Baker Still Hasn’t Made Final Calls

San Francisco Manager Dusty Baker said Thursday he had not set the 25-man roster for the World Series or decided on a designated hitter for the games played at Edison Field.

Rosters do not have to be finalized until 10 a.m. Saturday, giving Baker time to consider his options.

“I’m not keeping it a secret from anybody, I’m still pondering,” he said. “We haven’t decided what our roster is going to be yet, but I’ve got some flexibility.”

The designated hitter is Baker’s biggest concern.

Pitchers will hit when the series shifts to Pacific Bell Park for Game 3 on Tuesday, but someone must fill the role for the Giants in the games at Edison Field.

The Angels seemingly have an edge because of the productive Brad Fullmer-Shawn Wooten platoon, but Baker believes the Giants could get some good matchups.

“We’ve got some guys who hit left-handers well, some guys who are high-fastball hitters against high-fastball pitchers,” he said. “They have some guys over there who get left-handers out better than right-handers, even though they’re right-handed pitchers, so we just have to go over things, watch some video and come up with the best choices.”

Utilityman Shawon Dunston, who batted .231 in 72 games, and infielder Ramon Martinez, who also played in 72 games and hit .271, are among the right-handed candidates with Angel left-hander Jarrod Washburn scheduled to start Game 1.

They batted .229 and .254, respectively, against left-handers during the regular season.

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The rally monkey was a hot topic of conversation in the American League championship series.

The Giants apparently get a kick out of the gimmick.

“I ain’t afraid of no monkey,” Baker said. “Now, if they had a gorilla it’d be a different thing. I wasn’t scared of Cheetah [the monkey in the Tarzan movies] but I was scared of King Kong.”

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Angel closer Troy Percival, who played under Baker in 1992 on the Scottsdale Scorpions of the Arizona Fall League, said he’s not surprised the Giants won the National League pennant.

“What a great manager. What a great guy to play for,” Percival said. “I can see one reason why they are where they are.”

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An Extra Bat

*--* Who would be the best DH candidate for the Giants? How about Livan Hernandez? A look at combined numbers from the last three seasons for players who might DH: Player Avg OB% SLG% Marvin Benard 265 327 413 Shawon Dunston 256 271 442 Pedro Feliz 239 271 357 Tom Goodwin 253 326 345 Tsuyoshi Shinjo 253 308 388 Livan Hernandez 256 274 338

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