Baseball Legend ‘Played it Cool’ When Washington Nationals Called Up Son

The Washington Nationals called up Darren Baker on Sunday, the son of their former manager and baseball legend Dusty Baker.

Jul 16, 2022; Los Angeles, CA, USA; National League Futures infielder Darren Baker (4) reacts after American League Futures relief pitcher Yosver Zulueta (not pictured) makes a diving catch on batted ball by Baker for out in the sixth inning of the All Star-Futures Game at Dodger Stadium. / Jayne Kamin-Oncea-USA TODAY Sports

When a baseball player is called up to the Major Leagues for the first time, as the Washington Nationals did on Sunday with Darren Baker, the first question is always how it happened? How did the player find out?

When your father is a former Nationals manager and a future Hall-of-Famer, the story takes on a whole new meaning.

Darren’s father is Dusty Baker, who at one time managed Washington and whose career in baseball has spanned decades. He is the baseball lifer who can truly say he’s seen everything.

Who else can say he was Hank Aaron’s teammate and was there the night he broke Babe Ruth’s all-time home run record and won his first World Series as a manager nearly 50 years later?

Well, this being the Baker family, Darren’s story has its own unique spin.

Dusty and his wife, Melissa, were in Washington on Sunday for their son’s first day in uniform. But, before that, as he told media including MASN Sports, the two were in Scranton, Penn., to see Darren play for the Nats’ Triple-A Rochester Red Wings.

After the game, the pair flew back to San Francisco. In retirement, Dusty Baker has taken on a special assistant job with one of his former teams, the Giants. Not long after he settled in, the phone rang.

It wasn’t Darren. It was Dusty Baker’s former boss, Washington Nationals president of baseball operations Mike Rizzo. It’s not unusual for the pair to chat from time to time. They’re remained close since Baker and the Nationals parted ways.

Instead, Rizzo was giving him a heads-up — Washington was calling Darren up on Sunday when rosters expanded to 28 players. The 25-year-old, who was once picked up by J.T. Snow at home plate in Game 5 of the 2002 World Series in an effort to keep him out of harm’s way, was heading for the big leagues.

Rizzo wanted to make sure Dusty and Melissa could get things arranged so they could come back east. But the father didn’t want to spoil the big moment for his son, so when Darren called later to tell dad the news, Dusty said he “played it cool” and didn’t let on that he already knew.

Getting to the Majors and following in his father’s footsteps as a player has always been Darren’s goal, Dusty said on Sunday.

“What I was thinking was: How many of these young men, or people in life, reach their lifetime goal at 25 years?” Dusty Baker said. “You’ve got to feel very fortunate, very thankful. And now you’ve got to set new goals.”

The goal for Darren now is the same as it was for Dusty back in 1968 — stick in the Majors for good.