![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/Dusty-and-Darren-Baker-Scrubbed-Feb2026-ProudParent.jpg\")
\nAs told to Little League International\u00a0
\nAn Unforgettable Moment in the Big Leagues\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
\nAs told to Little League International\u00a0
\nAn Unforgettable Moment in the Big Leagues\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
In 2022,\u00a0during\u00a0a\u00a0Spring Training\u00a0game\u00a0in Florida,\u00a0I walked\u00a0onto the field\u00a0as the manager of the Houston Astros to meet\u00a0for the plate conference before our game against the Washington Nationals.\u00a0As I got closer\u00a0to home plate, I noticed that\u00a0it\u00a0wasn\u2019t\u00a0Nationals Manager Davey Martinez\u00a0walking out of the opposing\u00a0team\u2019s dugout, but\u00a0instead\u00a0it was\u00a0my son,\u00a0Darren.\u00a0When I reached the plate, I started laughing and asked, \u201cWhat are you\u00a0doing here?\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
After shaking hands with the umpires, Darren said, \u201cHey, you know, Dad, we\u2019re going to beat you today,\u201d and I responded with a grin and said, \u201cYeah, okay.\u201d Once we exchanged lineup cards and got the usual pregame spiel from the umpires, Darren gave me a big hug, and I remember the umpire standing there, watching us embrace the moment before jokingly telling us that it was enough hugging. \u00a0<\/p>\n
I thought that the plate conference would be the most memorable part of the game. That was until\u00a0Darren hit a grand slam to beat us.\u00a0As Darren made his way around the bases,\u00a0I remember everyone on my team\u00a0watching\u00a0me, specifically my pitcher,\u00a0to see if I would be\u00a0upset about the\u00a0loss or\u00a0jumping up and down with joy\u00a0for\u00a0Darren.\u00a0Internally, I was going nuts.\u00a0My kid just hit a grand slam.\u00a0But\u00a0I\u00a0chose not to watch him as he\u00a0ran\u00a0home.\u00a0I was as stoic as possible, a literal statue.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
From Darren\u2019s Perspective<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n
![\"red](\"https:\/\/res.cloudinary.com\/little-league\/image\/upload\/c_limit,dpr_auto,q_auto,c_fill,g_face\/v1604087311\/red-lines-spacer-5f9c6e0f7865e.svg\")
\nBack to the Early Days\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
As Darren was growing up, I\u00a0must\u00a0admit that his mom was\u00a0the\u00a0real superhero during his Little League\u00ae\u00a0days. She was the one who was always there\u00a0for him\u00a0while\u00a0I was either managing, coaching, or just\u00a0traveling\u00a0with the team.\u00a0Without Little League\u00a0\u2013 and without her\u00a0\u2013\u00a0Darren\u00a0wouldn\u2019t\u00a0be who he is today.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
Little League taught Darren compassion, sportsmanship, how to be on time, and most importantly,\u00a0how to deal with\u00a0the\u00a0pressure that he had to\u00a0face\u00a0as\u00a0my son.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
When\u00a0I did get to attend his games, I never took\u00a0it\u00a0for granted. It meant a lot to\u00a0me.\u00a0I would try to hide behind a tree or be deep in the stands where nobody could see me.\u00a0I\u00a0always\u00a0wanted\u00a0his games and moments to be about him.\u00a0But Darren always knew when I was\u00a0there. It was like he could feel my presence.\u00a0To\u00a0be honest, it was more\u00a0nerve-wracking\u00a0watching him play\u00a0than it was playing my own games, because you always want the best for your children.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
From Darren\u2019s Perspective<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n
\nLessons Learned Along the Way\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
Over the years,\u00a0Darren\u00a0taught\u00a0me some lessons,\u00a0too.\u00a0Darren has great instincts.\u00a0He always knows when to turn away from a situation or person that does not fit into his life.\u00a0He\u00a0taught me to always listen,\u00a0no matter what. I used\u00a0that same lesson\u00a0in my professional career. Whether\u00a0you\u2019re\u00a0managing a clubhouse or raising a kid, listening can go a long way.\u00a0I think parents\u00a0nowadays\u00a0can\u00a0be\u00a0a little hard on their kids.\u00a0Sometimes\u00a0the best thing we can do is\u00a0take a step back, listen,\u00a0and let them find their own way as much as they can.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
That\u2019s\u00a0what I tried to do when Darren was going through the recruiting\u00a0process.\u00a0As a dad, one of my proudest moments was when he decided he was going to play ball at UC\u00a0Berkley.\u00a0I never played in college, so\u00a0seeing him earn that opportunity, to get a top-tier\u00a0education\u00a0and\u00a0play baseball at\u00a0a high level, brought me so much joy.<\/p>\n
Despite what some may\u00a0assume,\u00a0I never pressured him to play\u00a0baseball. I\u00a0wasn\u2019t\u00a0too hard on him about it either.\u00a0Baseball is a game of\u00a0failure. It\u00a0is the toughest pill to swallow when\u00a0you\u2019re\u00a0a player, but I knew that at any level Darren\u00a0played\u00a0at,\u00a0he was going to fail more than he succeeded.\u00a0That failure\u00a0allowed him to develop his love for the game and a passion to keep going,\u00a0just like he is now.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Little League is where\u00a0it all started for\u00a0Darren and me. It\u2019s\u00a0where you first learn that lesson on how to deal with failure.\u00a0From fathers and sons to the new friends you make on a team, Little League\u00a0is a program that brings people together.\u00a0Back when Darren was playing, he loved\u00a0going to\u00a0the\u00a0snack bar and\u00a0participating\u00a0in\u00a0activities that would come after the game, which would include a post-win trip to the local\u00a0restaurant for\u00a0burgers and root beers.\u00a0I think\u00a0moments off the field like\u00a0that gave him and his team some extra motivation to win\u00a0and brought them closer together.\u00a0<\/p>\n
From Darren\u2019s Perspective<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n
Those moments are what you remember as a parent. You\u00a0don\u2019t\u00a0remember the wins and losses. You remember what made your child happiest.<\/p>\n
Today, every game I\u00a0get to\u00a0watch Darren play, I\u00a0don\u2019t see this grown-up\u00a0playing\u00a0professional baseball; I see a kid stepping into the batter\u2019s box, chasing a dream with the same smile he had when it all started. And in those moments,\u00a0I realize how lucky\u00a0I\u2019ve\u00a0been to watch his journey unfold.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
The story above is shared as part of Little League\u2019s #LLProudParent content series, sharing first-person reflections on their experiences with their child in the Little League program. Have a story you\u2019d like to share? Feel free to share it, along with any photos that help tell the story, to\u00a0[email\u00a0protected].<\/a>\u00a0<\/p>\n More Little League Proud Parents:<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"As told to Little League International\u00a0 An Unforgettable Moment in the Big Leagues\u00a0\u00a0 In 2022,\u00a0during\u00a0a\u00a0Spring Training\u00a0game\u00a0in Florida,\u00a0I walked\u00a0onto…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":485321,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[558],"tags":[64,63,591,85],"class_list":["post-485320","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-mlb","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-mlb","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/485320","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=485320"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/485320\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/485321"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=485320"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=485320"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=485320"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}