Respect is mutual in Dusty’s return to Cincy

CINCINNATI — Back at Great American Ball Park on Friday for the first time since he was dismissed as Reds manager following the 2013 season, Nationals manager Dusty Baker made sure he re-connected with his many friends and former co-workers.

Baker also made time for a haircut at his old barbershop in the city.

“Guys were talking stuff in the barber shop, and most people, they start to tell you that they miss you,” Baker said. “Then I start thinking about way back a long time ago, an old girlfriend that told me they missed me even though they broke up with me. And maybe you weren’t so bad after all.”

Baker had a 509-463 record in his six seasons with Cincinnati from 2008-13. The Reds won the National League Central but fell in the NL Division Series in ’10 and ’12 and reached the NL Wild Card Game in ’13. Expected to do more, he was dismissed following the loss vs. the Pirates, the last of six straight defeats that capped that season.

The 66-year-old Baker managed current Reds players like Joey Votto, Jay Bruce, Brandon Phillips and Zack Cozart.

“You live and die and cry and laugh with a bunch of guys for a long period of time, you form bonds that are forever,” Baker said. “You know them …

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