When Dusty Baker became the San Francisco Giants manager in 1993, I wasn't critical, but I was skeptical. Yes, he'd been a coach for the team for five years, but before that he'd spent eight years (in a 19-year career) playing as a Los Angeles Dodger. Could a Dodger really lead the Giants? Well, this one could.
And Baker's leadership made a significant impression on me during the ten years he managed the Giants. I came to deeply appreciate his candor, his determination, and his calm intensity. He was an adult in the often juvenile world of professional sports. His teams made the playoffs but fell short in 1997 and 2000, and their failure to close out the 2002 World Series when they were just eight outs from victory ultimately led to Baker's firing.
This pattern would repeat itself in subsequent managerial stints in Chicago and Cincinnati, where Baker would enjoy just enough success in the regular season to raise expectations, only to have those hopes dashed in the playoffs. After 20 years as a manager, it seemed Baker had finally found the perfect opportunity to compete for a World Series title when he took over the Washington Nationals in 2016 and led them to first-place finishes in their division for two years running.
But Baker was fired by the Nats after last season, a move that probably marks the end of the 68-year-old's major-league career, meaning that he won't win a World Series ring as a manager to match the one he earned as a player with the Dodgers in 1981. Given that his 1,863 wins as a manager ranks him 14th on baseball's all-time list, it was assumed that a World Series victory would assure his elevation to the sport's Hall of Fame, but now his candidacy is uncertain.
Baker was recently interviewed by Dave Sheinin of the Washington Post, and the piece concludes with a bracing bit of advice:
"You don’t judge yourself. I’ll let other people do that," [Baker] said. "Ain't nobody ever given me nothing in the first place. So if [the Hall of Fame] happens, fine. If it don’t happen, hey, what can I do? I did my best with what I had. I’m at the point, I really don’t care what you say. Why should I let other people control my self-esteem? My dad taught me you don't have anybody to satisfy but God, family and yourself. They’re the only entities you can't fool if you’re an honest guy."
"So I tell my son that. People gonna always say what you can't do. People been telling me what I can't do my whole life. And guess what? Fifty years later, they still telling me. And I. Don't. Give. A. [Expletive]."
I don't know what expletive Baker used, because the Post deleted it. That's fine, I'll imagine it. And I'll repeat it to myself whenever someone tells me what I can do and what I can't.
Photo via NBC Sports Bay Area.
