Baker fishes up bonding moment
WEST PALM BEACH, Fla.— Spring training is tedious. Days start at dawn and end near dusk. The games in between carry no importance and even less intensity. Participants must discover a way to interrupt the monotony. Some have their spouses or children around to offer a welcome distraction.
Others venture outdoors. David Hensley and Korey Lee look for ponds around Florida to further a shared hobby. Each fancies himself a fisherman. Dusty Baker noticed and had to see his rookies in action.
Baker is a player’s manager. Building relationships is perhaps his best trait. To further them with three of his most inexperienced players, the skipper scheduled a fishing trip. During the team’s only day off this spring, Baker brought Hensley, Lee and Hunter Brown aboard a boat for a chartered fishing trip in the Atlantic Ocean.
“He said it the day before the off day: It’s a good day to just let your brain take a rest,” Lee said. “We deserve it. We work really, really hard every day out here, so I think it was kind of something to pay it forward and (helpus) continue to get better during the spring. … Get a little day off and ease the brain a little bit.”
Lee’s bond with his manager stretches back to Cal, where he played alongside Baker’s son, Darren. The two reconnected upon Baker’s arrival in 2020 and, apparently, talk tons of fishing.
Hensley, like Lee, is a Southern California native who grew up around the water.
While in Florida, the two teammates try to fish whenever possible. Stories of their success reached Baker, who has been known to fish during some regular-season off days. The trio talked about gathering for a spring training trip.
Thursday’s off day afforded an ideal opportunity. Baker, Hensley, Lee, Brown and quality control coach Dan Firova left from Palm Beach early that morning. Wahoo and bil lfish were the early morning pursuits before they tried for grouper and snapper during the afternoon.
“We all enjoy fishing,” Lee said. “It’s something that Dusty and I kind of bond about. We talk about fishing, talk about where we’re going to go fish. … It was a mutual bonding experience, and I think we had a really, really good time. And hopefully, we can continue to do it throughout the year and kind of make it a thing.”
Fishermen are experts at embellishment. Neither Hensley nor Lee must be aware. Each acknowledged he came up empty during the excursion. Both men said Brown caught the boat’s two biggest fish: a bonito in the morning and a sailfish toward the end of the trip. Firova hauled in another bonito.
“It was exciting, but it wasn’t very eventful,” Hensley said with a smile. “Hung out like some boys.”
In that regard, the trip served its purpose. The three fishing partners have some obvious parallels. All are primed to make their first opening-day roster. Hensley is inching toward a spot on the bench as Houston’s utiltiy man. Brown should begin the season in the starting rotation, while Lee is the front-runner to backup Martín Maldonado.
Pitcher and catcher worked well together throughout their stint at Class AAA Sugar Land. Baker paired them together for Brown’s Grapefruit League start Sunday. The righthander responded with three no-hit innings while throwing 24 of his 36 pitches for strikes — a total turnaround from his first two spring training starts.
“Maybe (the fishing trip) had something to do with yesterday — Hunter and I just kind of talking about it,” Lee said Monday. “A good little getaway for both of us and a really, really good day overall.”
Before lastweek’s off day, Baker hyped the fishing trip but playfully declined to reveal the attendees. How he chose them is a mystery. Hensley and Lee are avid fishermen, but perhaps Baker had a broader plan. All three players reached baseball’s pinnacle last season. Baker often reminds them how fortuitous that is. This is the same skipper who managed 24 seasons before winning a World Series in the 25th.
“We’ve mentioned it a few times,” Hensley said with a smile. “He’ll throw some shots at us, call us lucky and stuff like that, but he’s just messing around. It took him a long time to be able to get his championship, took us a little bit less. But I’m just happy to be a part of that.”
Hensley, Brown and Lee each ended last season on Houston’s World Series roster. All are expected to play pivotal roles ona club trying to defend its championship. Expectations don’t need to be defined, — veterans in Houston’s clubhouse already do that daily— but so much of Baker’s genius comes from an ability to understand his players’ psyche.
Gaining that knowledge is easy with everyday players. Rookies represent a different challenge, one that took Baker into the middle of the Atlantic Ocean.
“We’re obviously younger and could have some larger roles,” Hensley said. “Being comfortable with your manager is something that I could see him want-ing To be able to hang out with someone like that off the field, someone that you look up to as a legend in the game of baseball, to be able to spend time away and bond with somebody like that is awesome.”