Jul 11, 2026 · 39 min · 14 segments
Two-time World Series champ (one as player and one as manager) and three-time Manager of the Year Dusty Baker tells all about handling stars, "inventing" the high five, the infamous incident with his…
Dusty BakerGuest
Matt VasgersianHost
Well, number one, people have been asking me for years to, "Dusty, when are you gonna write a book?" And I was like, "No, if I'm gonna write one, I can't write one until I get out of the game." Because, you know, you can kind of get yourself black, black balled out of the game, especially if you tell, you know, too many truths.
And, uh, you know, I told some truths and, and, and I didn't tell any lies, but I, I, I didn't tell things that I thought would incriminate, uh, uh, other people or myself.
You know, I always thought that people should, you know, know, uh, something in order to straighten their own lives out.
I'm, I'm 77 years old next week, and I don't wanna be some bitter old man at 90 that they're saying, "Hey, man, he's just bitter.
That's why he's writing what he's writing." And so, like, I wanted to write it, you know, before I got too old.
Uh, you know, I had, I didn't have the memories, 'cause I have a excellent memory, but you know, dementia does run in my family, and I was, I'm always aware-
And, uh, also, I wanted my kids, my grandkids to know something about, you know, their father and then grandfather.
'Cause my son, he's reading the book and he's telling me, "Dad," there are a lot of things that, you know, he thought he knew that, that, you know, he doesn't know.
And I r- yeah, and I remember, uh, you know, my brother who passed, you know, his grandchildren are asking me, "Tell me something about my grandpa." Uh, you know, 'cause what, you know, they don't know a lot of things.
Because our parents, I don't know about your parents, my dad didn't really share, you know, his past, uh, you know, a whole lot with us.
We had to learn from, you know, his brothers and sisters or we had to learn from some of his homeboys exactly how my dad was and how, you know, how he ended up being the way he was.
Well, I give you a lot of credit, because a lot of people wait to do the book until everybody in their lives has died.
So I wanna ask you, like, were there episodes, uh, or people that you wrote about that you felt like you had to check in with first so as not to run afoul of them? "Hey, is this okay?" In other words.
Well, number one, people have been asking me for years to, "Dusty, when are you gonna write a book?" And I was like, "No, if I'm gonna write one, I can't write one until I get out of the game." Because, you know, you can kind of get yourself black, black balled out of the game, especially if you tell, you know, too many truths.
And, uh, you know, I told some truths and, and, and I didn't tell any lies, but I, I, I didn't tell things that I thought would incriminate, uh, uh, other people or myself.
You know, I always thought that people should, you know, know, uh, something in order to straighten their own lives out.
I'm, I'm 77 years old next week, and I don't wanna be some bitter old man at 90 that they're saying, "Hey, man, he's just bitter.
That's why he's writing what he's writing." And so, like, I wanted to write it, you know, before I got too old.
Uh, you know, I had, I didn't have the memories, 'cause I have a excellent memory, but you know, dementia does run in my family, and I was, I'm always aware-
And, uh, also, I wanted my kids, my grandkids to know something about, you know, their father and then grandfather.
'Cause my son, he's reading the book and he's telling me, "Dad," there are a lot of things that, you know, he thought he knew that, that, you know, he doesn't know.
And I r- yeah, and I remember, uh, you know, my brother who passed, you know, his grandchildren are asking me, "Tell me something about my grandpa." Uh, you know, 'cause what, you know, they don't know a lot of things.
Because our parents, I don't know about your parents, my dad didn't really share, you know, his past, uh, you know, a whole lot with us.
We had to learn from, you know, his brothers and sisters or we had to learn from some of his homeboys exactly how my dad was and how, you know, how he ended up being the way he was.
Well, I give you a lot of credit, because a lot of people wait to do the book until everybody in their lives has died.
So I wanna ask you, like, were there episodes, uh, or people that you wrote about that you felt like you had to check in with first so as not to run afoul of them? "Hey, is this okay?" In other words.
The rest of this transcript — segmented and speaker-labeled, so you land on the exact moment something was said
Search every transcript — by keyword, by phrase, or by meaning, across every show Radar indexes
Trends — what is surging across podcasts, measured against its own baseline
Alerts — when a name you follow appears in a newly indexed episode
No account is needed to search Radar.