Legendary manager Dusty Baker returns to baseball, lands new role with Giants: 'I'm happy to be back home'
Baker retired last year after 26 years as an MLB manager
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Dusty Baker's Major League Baseball managerial career began in 1993 in San Francisco. He also played for the Giants in the mid-'80s.
Baker went on to manage big league teams for 26 years, before he stepped away from the dugout in October after his Houston Astros dropped Game 7 of the American League Championship Series to the eventual World Series champion Texas Rangers.
Baker is now set to return to the Bay Area for his third stint with the Giants organization. The 74-year-old will serve as a special adviser to baseball operations and work on both the baseball and business sides, the team announced.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Baker said being back in San Francisco felt like a homecoming.
"I’ve enjoyed my stops at various places, but I’m happy to be back home," the former World Series-winning player and manager said in a statement. "I look forward to providing guidance to the organization and helping the Giants get back to the top in a very tough division."
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{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}San Francisco Giants manager Dusty Baker argues with an umpire during a game at Candlestick Park in San Francisco, circa 1995. (Focus on Sport/Getty Images)
Baker spent the last four seasons as the Astros' manager, leading the club to a World Series title in 2022.
He managed the Giants from 1993-2002 before coming back to work as an adviser to CEO Larry Baer during a break from managing in 2018 and 2019.
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{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}"We are so excited to welcome Dusty back into the Giants organization," Baer said. "Dusty’s experience, knowledge and the success he’s had in his 50 years of baseball will be an invaluable piece to the success and continued development of our baseball operations efforts both on and off the field."
Houston Astros manager Dusty Baker looks on during the national anthem prior to Game 6 of the ALCS against the Texas Rangers at Minute Maid Park in Houston on Oct. 22, 2023. (Daniel Shirey/MLB Photos via Getty Images)
Baker is still beloved in the Bay Area, and this very well could be his final stop in what almost certainly will be a Hall of Fame career.
"I was fortunate enough to get to know Dusty when we overlapped in the organization in 2019, and I’m excited to get to work with him again," Giants President of Baseball Operations Farhan Zaidi said. "We’ve had a chance to meet in person and discuss our shared vision of bringing championship baseball back to San Francisco. I learn something new in every interaction with him and look forward to leaning on his experience and perspective on the game."
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Baker was a three-time NL Manager of the Year and owns a 2,183-1,862 career record on the bench with the Giants, the Chicago Cubs, the Cincinnati Reds, the Washington Nationals and the Astros.
Dusty Baker of the Houston Astros signs autographs for fans prior to the game against the St. Louis Cardinals at Roger Dean Stadium in Jupiter, Florida, on March 6, 2023. (Megan Briggs/Getty Images)
He left the Giants on difficult terms following their World Series loss to the then Anaheim Angels in 2002 and subsequently took over as skipper of the Cubs.
Still, this latest job is a natural fit. Baker repaired his relationships in San Francisco over time — the Giants offered him flexibility to watch his son Darren’s college games at the University of California, Berkeley — and still owns a home in Granite Bay outside Sacramento, where he loves to garden and grow grapes for his own wine.
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"I’m thrilled to be on the same team as Dusty again," new Giants manager Bob Melvin said. "He’s been a great friend and mentor to me over the years. More than anything, I don’t have to manage against him anymore. Welcome home Bake."
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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