“There was a time when I was a Cub, we went into a bar in the hotel where we were staying there in Los Angeles. To this day, Krukow, who has been a part of the Giants broadcast team since 1994, remembers running into Baker in the wild, and how much it rattled him then, in a good way. “He loves life and he connects with so many people in so many different ways, whether it’s through music - I mean, I’ve become friends with people that he’s known in the music business - or it’s with food.” He’s so honest and sincere and compassionate. “He never backs away from a difficult conversation and that’s just the way he is. He can handle the big ego and he can handle just about any situation,” said Ron Wotus, who coached third base under Baker and eventually became his bench coach for several years. “I’ve seen him handle the biggest stars in the game from Bonds to Sosa to Harper. At the time, he was only the seventh Black manager in MLB history, a good 90 years after the American and National leagues merged. Clearly a handful, it was another situation where Baker was absolutely the best guy for the job. After a stint as a stockbroker - something he was turned on to somewhat backhandedly by his father, who invested part of his signing bonus against his will, but it made him a bunch of money - the Giants hired him as manager in 1993.Ī fascinating year in baseball history, that’s also the season that Barry Bonds came to the team from the Pittsburgh Pirates. Houston Astros manager Dusty Baker (center) was became the seventh Black manager in MLB history when he took over the San Francisco Giants in 1993.Įventually, Baker ended up playing in San Francisco, and after his career ended, he became the hitting coach there. “I think Dusty’s that guy that is so honest, trustworthy, believable because he’s always been consistent. That’s how Dusty is to all of, at least to me, all of us through Riverside. All the things that you think are cool about them. “You know how it is when you see somebody you want to be like and you try to walk like them and talk like them and pick up their little thing. Miller played for the California Angels for five seasons. It was Bobby Bonds and it was Dusty Baker,” said Darrell Miller, the director of MLB Urban Youth Academy in Compton, California. “He was one of those people that we looked up to, as Riverside African American men. As a native of the relatively nearby Inland Empire, he was a local legend for sure, at the time. The Dodgers were the team Baker won a World Series with as a player, and very famously the team with which he helped invent the high-five and was an All-Star, Gold Glove and Silver Slugger player in 1981. You had to be aware of him and his personality when you pitched against him. “But you also knew that if you went in and it took off and you fly the left side, dragged your arm, and all of a sudden the thing became a heat seeker and it him, you might have to fight him. Krukow pitched for 13 years in the majors with the Chicago Cubs, Philadelphia Phillies and San Francisco Giants. Right?” said Mike Krukow of what it was like to face Baker as an opponent. When he got in the box, he was a long arm swinger, so you had to pitch him in. With Dusty, he had presence in that Dodger lineup. “I knew him probably in every different phase of his career as an opponent. Going back to his playing days, his boundless energy and ability to bring folks together was obvious. His path to revered statesman has many stops and iterations and pretty much everyone he’s connected with, played against, coached or worked with is hoping that this is finally the year. He has kept it real in every single phase of his life, and as a result, is arguably the most respected person in all of the sport. After being cast aside by more than one team in his managerial career, it’s understood that he’s gotten a reasonably raw deal. Baker, 73, finds himself again in a position that is rare: Nobody is rooting for his team, but everyone is rooting for him. It might perhaps describe the effort the Houston Astros have made to get back to the top, but it also describes the hatred which multiple fan bases gladly direct their way.Īstros manager Johnnie B. The word in fact doesn’t really fit how most people would describe MLB when it comes to many of their business practices. The word isn’t anything close to what most people would describe the franchise that he’s been the skipper of since 2020. HOUSTON - There’s a certain word that keeps coming up every time I ask someone about Dusty Baker.
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