Giants Fallout

Joan Walsh

nullnullWinners get to write the history books, and so Dusty Baker's critics wrote the final chapter of his glorious-turned-gloomy decade as San Francisco Giants manager. Not even the hiring of baseball mensch and Giants legend Felipe Alou, nor Baker's sweet deal with the Chicago Cubs, can fully make up for the sad way it went down.

When the tension between Baker and Peter Magowan turned out to be too much for either man, even after the team's World Series run, the end came quickly. It was so long, farewell, and don't let that story about your tax troubles hit you in the ass. Soon came whispers that the legendary players' manager wasn't all that popular with his players; one columnist hailed it as "the great unwritten story." Gee, guys, if it's such a great story, why didn't you write it?

But it was a fitting end to the Baker saga: His front-office antagonists handled his departure the way they'd dealt with their gripes about him for years: by whispering nasty things to reporters off the record. Baker himself said very little off the record. And his candor played a role in the ugly way things unraveled—especially his remarks to Chicago reporters that Magowan didn't want him back. "It seems to me like they're just trying to figure out how not to look bad," he said. Clearly, the thin-skinned manager was wounded, and it clouded his judgment. He gave the boss the perfect excuse to let him go.

I'm sure my previous article about the tension didn't help the men's relationship; at times, I worried I'd used Baker's candor against him. But we always talked about tough issues: race, religion, illness, and failure. And when I remember the painfully honest things he said about class, power, and being for "the people"—and how that strained his relationship with Magowan—well, part of me wishes I'd protected him from himself. But Dusty lived out loud. He wouldn't be silenced, and he left the Giants that way. He'll be fine, and I fear the Giants won't be for a while. But about that last part, I'd be happy to be wrong.