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Dusty Baker called Bryce Harper 'Royce,' so Harper's been calling his manager 'Rusty'

Bryce Harper is only 23, and he's already got 97 home runs, three All-Star appearances, an NL Rookie of the Year Award and an NL MVP Award to his credit -- all of which he's done while playing for the Nationals. Suffice it to say, the Nationals and their fans know Bryce's name and they know it well.
Except for the team's new manager Dusty Baker, of course, who had a bit of a slip last week when he called Harper "Royce" multiple times while speaking to reporters. (In Baker's defense, "Royce" and "Bryce" aren't that far off, and Baker did used to manage Royce Clayton ...)
It was a harmless mistake, but that hasn't stopped Harper from having some fun with it.
Baker elaborated when he told the story on local radio:

"In baseball, everybody calls each other by their last name, basically. You don't see a guy's first name on the back of his jersey. And in the military -- I was in the Marines for six years -- you address everybody by their last name. So I'm not good at first names. I call my nephews the wrong names sometimes.<br><br>
I know the guy's name. I don't know why I called him 'Royce.' Most of us have nicknames, plus I call some of them 'Junior,' I call some of them 'Dude.' They know who I'm talking to. And so Bryce, he called me 'Rusty.' So it's no big deal. My wife goes, 'Why don't you just call him Harp?' I'm like, 'Baby, I don't know if he likes to go by Harp or not. You can't just call a guy some name.'"


"Royce & Rusty" ... that's the name of a children's television program if I've ever heard one. When Harper and Baker wear those glasses with the rubber noses and fake mustaches, they become Royce and Rusty, and they conduct scientific experiments and sing songs about American history with the Nationals' racing presidents.
Be right back, I've got a pilot to write.

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