened either in that car or on that airplane. That he had it inside a hospital only reinforces the thoughts of Bak
er’s close friends.
“But that doesn’t say to go out and be foolish and test it,” Baker said of the nine lives theory. “That’s not me, either.”
Yet if baseball returns, Baker could be in such a situation. The novel coronavirus has hit the elderly and African Americans especially hard, and Baker is a 70-yearold African American with obvious underlying medical conditions. Baker’s pitching coach, Brent Strom, is 71. Both are the oldest men to hold their MLB titles. Among on-field staff, perhaps no duo is more susceptible to contracting COVID-19.
“I’m not trying to be cavalier about it, but I’m of a little bit different mindset than this whole country right now when it comes to this stuff,” Strom said Monday. “Whatever’s going to happen is going to happen. I’m not going to jeopardize anybody, but I’m sure they’ll have protocols for guys like myself and Dusty.”
Protection for them and other players or staff members with underlying medical conditions must be specifically addressed in Major League Baseball’s plan to restart the 2020 season. During a Monday conference call, owners approved an 82-game campaign that would start in early July.
Players want assurances of widespread testing and contingencies for a positive test in season or a nationwide second spike of positive cases. Consideration must be given for players with conditions that compromise their immune systems or those who are cancer survivors. The advanced age of some managers, umpires and coaches must be addressed as well.
“It’s going to be impossible not to take a risk, but a calculated risk,” Baker said. “Safety is number one. Not only for yourself, but I worry about other people as much as I worry about myself.”
Anyone can contract COVID-19, but those older than 65 or with underlying medical conditions are at a higher risk. Still, neither Baker nor Strom offered any skepticism about returning to work this season.
Baker said he has lost 15 pounds since spring training shut down, a product of working out daily with his 21-year-old son, Darren. The time off has afforded him a reset of sorts, allowing his mind to settle after a whirlwind hiring process and frenzied February in spring training.
“I don’t worry,” Baker said, “I take care of myself. Worry does no good. And in my heart — people may not agree — but the Lord wouldn’t have brought me back here to check out of here under bad circumstances. I refuse to believe that.”
Baker and Strom said they are adhering to social distancing regulations while living event-free quarantined lives on the West Coast — Baker in Sacramento and Strom in Arizona.
“I have a fatalistic approach to life,” Strom said. “If it’s to be, it’s to be. I’m not going to be (a) bubble boy about this thing. If they tell me to wear a mask, of course I will. If I make a mound visit, instead of covering my mouth, I’ll just have a full-on shield on or mask. I’m not going to defy anybody on this stuff.”
Strom’s 102-year-old mother-inlaw lives with him and his wife, Carrie. Strom said she’s handled the entire ordeal without an issue. Baker’s mother is in an assisted living facility and can communicate with her son only via FaceTime.
“When I look at things around the world and around the country, we are truly blessed big time,” Baker said. “That’s why I’m not worried about anything happening to me.”
Still, quarantining for six weeks allowed Baker to consider the close calls of his past. His survival lessens any fear this pandemic could present.
“I was thinking, shoot, what if I wasn’t here to spend this much time with my family, my son, my grandson and my daughter?” Baker said. “Heck, I could have been dead 18 years ago. I had a mild stroke in the hospital. How many people are that blessed?
“I ain’t going nowhere man, OK? I’m just assuring people.”
“… I’m sure they’ll have protocols for guys like myself and Dusty.” Astros pitching coach Brent Strom