New skipper Dusty Baker brings impressive pedigree to Nationals

Bud Black is out. Dusty Baker, who was in the on-deck circle for the Braves the night Henry Aaron his 715th home run in April 1974, is in as the Nationals' new manager. It was a bizarre twist given that Black, the former Padres manager, reportedly was going to be the one that replaced Matt Williams. But on Tuesday morning, the Nationals made it official that Baker is their manager. Here's the question: Would Baker been available to the Nationals if the Reds had beaten the Giants in the 2012 Division Series? Or gone deeper into the postseason in 2013? Baker took over a rebuilding Reds team in 2008 and led them to three 90-win seasons and three playoff appearances in four seasons, the Reds' best run since manager Sparky Anderson led the Big Red Machine, with Joe Morgan, Johnny Bench and Pete Rose, to two World Series titles in the 1970s. But one bad week at the end of 2013 sealed Baker's fate in Cincinnati, especially after the Reds lost in the National League Division Series in 2012 to San Francisco. In 2012, the Reds lost the best-of-five NLDS to the Giants, who went on to win the World Series. The Reds won the first two games in San Francisco, but couldn't close out the series when it returned to Cincinnati. The Giants beat the Reds in three consecutive games. In 2013, the Reds finished poorly. They lost six consecutive games at the end of the season, including a 6-2 loss to lefty Francisco Liriano and the Pirates in the wild card game at Pittsburgh. In his final days in Cincinnati, Baker was getting booed by the home crowd, and after the firing, he said he thought it was time to move on. In three of their last four seasons under Baker, the Reds won 91, 97 and 90 games, making the former All-Star outfielder one of six managers to win at least 300 games with three different teams. He also took the Giants and Cubs to the postseason without making the World Series. He's third on the Reds' list of wins for managers with 509, behind Sparky Anderson (863) and Bill McKechnie (744). The closest Baker came to winning a World Series ring as a manager was in 2002 when he managed the Giants to the National League pennant and lost in seven games to the Angels in the World Series. He's 19-for-26 in the postseason for his career. Baker is the only African American manager in the game. The Dodgers are the only team without a manager. Before Baker's hiring in D.C., Major League Baseball was on the verge of not having an black manager for the first time since 1987. Baker grew in Los Angeles going to Dodgers games and one of his favorite players was Aaron. The Braves drafted Baker in 1967 and he started his career with the Braves, with Aaron showing him the way. As a rookie, Baker batted fifth behind Aaron in the Braves lineup. "That was hard to believe for me, giving I grew up watching him play," Baker told me in a 2014 interview with SI.com, celebrating the 40th anniversary of Aaron's history-making home run. Aaron hit the big home run in the fourth inning against the Dodgers' Al Downing. In his previous at-bat, he walked and scored on Baker's RBI double. Baker remembers Aaron telling him before the game that he was going to hit the home run so he didn't have to be the focus in the media. "When Hank said something, you listened, and so I assumed it was going to hit the home run," Baker said. "Henry Aaron is like a father to me. He not only told me how to be a big league player, he showed me how to a big league player. He has his stature, but he was always good to the young players. He took care of us, answered questions and just was a great guy. I owe Henry Aaron a lot in my career.''