“Have we ever had a manager who listened to Tupac Shakur?” asks the Cincinnati Enquirer’s Paul Daugherty. “You could just see Jerry Narron, groovin™ to the rhymes of Hit ˜Em Up, couldn™t™ you? Hi, I™m Dave Miley, and I can™t wait for the latest release from 2 Live Crew.™™ Replies BTF’s Repoz, “I’d be amazed if Dusty Baker listened to Bill James.”

The iPod in the deck on the corner of the manager™s desk is playing something carnal and raunchy. Tupac is suggesting this and that, none of it PG-13.œWe got to go to Wal-Mart and get the clean version,™™ Dusty Baker allows. His 9-year-old son is a Tupac fan, and while Baker is all for Darren œlearning about all kinds of cultures™™ the Tupac needs some rinsing.

Dusty Baker listens to all kinds of music. He had Buddy Guy on in the car on the way to Ed Smith Stadium Monday. œI got some Latin, some reggae, some rock. All kinds,™™ he said.

Dusty Baker might not be the world™s greatest manager. Then again, it™s only the 26th of February, so who™s to say? Just because Baker not only knows who Pinetop Perkins is (blues pianist), but was listening to him the last time we spoke, doesn™t mean he™ll lead the Reds from their Seven-Year Ache (Rosanne Cash, 1981.) It just makes the struggle more interesting.

When you discover a guy like Baker, you tap him like a sugar maple in Vermont. Baker calls the media œdudes.™™ He says a retirement goal of his is to become œa wine dude.™™ Far out.

No, Paul, this is “far out”.  Still, whether or not the Reds show improvement in 2008, Dusty’s already shown that he’s got better musical taste than Bronson Arroyo.  So does 99% of the human population, however, so never mind.