Baker’s son Darren cherished Dusty being in the bleachers
STANFORD, CALIF. >> Darren Baker doesn’t see anyone better to lead the Houston Astros back to respectability than his dad.
A college second baseman at the University of California, he insists that comes from a baseball player’s perspective and not just as a proud son.
Dusty Baker was formally introduced as Houston’s new manager Thursday, the same day Darren represented Cal at Bay Area baseball media day. The Astros are trying to move forward from a signstealing scandal that led to Major League Baseball’s suspensions and then Houston’s firings of general manager Jeff Luhnow and manager AJ Hinch.
“I think it’s a perfect fit. Who else to steer a ship or right a ship than my dad?” Darren said. “I don’t just say that because it’s my dad, I genuinely believe it. Too much integrity — he’s the greatest man I’ve ever met, on and off the field. I think it’s a match made in heaven, I think it’s fate. Seeing him in an Astros jersey, it’s going to be a crazy experience.”
They talk several times a day and text regularly, too. Now, Baker will be back in the dugout and unable to watch Darren’s games live — the way it was for so many years as the left-handed hitting Darren grew up and evolved into a prospect.
That’s what made all of their time together the past two seasons so special. Baker served as a special adviser to Giants CEO Larry Baer and had the flexibility to be a regular in the stands at Evans Diamond in Berkeley. There he was snacking on raw peanuts, or sharing Pupusas brought specially for him.
He and Darren traded glances, waves and smiles from field to bleachers.
“It’s unbelievable. It’s really the first time, the first two years he’s ever had a chance to see me play,” Darren said in an interview at media day on Stanford’s campus. “I know it was killing him, you can only get so many videos from the game from my mom and things like that. This two years we’ve probably become closer than I ever could have imagined. He’s like my best friend. It doesn’t even feel like a father-son thing anymore.”
Cal coach Mike Neu thoroughly enjoyed having Baker around so regularly the past two seasons, but understands what this chance means at this stage for Baker, 70, to chase his first championship.
“He’s been around and it’s been awesome to see him be able to be around our program and getting a chance to see Darren play every day, and then even give our coaching staff availability to him has been amazing,” said Neu, a former big league pitcher. “His insight and just being able to have access to that.”
It won’t be long before Baker is back: The Astros’ first road series is in Oakland beginning March 30, “so I had it circled on my calendar right away,” Darren said.