On the night Dusty Baker became the 12th member -- and first Black manager -- of the prestigious 2,000-win club, the celebration became a family affair about 1,500 miles away at Frawley Stadium in Wilmington, Del.
Darren Baker, Dusty’s son, cracked a walk-off sacrifice fly to seal a 3-2 win for High-A Wilmington. Taking his fifth trip to the plate in the bottom of the 10th inning, Baker hit a 1-2 offering into deep center field to bring home the winning run.
Baker went 1-for-4 as the Blue Rocks’ leadoff hitter, reaching on an infield single on the first pitch of the game. On the year, the 23-year-old is batting .296 with a .761 OPS, seven extra-base hits and 10 RBIs in 20 games.
Baker is featured in the famed clip from Game 5 of the 2002 World Series, when J.T. Snow scooped the then three-year-old batboy out of the baseline as David Bell crossed the plate on Kenny Lofton’s triple for Dusty’s San Francisco Giants.
The Bakers shared a sweet moment in Spring Training this year, when Dusty’s Astros faced off with Darren’s Nationals. Darren presented the Nationals’ lineup card and got a hug from his father at home plate.
Dusty has long been considered a baseball legend and cemented his status among the game’s elite managers with Houston’s 4-0 win over Seattle on Tuesday night. Baker managed the Giants from 1993 to 2002 (840 wins), the Cubs from 2003 to 2006 (322 wins), the Reds from 2008 to 2013 (509 wins), the Nationals from 2016 to 2017 (192 wins), and has served as the Astros manager since the 2020 season (137 wins). He’s reached the World Series twice: In 2002 with the Giants and last season with the Astros.