The long and Dusty road

Looking for a new manager, the San Francisco Giants 31 years ago today choose Dusty Baker, their 44-year-old hitting coach, to replace Roger Craig.

Baker, twice an All-Star during his 19-year playing career in the majors, manages the Giants for 10 seasons before moving on to run the Chicago Cubs, Cincinnati Reds, Washington Nationals and, finally, the Houston Astros.

He takes all five of his teams to the playoffs, reaching the World Series in 2002 only to see his Giants lose to Anaheim in seven games.

Baker twice more returns to the World Series, both times with Houston – losing in 2021 to Atlanta in six games before returning in 2022 to beat Philadelphia in six games.

Baker, now 74, takes the Astros to the 2023 American League Championship Series, but falls to eventual World Series champion Texas in seven games.

He then steps down as Houston’s manager after losing to Texas, finishing with 2,183 regular-season victories over 26 seasons.

Those 2,183 victories rank seventh all-time and only 11 behind Hall of Famer Sparky Anderson. Only Hall of Famers Joe Torre, Tony LaRussa and Bobby Cox have more postseason victories than Baker’s 57.

At his farewell press conference seven weeks ago in Houston, Baker stops short of saying he is retiring from the game.

“This isn’t a goodbye,” he says, “it’s simply a ‘see you later.’ ”