The Giants are expected to bring back former manager Dusty Baker as a special advisor to CEO Larry Baer, per Bob Nightengale of USA Today. Baker will report to executive vice president Brian Sabean in his new role, which the Giants are likely to announce Monday.
The 68-year-old Baker will return to work in his home state of California, where he played with the Dodgers, Giants and Athletics from 1976-86. He has since enjoyed an accomplished career as a manager, and a large portion of his success as a skipper came during his San Francisco tenure.
Baker was atop the Giants’ dugout from 1993-2002, a decadelong span in which the Barry Bonds-led club went 840-715 during the regular season, posted six plus-.500 campaigns and made three trips to the playoffs (Bonds is also a special advisor to Baer nowadays). During Baker’s last season at the helm, the Giants took home the National League pennant before falling to the Angels in a seven-game World Series.
Shortly after the Giants came up short in the Fall Classic, Baker departed to manage the Cubs, with whom he served from 2003-06 (including for the infamous Steve Bartman incident against the Marlins during the ’03 NLCS). He then went on to hold the same position with the Reds (2008-13) and Nationals (2016-17).
While a championship has eluded Baker during his 22-year career as a manager, which is potentially over, his teams have combined for an impressive 1,863-1,363 regular-season record and nine playoff berths. Only 13 other managers are ahead of Baker on the all-time wins list, and 12 are enshrined in the Baseball Hall of Fame.
Fantastic! Dodgers fans already can’t stand him. Keep piling it on
So should we expect him to pitch Bumgarner with a broken wrist??? 😉
Lol (ᵔ ͜ʖᵔ)
I think I messed up the face… But I stand by tbe “Lol” Thread is pure comedy!!!
Now the Giants will have someone to blame when their whole roster is on the DL by June 3rd.
Not too surprising as Dusty has been back in the Bay Area and can be regularly spotted in the stands for his son Darren’s baseball games at Cal.
I assume Dusty’s special advice will be along the lines of “Do as I say, and not as I did.”
Here’s how he will be used:
“Dusty, would you sign this guy?”
/Giants go with opposite of what Dusty says
Bochy just keeping the seat warm.
I loathe Dusty Baker. He is the reason the Giants didn’t win the 2002 World Series, the reason they didn’t get into the playoffs in 1993 and probable World Series run (who starts a rookie who blew his last two games in the last, most critical game of the season), destroyed countless games by leaving starters in too long, playing old veterans instead of younger, better players, destroyed careers, given countless incredible rosters to never take all the way to the trophy…. groan.
Funny, the biggest criticism baker has received is for taking out Ortiz TOO EARLY in game 6, 2002…groan
Perhaps, but I’d think giving Ortiz the dang game ball when the game wasn’t over which infuriated and sparked the Angels to come back and win the game would be the biggest criticism in game 6, but that’s me.
That was definitely a mistake. But I’m a baker fan. He’s a great man and the players loved him in sf.
Some of the greatest managers have never won a title. Mauch for example. Losing in 2002 as you should know was predominantly due to the fact that Nen had blown his arm out and they had to use Rodriguez. Rodriguez wouldn’t throw inside and threw hittable fastballs.
Do you think of things like that when u pin things on the manager/coach?
If this was an isolated incident I wouldn’t be complaining, even though it was the World Series. As a Giants season ticket holder from 1992-2004 I think I have a solid understanding of Dusty Baker and his toothpick. Excuses only go so far, and he loves to give them. Why do you think the Nats, the Reds, the Giants, and the Cubs gave up on him? Cause he couldn’t take a team all the way and couldn’t seal the deal, then complained when he wasn’t given more to work with. It’s like giving a guy a Lamborghini and he’s complaining he has to pay for gas.
Why are you a Baker fan? I’m honestly curious.
Let me ask you…. How did the Giants/Reds/Cubs perform right after They “Gave up on him”?
The Giants won 100+ games and their division right after he left. His last year with the Cubs he went 66-96, then they won 85 and 97 games and the playoffs both years after he left. The Reds did go south with only 76 wins after he left (they went into a rebuild and didn’t want to pay $3 million for him).
