CHICAGO -- Dusty Baker and Tony La Russa met for six minutes
behind the batting cage Thursday, one day after a heated shouting
match at Wrigley Field.
Their informal get-together ended with a handshake, but no one
knows if they totally settled their differences after their latest
blowup.
"He has an opinion and I have an opinion. What was right, what
was wrong. It's a big series and a lot of emotions are high,"
Baker said.
Baker and La Russa, two of the most respected managers in the
majors, got into the screaming match Wednesday after Cubs starter
Matt Clement was hit by a pitch from Dan Haren -- who had been hit
by Clement's pitch the previous inning.
On Tuesday night, Chicago's Kerry Wood twice knocked down
Cardinals pitcher Matt Morris but didn't hit him. Last week in St.
Louis, Wood hit Albert Pujols.
Baker began pointing and gesturing toward La Russa and their
exchange escalated. They also had a screaming match last year in
the opener of the NL championship series when Baker was managing
the Giants.
Wood and La Russa have been exchanging barbs in newspapers this
week over Wood's tight pitching. Wood, who has hit 16 batters this
season, said every time the teams play, "it's something. It's just
another way he tries to fire up his players."
La Russa said Thursday he was just defending himself and his
team.
"When somebody says stuff like they are saying, you respond to
it," he said, adding that Baker would also be upset if his
pitchers got knocked down or hit.
He pointed to the beaning of Sammy Sosa in April. The pitcher
who hit Sosa, Salomon Torres, was later forced out of the game when
he was hit in the knee by an apparent retaliatory pitch from Juan
Cruz.
Baker said he not happy with himself for losing his temper
Wednesday at La Russa, who was one of Baker's NL coaches at the
All-Star game in July.
In fact, Baker and La Russa go way back. They were teammates in
Atlanta in 1971. And when Baker played his final season in 1986 for
Oakland, La Russa was his manager.
"Tony was the guy who gave me my first advice when I first
started managing," Baker said. "I talk to Tony in the wintertime.
"I can understand his and their frustrations of being tired of
going and eating dirt, too. Nobody likes to be going down. We're
not trying to hit their guy. ... I think each man should take care
of his own club. I'll take care of mine, you take care of yours."