Lind-sanity! Dusty Baker mixed up Adam Lind and Jeremy Lin in a press conference
Adam Lind made a splash in his debut with the Nationals, launching a pinch-hit two-run homer in the bottom of the seventh inning to lead his new team to a 4-2 Opening Day victory over the Marlins. It was a terrific way for Lind to introduce himself to the fans at Nationals Park after 11 years in the Majors, but perhaps the veteran should have done a better job introducing himself to his own manager.
In the postgame press conference, Nationals skipper Dusty Baker slipped up while talking about Lind's clutch performance, briefly mistaking him with basketball's Jeremy Lin. Baker said, "That was a big, big hit by Jeremy -- Adam Lind. I keep calling him Jeremy Lin thinking basketball."
Lin made his own splash onto the NBA scene five years ago with the New York Knicks, capturing the attention of the basketball world and sparking "Lin-sanity" headlines. So it's not all that surprising that given the similarity of their names, Lin was the first name to jump to Baker's mind. Last spring, Baker even referred to Bryce Harper as "Royce."
Baker was still working on clarifying the Lin/Lind situation when he saw Lind in the clubhouse after the press conference.
Then this in clubhouse as Dusty/Lind cross paths:
— Eddie Matz (@ESPNeddiematz) April 3, 2017
Dusty: Alright, Jeremy.
Lind: You know my name's Adam?
Dusty: Did I call you Jeremy again? https://t.co/nh6oy5Nuwm
Oh, Dusty.
With more games like Opening Day though, Lind shouldn't have any problems helping his manager figure his identity. Starting a "Lind-sanity" sensation wouldn't hurt, either.
h/t Jamal Collier
