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Baker: 22-1 loss 'a nightmare I don't care to relive. Ever.'

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By Hal McCoy, Staff Writer Updated 1:55 AM Wednesday, July 8, 2009

PHILADELPHIA — Dusty Baker tossed, turned and tossed some more in his bed after the 22-1 annihilation of his team Monday, July 6, by the Philadelphia Phillies, then watched the sun rise outside his window.

"The sun did come up," he said. "I thought it would. I was hoping it would. But I wasn't sure."

The Cincinnati Reds manager then got up and got to read this headline in the Philadelphia Daily News: "Routrageous, Batmen 22, Jokers 1."

Baker was in better spirits than he was immediately after the game when he said he had never participated in a bigger baseball massacre, not even in Little League.

"That's a nightmare I don't care to relive. Ever," he said.

Baker laughed when he was told pitcher Robert Manuel was watching the highlights of the 22-1 game in a clubhouse in Indianapolis late Monday when Louisville manager Rick Sweet told him, "You're going up to the majors."

Said Baker, "It didn't scare him, did it?"

After a 10-1 beating from the St. Louis Cardinals on Sunday, the Reds have been outscored 32-2 in their last two games and, of course, the bullpen has been ravaged, which necessitated the call-up of Manuel.

"When you come to this park (Citizens Bank), which leads the world in home runs, you can't limp in here or you'll crawl out of here," said Baker.

Baker, an ESPNaholic, said he didn't turn it on after the 22-1 game and added, "You love to set records, but not that way. This was one time I did not turn on ESPN."

The 21-run defeat was the worst beating in franchise history, which began in 1869 — before the invention of iPods or television or radios or automobiles.

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