A World Series legend returns! Astros manager Dusty Baker’s son is drafted by the Nationals 19 years after he was nearly trampled at home plate as a three-year-old bat boy
The son of Houston Astros manager Dusty Baker has been drafted by the Washington Nationals 19 years after cementing himself in World Series history as a three-year-old bat boy for the San Francisco Giants.
Darren Baker, an All-Pac 12 second baseman at the University of California, was picked in the 10th round of MLB’s draft earlier this week by the Nationals, a club his father managed in 2016 and 2017.
He is best remembered for a moment in Game 3 of the 2002 World Series when he prematurely left the dugout to retrieve the bat of Giants outfielder Kenny Lofton, who had tripled off of Anaheim Angels reliever Ben Weber in the seventh inning.
What the three-year-old Baker didn’t realize was that Giants first baseman JT Snow was barreling down at home plate.
Thankfully for Darren and his father Dusty, who was managing the Giants at the time, the quick-thinking Snow scooped up the unsuspecting bat boy and returned him to the dugout.
‘That play is always the first thing I get asked about,’ Darren told The Athletic in 2019. ‘We could have won an important game, maybe I did something to help the team win, and it’s always the first thing I get asked about.’
San Francisco won the game, 16-4, but Anaheim won the series in seven.
Darren Baker was nearly drafted out of high school, but opted to instead join the Cal Bears, batting .327 over 55 games this season. He started 123 consecutive games for the school.
His father, Dusty, was a two-time All-Star as a player, who went on to manager the Giants, Chicago Cubs, Cincinnati Reds, Nationals, and the Astros, who hired him last year.