He’s a good family man and a great manager. Felipe Alou won 100 games or the team did in 2003? You think Baker couldn’t have led them to 100 wins? But Felipe Alou could? So what’s Alous track record. All the WS were won with players acquired and drafted after he was gone.
Giants would have had an excellent chance to win series in 1987 if it weren’t for Maldonado. So was it Roger Craig’s fault they didn’t win? Mitchell won MVP in 1989. Baker was hitting coach. Was it all Mitchell’s doing.
My point is, if you want to blame team failures on a manager, you can easily make points that make it sound like it was the managers fault. If a teams wins a World Series you want to credit the manager as the reason they won?
The Reds got worse after he was there.
The giants with Felipe won 100 in 2003 largely due to Bonds. And Alou failed to make it past the Marlins. Baker led them within one horrible relief job of a title. Did Baker choke the lead or did the bullpen? He had tremendous success with that bullpen but he gets no credit for that. The bullpen lost that World Series but it largely got them that far. But you think bakers thegoat. Posey, Lincecum, Cain, Bumgarner all came long after baker left. But you’re gonna say they won cuz they dumped Baker?
Epstein turned the Cubs around with his moves AFTER baker left.
Nats became way more talented after Baker left. We’re heavy favorites over Giants in 14. And couldn’t get to a title.
Bottom line, you give too much blame or credit to managers. Cubs won worlds series despite maddons poor bullpen management. He overused Chapman. They still won so maddon is a better manager than Baker? Maddons ego almost lost that series. Baker is maddons opposite. Players win games. Players lose games. Managers manage players but don’t pitch and don’t hit.
I live in Nevada. I’m not able to get season tickets. But I’ve followed the giants since 1965. So I’m not sure what you having season tickets for 13 years means.
You wonder why I like baker. My question is why shouldn’t I. He’s been successful everywhere he’s been. When a team wins a title, do 29 managers suck?
You’re completely ignoring his postseason record, and history of his teams late season collapses.
The man is 0-10 in his last series clinching games with 3 teams. 0-10. That’s not a fluke of history. That’s a pattern. That also doesn’t count his tenure in San Francisco, where he was up 3-2 in the series and 5-0 in game 6 in the 6th inning, yet managed to lose it.
You say it’s the players, yet he’s the only common denominator. Joe Maddon made some mistakes, sure, but why were the Cubs able to overcome them, along with the weight of generations of fans and history, and rally in game 7? Because the manager sets the attitude for the team, and keeps them focused. Great managers make the players want to win, despite some mistakes they make. Mediocre managers allow the players to do whatever they want, and be unbalanced and unfocused, so that when something’s bad happens, neither they nor the manager know what to do, or how to overcome it. Dusty Baker is clearly the later.
I don’t care who you like. If you love Baker go give him a hug. I do blame him and his incompetence for 2002 and for 1993. I explained why. You also say one player is what won for the Giants on a couple occasions. Why can’t a manager, who I have written as proof they lost, do the same for a loss? Do you think i’m alone here? Google it – I got an army at my back.
I mention season tickets because I went to almost EVERY GAME during that span, sat in the stands, and pulled my hair out on several occasions as he mismanaged his pitching staff.
Mark Melancon suffered a torn UCL reading this news.
omg. knock on wood, toss some salt, spit two times, cross yourself. why would you even say that?!
Honestly I think this is kinda cool in that he and cueto have a certain brain share that I think may be good- I feel like he has been kind of a fish out of water ever since he signed with the giants and the same way Watson could be good for melancon’s head, the same could be said for baker and cueto
This is ridiculous. Why??? I can’t think of one Giants fan who likes the man who single handily cost us the World Series. Thank Satan the 49ers are on the rise again.
GIANTS: Dusty, we’re hiring you as a special advisor on how to lose so that we can do entirely the opposite of these suggestions.
DUSTY: Where do I sign?
hopefully it’s to manage young pitchers workloads
Easy, bro.
and just exactly what does a special advisor do? Sounds like an easy paycheck to me.
A special advisor says things like: “This team seems awfully young. Need to sign Lackey and Colon. What? Colon is taken? Told you so.”