Reds’ Baker had ‘mini-stroke’
Cincinnati manager Dusty Baker had a ministroke in addition to his irregular heartbeat last week and will need another week of rest before he’s able to rejoin the team for the final regular-season series and the playoffs.
Baker, 63, disclosed his condition to his players before the start of a series against Milwaukee on Tuesday.
“I’m feeling much better, and it’s great being back here in Cincinnati,” Baker said in a statement.
Bench coach Chris Speier and players said Baker was upbeat and visibly thinner.
“He’s lost a lot of water weight,” Speier said. “He was anxious (to get back). It was great to see him. Again, he looks really, really good. We’re all anxious to get him back in charge.”
Speier will manage the three-game series against the Brewers and a three-game series in Pittsburgh over the weekend. Baker could return for the final three games in St. Louis starting Monday, followed by the playoffs.
Baker has had an irregular heartbeat for some time. He felt sick while the team was in Chicago for a series last Wednesday and was taken to Northwestern Memorial Hospital.
Baker revealed that when he was being released from the hospital Friday, he had a mini-stroke.
“He had some slurred speech,” pitcher Bronson Arroyo said, describing the symptoms Baker experienced Friday. “The diagnosis was a slight stroke. The stroke team was right there and got after it. He said they said they see it all the time. They
took care of it.” Guillen responds: Miami manager Ozzie Guillen brushed off criticism from reliever Heath Bell.
During a radio interview Monday, Bell said the Marlins need a manager whom “everybody respects and looks up to.”
On Tuesday, Guillen said Bell is entitled to his opinion. The manager added that he has received about 30 supportive messages from current players and those he managed with the White Sox.
Guillen indicated that Bell has not fully accepted blame for his struggles this year.