San Francisco Giants Legend Wins Baseball Digest Lifetime Achievement Award

Dusty Baker is back in the bay area as a special assistant to the San Francisco Giants after ending his storied career as a manager.

Mar 17, 2024; Scottsdale, Arizona, USA; Retired San Francisco Giants player Dusty Baker. / Allan Henry-USA TODAY Sports

Dusty Baker, who got his managerial start with the San Francisco Giants is back with the organization in retirement. He is the recipient of the Baseball Digest Lifetime Achievement Award for 2024, making him the fourth person to receive the award.

Baker retired from managing baseball last fall and in January joined the Giants as a special assistant.

The award honors his entire life in baseball, but he was a fixture for the Giants for more than two decades.

He joins Willie Mays, Vin Scully and Joe Torre as recipients of the award. Mays is also a Giants special assistant.

He joined the organization as a coach under manager Roger Craig in 1988 after he spent a short time as a stockbroker. After five seasons working as a coach, he succeeded Craig in 1993 and led the Giants for a decade, culminating in the team’s trip to the 2002 World Series, where they lost to the Los Angeles Angels.

After he left the Giants, Baker continued to manage, leading the Chicago Cubs (2003-06), the Cincinnati Reds (2008-13), the Washington Nationals (2016-17) and the Houston Astros (2020-23).

With Baker at the helm, the Astros won the 2022 World Series title, giving him a World Series ring as a player and as a manager.

Baker is one of a handful of managers with more than 2,000 career wins. He finished his career as 2,183-1,862.

Before he coached and managed, Baker played for 19 seasons, breaking in as a 19-year-old pinch-hitter with the Atlanta Braves, where he played for eight seasons and was teammates with Hank Aaron when he broke Babe Ruth’s career home run record.

He achieved his greatest success as a player with the Los Angeles Dodgers from 1976-83.

He won a World Series ring in 1981. He was also a two-time All-Star, the 1977 NLCS MVP, a Gold Glove winner and a two-time Silver Slugger winner.

He later played for San Francisco in 1984 and finished his playing career with the Oakland Athletics from 1985-86.