Dusty Baker's son Darren cherished dad being in the stands

STANFORD, Calif. (AP) — Darren Baker doesn't see anyone better to lead the Houston Astros back to respectability than his dad.

A college second baseman at the University of California, he insists that comes from a baseball player's perspective and not just as a proud son.

Dusty Baker was formally introduced as Houston's new manager Thursday, the same day Darren represented Cal at Bay Area baseball media day. The Astros are trying to move forward from a sign-stealing scandal that led to Major League Baseball's suspensions and then Houston's firings of general manager Jeff Luhnow and manager AJ Hinch.

“I think it's a perfect fit. Who else to steer a ship or right a ship than my dad?" Darren said. "I don't just say that because it's my dad, I genuinely believe it. Too much integrity — he's the greatest man I've ever met, on and off the field. I think it's a match made in heaven, I think it's fate. Seeing him in an Astros jersey, it's going to be a crazy experience.”

They talk several times a day and text regularly, too. Now, Baker will be back in the dugout and unable to watch Darren's games live — the way it was for so many years as the left-handed hitting Darren grew up and evolved into a prospect.

That's what made all of their time together the past two seasons so special. Baker served as a special adviser to Giants CEO Larry Baer and had the flexibility to be a regular in the stands at Evans Diamond in Berkeley. There he was snacking on raw peanuts, or sharing Pupusas brought specially for him.

He and Darren traded glances, waves and smiles from field to bleachers.

"It's unbelievable. It's really the first time, the first two years he's ever had a chance to see me play," Darren said in an interview at media day on Stanford's campus. “I know it was...

source https://www.chron.com/sports/college/article/Dusty-Baker-s-son-Darren-cherished-dad-being-in-15019007.php