COOPERSTOWN, N.Y. — The clock moves forward, and now all eyes are on Dusty Baker for the National Baseball Hall of Fame, Class of 2027.
The former Cubs manager (2003-06), who might be best known for his 10 years leading the Giants or for finally winning his only World Series in 2022 as the skipper of the Astros, should be a slam-dunk choice.
‘‘Dusty was the best leader there was,’’ former Giants second baseman Jeff Kent said during his induction speech Sunday about Baker on the stage behind the Clark Sports Center. ‘‘He was the right man at the right time for me.’’
Baker is up for nomination and election, along with fellow former manager Bruce Bochy and former catcher Buster Posey. All are back with the Giants now. Baker and Bochy are advisers, and Posey is the president of baseball operations and a minority owner.
Baker and Bochy, who won three of his four championships with the Giants (2010, 2012, 2014), are expected to be on the eight-person ballot decided by the Contemporary Era Non-Players Committee. And Posey will be a first-timer on the Baseball Writers’ Association of America ballot.
The elections are at the end of this year. So, given the layout, the induction July 25 next year should have a distinctly Giants flavor.
‘‘I haven’t really thought about it yet,’’ Baker told the Sun-Times outside the Hall of Fame and Museum on Saturday. ‘‘I hope I’m still alive next year, then we’ll see. You know what I mean? I’m just telling you. The older you get, man, the less you start living in the future. You just live in the present.’’
Baker, 77 now, looks relaxed and like the picture of good health after having survived prostate cancer in 2002, when he was with the Giants, and a series of mini-strokes in 2012, when he managed the Reds. His last of 26 years managing was in 2023 with the Astros.
‘‘Yeah, I’m taking care of myself,’’ he said. ‘‘Watching what I eat, getting some exercise. Trying to do the right things.’’
Baker was diagnosed with and treated for prostate cancer just before the 2002 season, when the Giants, led by Kent and Barry Bonds, won 95 games and fell a game short of winning the World Series against the Angels. They led the series 3-2 before losing the last two games in Anaheim, blowing a late lead in Game 6 in stunning fashion.
It was then that Baker left the Giants and went to the Cubs. It was widely reported at the time that Baker and late Giants managing general partner Peter Magowan had a falling out over money. Magowan wanted Baker back but at the same salary. Baker felt insulted because he had just taken the Giants to the World Series after surviving prostate cancer.
‘‘I’d rather eat rice and beans,’’ Baker said back then.
But Baker altered that storyline Saturday.
‘‘No, I left because it was time to go. Bill Walsh told me you can overstay your welcome sometimes,’’ Baker said, referring to the late 49ers Super Bowl-winning coach. ‘‘No, no, no, it wasn’t even about [the money]. I left the Giants because I had to make a decision.’’
But did they want him back?
‘‘I don’t know,’’ he said. ‘‘It never got that far.’’
He moved to the Cubs, where he almost led them to the promised land in the 2003 playoffs. The Cubs fell a game short of reaching the World Series for the first time since 1945, undone by the Bartman ball, shortstop Alex Gonzalez booting a potential double-play grounder and Baker leaving Mark Prior in too long in Game 6 of the National League Championship Series against the Marlins.
Baker lasted four seasons with the Cubs.
‘‘My first two years were great,’’ Baker said. ‘‘But my last two years were kind of torturous, you know what I mean?’’
The irony is that if Baker is elected to the Hall of Fame, he will be the first manager with any Cubs ties to be so honored since Leo Durocher in 1994. That’s what happens when a team has won only one World Series in 118 years. That was in 2016, 10 years after the Cubs declined to renew Baker’s contract. And Joe Maddon isn’t getting in anytime soon.
‘‘The only reason I went [to the Cubs] was that I thought our odds of winning were good,’’ Baker said. ‘‘We made some moves that I thought shot us over the top. But you live and die with the good and bad stuff that happens in your life.’’
Hopefully for Baker this year, he only will have to deal with the good.