Former SF Giants manager, outfielder retires after legendary career
Following the Houston Astros' defeat in the American League Championship Series, their manager has decided to leave the dugout for good.
Baker told Astros owner Jim Crane on Tuesday that he was "retiring as Astros manager," and it's believed to be the end of his career as a major league baseball manager entirely. He's expected to announce his decision at a press conference on Thursday, though The Athletic reported that Baker wants to "remain in the game" in some role.
It's the end of a very successful five years in Houston for Baker, who won the World Series last year, lost the World Series in 2021, and reached the ALCS in all five of his Houston seasons. Former Houston general manager James Click reportedly clashed with Baker, but Crane chose Baker in the power struggle, firing Click and assistant GM Scott Powers after last season.
If this is the end of his career, Baker finishes seventh all-time among managers in wins with 2,183, against 1,862 losses, having passed Hall of Famers Bucky Harris and Joe McCarthy last season. Bruce Bochy is now the active leader with 2,093 wins, tenth all-time. Baker is the third-winningest manager in Giants franchise history, with a record of 840-715, behind Bochy and John McGraw.
Dusty Baker broke into baseball in 1968 as a 19-year-old center fielder with the Atlanta Braves and became a regular in 1972, playing alongside Hank Aaron and future Giants coach Sonny Jackson. He became a star after a trade sent him to the Los Angeles Dodgers, where he went to three World Series, winning a ring in 1981. He also won a pair of Silver Sluggers, a Gold Glove, and made two All-Star Games. Baker hit well (slashing .292/.387/.374) for a bad Giants team in 1984 before finishing his career with the Oakland A’s in 1985-86.
Baker became a stockbroker after his retirement, but in 1987, SF Giants general manager Al Rosen persuaded him to take a job as the team’s first base coach, and later hitting coach. Those Giants reached the World Series in 1989, and when new ownership took over late in 1992, Baker became the new manager, a job he’d hold for ten years. His first season saw the Giants win 103 games and miss the playoffs on the final day of the season.
Right away, Baker won Manager of the Year in his first season, won it again when the Giants surprisingly took the NL West in 1997, and won a third time after another NL West crown in 2000. They also lost a wild-card playoff game in 1998 - thanks Neifi Perez - and reached the World Series in his final season, 2002.
Dusty had a few trademarks - sunglasses, an ever-present toothpick in his mouth - but his real strength was using his whole roster. He maximized an aging Ellis Burks by using Armando Rios as his legs, leaned on super subs like Ramon Martinez, and extended J.T. Snow’s career by convincing him to stop switch-hitting. Baker also managed Barry Bonds and Jeff Kent for six years and they only had one fistfight, a master class in diplomacy.
But the Giants fell short in the playoffs. In 1997, there was nothing he could do about the one-year wonder Florida Marlins. In 2000, Shawn Estes forgot to slide, Rios tried to go second-to-third on a grounder to short, and the Giants couldn’t solve pitcher Bobby Jones. Two of their three losses came in extra innings.
He made the World Series in 2002 as a wild-card team, defeating Bobby Cox’s Braves and Tony La Russa’s Cardinals along the way. In the World Series, Baker made two crucial mistakes: He handed Russ Ortiz the game ball in Game 6, when he pulled him with a 5-0 lead, and he started Livan Hernandez over Kirk Rueter in Game 7.
The Giants parted ways with Dusty after the season, and he led the Cubs to the NLCS - their first series win in the postseason in 95 years. But it fell apart in another Game Six when Steve Bartman snatched a foul ball from Moises Alou, Alex Gonzalez botched a ground ball, and the Marlins rallied to win the final two games.
He took other teams to the playoffs, too. The Cincinnati Reds won their division in 2010 and 2012, falling to Roy Halladay’s no-hitter and Buster Posey’s grand slam, respectively. Amazingly, Dusty has been on both sides of a playoff no-hitter, after Cristian Javier & Company’s masterful performance in Game Four in 2022. The Reds lost the wild-card game in 2013, and Dusty’s Washington Nationals lost to the Cubs in 2017.
Houston hired Baker for the 2020 season after A.J. Hinch was fired in the wake of the Astros cheating schedule. They reached the ALCS in 2020, lost the World Series in 2021, and finally won it all this year.
Along the way, Baker beat cancer, started a solar energy company, overcame heart problems and a mini-stroke, founded his own winery, and won over 2,000 games. He made his young son (Darren Baker) a bat boy after the cancer scare - and young Darren became a legend when J.T. Snow saved his life scooping him up from home plate in the 2002 Series.
Baker reportedly wants to stay in baseball, and he did coach new manager Bob Melvin for a year in 1988. There's been no rumors of Baker joining the SF Giants organization, but Oracle Park isn't far from Baker's home, or winery, so stranger things have happened.
