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Back in town, Baker hopes he had impact on Cubs

Dusty Baker still draws a crowd.

It's been 10 years since he last managed the Chicago Cubs, but he still packed 'em into the new Wrigley Field interview room Thursday as his new team, the Washington Nationals, are in town for a big four-game series.

The room itself was enough to wow Baker.

"This is an improvement," he said. "Look at this place. Before, I was kind of like in the dungeon."

Things did not end well for Baker in Chicago, as he was fired after the 2006 season. His short-lived moment of glory came in 2003, when he got the Cubs to within five outs of the World Series before the team lost Games 6 and 7 to the Florida Marlins in the National League championship series.

Baker took some heat for the Game 6 collapse as well as the Cubs frittering away a seemingly safe wild-card spot with a better team in 2004.

Love him or not, most people don't forget Dusty Baker, whether it was in San Francisco, Chicago or Cincinnati, where he managed teams into the playoffs but never to a World Series title - the Giants lost the World Series in seven games to the Angels in 2002, when current Cubs manager Joe Maddon was a coach in Anaheim.

"I like to think I had an impact," Baker said. "I kind of wish at the end that I felt like I had a positive impact. Sometimes people appreciate you more when you're gone than when you're there. I think about many times that I wanted to be the guy that won it in Chicago. We were close. Now I'm in a similar situation in D.C."

Maddon and Baker are similar types of people. Both are well read and have interests outside of baseball. Cubs catcher David Ross has played for both.

"I wish I had a chance to play for Dusty when I was doing better and we had a better team," said Ross, who was with Baker at Cincinnati for part of 2008. "It's hard to compare (managers). Both are laid-back, 'Let's have some fun. Let's do things the right way and have some fun while we do it.' I didn't get to know (Baker) as well, and he was trying to change the culture in Cincinnati. I know that a lot of my friends loved playing for him."

Maddon said he knows Baker mostly through others.

"Always easy to converse with," Maddon said. "Always upbeat. We have a lot of common friends, and they always speak really well of him. I've not been around him a lot - the World Series in 2002. Prior to that, the fall league. Just a good man. His players really do play well for him."

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