page_title: Dusty Baker
section_title: San Francisco Giants
hierarchical_section_title: Dusty Baker / Managerial career / San Francisco Giants
caption_attribution_description: While working for ESPN, I went to Candlestick Park early with my camera and took this series of photos. This photo was taken before the Giants hosted the Phillies on May 14, 1991. Dusty Baker, whom I've known since we were teenagers and teammates with the Dodgers, was kind enough to pose for this shot. Dusty became the Giants manager in 1993.
context_page_description: Dusty Baker Jr. is an American Major League Baseball manager who currently manages the Houston Astros. A former major league player, he had a 19-year career as a hard-hitting outfielder, primarily with the Atlanta Braves and Los Angeles Dodgers. He helped the Dodgers to pennants in 1977 and 1978 and to the World Series championship in 1981. He managed the San Francisco Giants, Chicago Cubs, Cincinnati Reds, and Washington Nationals. He led the Giants to the 2002 National League pennant and also reached the playoffs with the latter three teams. In 2020, he was hired to manage the Houston Astros.
context_section_description: Baker's coaching career started as a first base coach for the San Francisco Giants in 1988, and then he spent the following four years (1989–1992) as the hitting coach, and finally became the manager in 1993, replacing the departing Roger Craig. In his first year as Giants manager, he won the NL Manager of the Year award, leading the team to a 103–59 record, which was the second-best record in baseball that year (behind the 104–58 Atlanta Braves), and 31 games better than their 72–90 finish the previous year. His Giants went on to win division titles in 1997 and again in 2000; Baker would win Manager of the Year honors in both of those years as well. It was during his San Francisco tenure that the term "Dustiny" was coined by former Giants pitcher Rod Beck.
  In 2002, his Giants gained the wild-card berth and from there advanced to the World Series, where they lost in seven games to the Anaheim Angels, who were managed by his former Dodger teammate, Mike Scioscia. Baker is infamously known for removing Russ Ortiz during Game 6 of the 2002 World Series despite Ortiz allowing only four hits. Many Giants fans credit Baker for causing the loss as the Angels came back and won that game 6–5. Despite Baker's success in San Francisco, he had an increasingly strained relationship with owner Peter Magowan, one that even the Giants' first pennant in 13 years could not mend. The Giants did not renew his contract after the season, letting him leave to manage the Chicago Cubs and hiring Felipe Alou to replace him. Baker finished his tenure with a record of 840 wins and 715 losses in the regular season and 11 wins and 13 losses in the post-season.
  To date, Baker is one of only four African Americans to manage a World Series team. Cito Gaston (the only African American manager to win a World Series) was the first, managing the Toronto Blue Jays to the championship in 1992 and 1993. Baker was the second, and Ron Washington and Dave Roberts have since joined Gaston and Baker by managing the Texas Rangers and Los Angeles Dodgers, respectively, to the World Series. Baker also has the second most wins as manager in the San Francisco portion of Giants history; only Bruce Bochy has won more games since their move from New York.
caption: Baker in 1991
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