SAN FRANCISCO – It all felt the same.
Dusty Baker still had that familiar hitch in his step, continued to chew on a toothpick. He wore those ever-present batting gloves – on both hands – and sported the classic wristbands over his forearms while popping the collar on his jacket. Thankful fans gave him warm applause.
But something was decidedly different about Baker on his most recent return to AT&T Park. Oh sure, his mellow mien was on display, but there was something that hinted to a much more casual, way more laid-back Johnnie B. Baker Jr.
If you think Joe Torre looks strange in a Los Angeles Dodgers uniform, get a load of Baker donning the colors of the Cincinnati Reds, as he is for this weekend's series between his latest team and the Giants.
It might not be as jarring a sight as Baker in a Chicago Cubs uni so soon after his 10-year tenure as Giants manager ended so sickeningly close to a world championship. But after he took a year off to spend 2007 as an ESPN analyst, the syrupy nostalgia is waning.
"It's a little less emotional because at first I was playing against all my guys … my team that had just gone to the World Series," he said. "Now, there's only a few guys I know over there."
Indeed, the only current Giant to have played for Baker in that crushing seven-game loss to the then-Anaheim Angels in 2002 is Rich Aurilia. Dave Righetti and Ron Wotus are the lone Baker staff holdovers.
The only constant in life is change – even his soul patch is sprinkled with salt and pepper – and Baker is embracing it.
"Bill Walsh told me once, 'You have to continually reinvent yourself,' " Baker said. "I see what he was talking about now."
For two consecutive years, Baker was baseball's postseason Bad Luck Schleprock. Like the "Flintstones" character, Baker was a jinx who, no matter the situation, found himself on the wrong end of history.
The Giants blew that 5-0 seventh-inning lead in Game 6 of the 2002 World Series after he tempted fate and the Angels' Rally Monkey by giving the game ball to starting pitcher Russ Ortiz as he removed him from the game.
In Game 6 of the 2003 National League Championship Series, Baker's Cubs held a 3-0 eighth-inning lead against Florida. Enter some guy named Steve Bartman, a costly error by shortstop Alex Gonzalez and a stunning meltdown by starter Mark Prior.
Baker, criticized for burning out young arms and an over-reliance on veterans, deserved better.
"You learn from it," he said. "You learn from every experience."
No wonder Baker needed a break. The Cubs grew increasingly worse, going from first to third to fourth to sixth.
Of course he got the managerial itch again. But with the Reds, a middling franchise that has not finished higher than third place since 2000 and has not played in the postseason since 1995?
"It's fun," he insisted. "I mean … after tough games I haven't wondered why I've come back."
The Reds, underwhelming the past seven seasons in averaging 73 wins by playing at a .453 clip and scuffling near the bottom of the Central Division at 10-15 after Saturday night's 10-9 win, appreciate Baker's low-key demeanor.
"He likes to keep it loose," said Reds ace Aaron Harang, a former River Cat. "He wants guys to play relaxed. We've been struggling with that, but it's still early."
And Baker, a Del Campo High School graduate, finds solace in being close to home, where his Dusty Baker International Baseball Academy will celebrate its 25th anniversary this summer.
He harkened Sacramento-area contemporaries, guys like Buck Martinez, Larry Bowa, Steve and Dave Sax in a lineage that continues with Nick Johnson, Derrek Lee and Jermaine Dye. And this weekend, Baker glanced across the diamond to spy Steve Holm and John Bowker.
"There's a lot of great programs (in Sacramento)," said Baker. "In American Legion we played at American River College. Then there was Renfree Park. Those parks were better than the A-ball and Double-A parks I played in.
"There's a certain amount of heritage there. … I don't care where you're from – home is home."
Yup, same old Dusty. Just a little different.
Call The Bee's Paul Gutierrez, (916) 326-5556.
