NEW YORK It probably always has been the case that a managers biggest job is to keep his players confident and motivated, that managing personalities is more important than in-game decisions in a sport whereso oftenthe right move fails to pay off anyway. With the ever-increasing role of analytics in strategy, if it has always been the case, it has never been more so than now.I know everybody wants a reason for everything that you do, and sometimes I dont have one, Jason Martin Jersey Dusty Baker says. If that was the case (that every decision could be explained with analytics), half the investments I made would have made millions of dollars. Sometimes, some of the best things, the cant-mi ses, fizzle out and mi s, and the ones you dont think about, make it.MORE: Baker is making it these days with the Nationals, sitting atop the National League East with a team that believes in everything he does. The cant-mi ses in managerial hires these days are former players with little to no experience running a team, like Matt Williams, who had 32 games of Double-A managerial work and one Arizona Fall League campaign under his belt when he took over the Nationals in 2014.It went well enough at first, as Williams was National League Manager of the Year in his rookie season. When things went wrong, though, they went very wrong, and a team that was projected to run away with the East in 2015 instead finished seven games out of first place. There was plenty of blame to go around, but the lions share fell to Williams, especially after a lengthy Washington Post story laidbare the communication breakdowns that helped doom the season.Enter Baker, 66,a three-time National League Manager of the Year who has taken the Giants, Cubs and Reds to the playoffs. Cast Francisco Liriano Jersey aside by Cincinnati after a lo s in the 2013 wild-card game, conventional wisdom was that Bakers time in the game was at an end, that the era of analytics had left him behind, not to mention the era of pitch counts and innings limits.FLASHBACK: But if, in reality, what it takes to be a succe sful manager is the ability to deal with people, to relate to the players, then the game could never pa s by Baker. The way Bakers players talk about him is similar to the way players describe Joe Maddon.Dusty Baker, ready to congratulate Chris Heisey. (Getty Images)I think his personality is just perfect for this clubhouse, says left-hander Gio Gonzalez, the winning pitcher Wednesday in Washington's 7-1 triumphover the Mets. I think hes real laid-back and he picks each others brains, hell walk around the clubhouse and talk to some of the players, just take the time to say Jose Osuna Jersey Good morning or Good afternoon. Hes always up for conversation."He lets the veterans do their job. Its our clubhouse and his job out there, but this is our clubhouse and he lets us enjoy that moment. As long as were giving him 110 percent out there, he has no problems, which is great. Hes been just awesome. Theres no other way to put it. Hes been great for us and a players manager. He trusts his players. Flat out, he trusts his players.If there seems to be an unspoken as opposed to Williams in Gonzalezs words, its even louder when unsaid by outfielder Jayson Werth.FOSTER: When he walks in a room, he warms it up, Werth says. Been around the game a long time as a player and a manager and hes got experience dealing with players and being in clubhouses. I think his experiences in the game over the course of his life have kind of led him down this path, and I think hes been well-received Mitch Keller Jersey everywhere hes gone, so no difference here. Hes just a good person. Hes like that uncle that you had that you always liked when you grew up hes always cool to you, gives it to you straight, told you how it was. Theres a lot to like.Werth was part of one of Bakers moves this week, explained only as managers decision because, well, thats what it was. Baker moved Werth to the No. 2 spot in the lineup on Tuesday, moving Anthony Rendon down to No. 6. Each got a hit in the first game of the shift, and on Wednesday, they combined to go 4for5 with five walks, four runs scored and two RBIs.While Werth and Rendon changed placesin the lineup, Ben Revere remained in the leadoff spot and went 0for5. Acquired from the Blue Jays in an offseason trade, Revere was thrilled to find out hed be playing for Baker, whom he had admired since they met at a Twins-Reds game in 2012. But Revere has had a brutal start to his Nationals tenure, mi sing almost all of April with an oblique injury and struggling since his return. His average dipped to .096 with the latest 0-fer, but Reveres confidence is not shaken because he knows Baker is in his corner.MORE: Hes been great, so supportive of me even through my struggles, Revere says. He knows about the game. He knows what each player goes through because he played the game so long Dave Parker Jersey . Its a tough situation with me, battling to try to find my rhythm during the season, but he has confidence in me. He says, Ive watched you play for a long time, and I know that youll come out and start hitting well and help this team out. No matter what, Im going to be behind you, 24/7. Its a long season. I like to have a guy like that, who has your back not only me, but the pitchers, hitters, coaches, everyone in this locker room knows he has your back 100 percent.That is what Baker has wanted his players to know from the start, and the me sage has been received.He just came in and said, Look. Last year was last year. Lets just go out, and get our own identity and go out, have fun and kick some butt, says first baseman Clint Robinson. Thats really all there is to say. Last year was last year, and its his first year, so he came in and said, Hey, respect me, Ill respect you, lets go have some fun.Says Werth: I dont think he had to do anything. I think hes just being true to himself, being himself, authentic. Theres nothing fraudulent about him. Hes just being himself and it is who he is.That would be someone whose focus is on getting the best performance he can out of each individual player, able to take his own experience and make it relatable something that can be a struggle for managers who were as prolific in their playing days as Baker was in a career that included 1,981 hits and two All-Star nods.We were taught at a young age, when I was with Hank Aaron, that we always had a plan, Baker says. To hit Tom Pittsburgh Pirates Jersey Seaver, make him bring the ball down. To hit Jerry Koosman, make him put the ball out over the plate, because hed jam you inside. Make Steve Carlton if its spinning from hip down, dont swing, because it would be a ball when it got there. I