Dusty Baker’s son reflects on Dad’s World Series ghosts

Darren Baker will be at the World Series this week, watching his Dad, just as he did 19 years ago, the last time Dusty Baker guided a team to the Fall Classic.

This time, as Baker’s Astros take on the Atlanta Braves beginning Tuesday night in Houston, Darren will be sitting in the grandstands with his Mom, not on the field as a batboy.

There are no plans to have J.T. Snow nearby.

“Not at this time,” laughed Darren, now 22 and a minor-leaguer for the Washington Nationals after completing his career at Cal last spring. “J.T.’s a great guy. But I’m OK this time.”

Snow batted .407 in the World Series, but is remembered only for carrying toddler Darren to safety during Game 5 of the Giants’ 2002 Series against the Angels. The 3-year-old batboy dashed toward the plate to collect the bat belonging to Kenny Lofton, who had just tripled.

Snow scored first and saw Darren directly in the path of David Bell, who was steaming around third toward home. Snow grabbed Baker by the back of his jacket and brought him  into his arms as TV viewers exhaled following the near disaster.

Darren says he has no first-hand recollection of the episode.

“It’s something I wish I remembered being on the field at that moment,” he said. “But if there was no YouTube or video, I would have no idea.

“It’s kind of hard to believe that was me when I see it sometimes. It’s something you laugh at at this point.”

The rest of that World Series was no laughing matter for Dusty Baker and the Giants.

After winning to take a 3-2 Series lead, the Giants were ahead 5-0 with one out in the seventh inning of Game 6 when Baker pulled starter Russ Ortiz. The Angels rallied for a 6-5 victory, then won Game 7 to steal the championship from Baker and the Giants.

A year later, Baker was manager of the Chicago Cubs, in search of their first World Series title since 1908. The Cubs were on the verge of clinching the NLCS,  leading the series 3-2 and holding a 3-0 lead in the eighth inning of Game 6 against the Florida Marlins when things came apart even more famously.

Darren Baker, then 4, doesn’t remember whether he was in the dugout or with his Mom in the stands. And again, he has no first-hand memory of Cubs fan Steve Bartman reaching out and interfering with Moises Alou, trying to make a catch along the left-field line.

The Cubs unraveled after that, giving up eight runs in the inning on the way to losing. The Marlins also won Game 7, sending Baker and the Cubs home and Bartman into baseball infamy.

“I’m a baseball nut. I know the history,” Darren Baker said.

Those two moments have chased Dusty Baker for nearly two decades, but Darren says they never were a theme around the house as he grew up.

“It never really comes up or ever did,” Darren said.  “When he leaves the field everything just stays on the field. He’s just Dad to me and a husband to my Mom.”

Darren Baker. who batted .333 in 18 games in rookie league and low-A ball this summer, says baseball does not define his connection with his Dad.

“We have a really deep relationship,” he said. “If I didn’t play baseball and my Dad wasn’t in baseball, we’d be the exact same.”

One of the lessons Darren has learned about the game is that winning is hard and a single moment or play doesn’t generally dictate the outcome. “You just move on,” he said, “and now we’re here.”

Pressed as to whether he ever had a sit-down with his Dad to dissect those two calamitous occasions in 2002 and ‘03, Darren said, “There was never really a moment like that. It’s not a life-or-death situation. Especially now, with COVID, there’s a lot of bigger issues.”

Dusty Baker, 72, will be a major subplot in this World Series. In 24 seasons as skipper of the Giants, Reds, Nationals, Cubs and now in his second year with the Astros, his 1,987 regular-season wins are the most by any manager without a World Series title.

Beyond that, Dusty Baker is a popular baseball figure, beloved by many.

Astros owner Jim Crane said in a recent interview that after visiting with Baker for just two hours he knew he was the man he wanted to run his club in the wake of the sign-stealing scandal that rose out of the 2017 World Series.

Asked why his Dad is so well-liked, Darren suggested he’s just relatable for most people. “He’s real welcoming and he treats everybody the way he would want to be treated,” Darren said. “He’s just an A-Class guy.”

Darren is routinely asked by friends and acquaintances about his Dad, whether he’s really the guy they watch doing interviews on TV.

“The exact same guy,” Darren said.

When the Cubs, after finally winning a World Series in 2016, showed forgiveness by presenting Steve Bartman a ring, Dusty Baker called it “a very good gesture.”

No surprise to his son. “That’s just the guy he is,” Darren said. “He just hopes for the best for everyone.”

Dusty Baker looked exhausted to his son on Friday night, immediately after the Astros survived being ahead 5-0 in Game 6 to clinch the series.

There was little time for celebration.

“I think he’s more grateful right now,” Darren said. “Knowing my dad, he knows there’s still four more wins so I think that’s kind of where his mentality is. He was up (Sunday) morning and went straight to the park like it was a normal day.”

The World Series will have added meaning for Baker, who played the first eight seasons of his career with the Atlanta Braves. During that time, Hank Aaron became his mentor, guiding Baker on and off the field.

The former home run king died in January at the age of 86. A large, signed photo of Darren, Dusty and Aaron still hangs in Darren’s bedroom.

“Anybody that knows my Dad or his story, Hank was like a big brother to him,” Darren said. “He says all the time he wouldn’t be where he is without him. It’s definitely a storyline and a big deal for my Dad.”

Dusty Baker been around the game so long — 53 years since his rookie season as a player — there are countless storylines.

“It’s a lot of things — he had the health issues with the stroke (in 2012) when he was in Cincinnati. He was let go in Washington (in 2017) and we didn’t know if he was ever going to coach again,” his son said. “Things happen and to be here is unbelievable.”

Winning would be “the cherry on top” for his Dad.

Now old enough he’ll be able to remember this World Series, Darren Baker said, “I can’t wait.”