:: ball talk ::

If Dusty Baker has proven he's good for one thing, it's a proclivity to produce mind-boggling quotes. Consider the following passage from a recent Cubs.com story.

The Cubs have finally reached double digits in walks this spring. There's a reason the team isn't taking any free passes.

"No. 1, I've let most guys hit 3-0 (in the count). That's one reason," Baker said. "I think walks are overrated unless you can run. If you get a walk and put the pitcher in a stretch, that helps, but the guy who walks and can't run, most of the time he's clogging up the bases for somebody who can run."

The other reason the Cubs aren't walking is that's not what Baker believes Spring Training is for.

"You're down here to find out as a hitter where the head of the bat is," Baker said. "You're down here to find out how to get to that sweet spot of the bat. I let my guys hit."

The Cubs skipper isn't overly concerned about on-base percentage and thinks sometimes such stats are overrated.

"Who have been the champions the last seven, eight years? Have you ever heard the Yankees talk about on-base percentage and walks?" Baker said. "Walks help. They do help. But you aren't going to walk across the plate, you're going to hit across the plate. That's the school I come from."

Baker and outfielder Calvin Murray were talking about just such a thing Tuesday. Murray said his former hitting coach, George Hendrick, advised players to get deep in the count. However, players often were looking at pitches that might have been the best to hit.

"Everybody can't hit with two strikes, everybody can't walk," Baker said. "You're taking away some of the aggressiveness of a kid if you're telling him to go up there and try to work for a walk.

"It's like when I see kids in Little League and they make the small kids go up there and try to get a walk. That's not any fun," Baker said. "Do you ever see the top 10 walking (rankings)? You see top 10 batting average. A lot of those top 10 do walk, but the name of the game is to hit."

Now, I can understand not wanting to take away from a player's aggressiveness at the plate, but why is he bashing on-base percentage? And has he ever looked at the Yankees' OBP in the last 7, 8 years? Dusty's comments are simultaneously laugh-out-loud funny, and (because I'm a Cubs fan) rather depressing. How exactly did Dusty come up with this little mantra while spending a decade coaching the best offensive player of his era, who -- oh, by the way, Dusty -- is in large part so successful because of his patient approach at the plate?

Hey, Dusty, here's what your former pupil had to say about your overrated stat:

"To me, on-base percentage is important, more so than walk ratio or home runs. If you're on base, you can do something. You can manufacture runs. You get on base, everything else goes up. I've always wanted a .500 on-base percentage. I've always had one around .430 or .440. I should be able to get on base, if I'm patient enough."
--Barry Bonds, Giants outfielder