The MLB All-Star festivities are going to be a special time for the Baker family.
Dusty Baker, the Houston Astros manager, will be managing the American League All-Stars after guiding the Astros to the World Series last year while his son, Darren, will represent the Washington Nationals in the Futures Game at Dodger Stadium.
Darren, 23, was drafted by the Nationals — where his father also managed for two seasons — in the 10th round last summer and currently plays in High-A Wilmington in the South Atlantic League.
Darren is hitting .264/.328/.347 with 36 runs scored, 13 doubles, 20 RBI and 10 stolen bases this season, although he is not ranked as a top prospect for the organization.
Many baseball fans may remember Darren from the 2002 World Series when Dusty was managing the San Francisco Giants. Darren was three years old and went to retrieve a bat as Giants players were running down the line to score. J.T. Snow infamously scooped Darren up and pulled him away from the action to prevent any potential collision at the plate.
Darren, in an interview with The Athletic in 2019, says that is all he is asked about to this day.
“We could have won an important game, maybe I did something to help the team win, and it’s always the first thing I get asked about,” he said.
The Giants will be represented at the Futures Game by No. 2 prospect Kyle Harrison, a southpaw currently in Double-A. Infielder David Villar was also invited to the Futures Game but recently was called up to San Francisco, and would be replaced All-Star weekend if he's still on the big-league roster.
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