\u201cI mean, it\u2019s a lot easier when you know everybody in the public that\u2019s out there almost,\u201d said Baker, who is the eighth-winningest manager in baseball history and has a good chance of being elected to the Hall of Fame this fall.<\/p>\n
\u201cI knew half the folks and half the other folks knew somebody that I knew or knew my mom or my dad or something. And so you don\u2019t have to try to be something that you\u2019re not.\u201d<\/p>\n
A birthday cake for Baker<\/p>\n
Baker took the stage to a standing ovation around 6 p.m. For about 20 minutes before, Johnson worked the crowd, asking how many had known Baker before 1976. One man who raised his hand recounted a basketball game Baker had played in for Del Campo High School against Hiram Johnson.<\/p>\n
![\"Former](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/SAC_1380_PK_20260615_BAKER.JPG\" "\\"SAC_1380_PK_20260615_BAKER.JPG\\"")
Former Sacramento Mayor Kevin Johnson, left, speaks with Dusty Baker about Baker\u2019s memoir “Crossroads” during an event at The Guild Theater in Sacramento on Monday. PAUL KITAGAKI JR. pkitagaki@sacbee.com <\/p>\n
Once the event got underway, Johnson praised Baker\u2019s memoir, calling it an \u201cunbelievable read.\u201d Johnson told Baker that he\u2019d followed him since childhood and that his mother<\/a> had taken him to see a San Francisco Giants and Atlanta Braves game featuring Baker.<\/p>\n \u201cWe got there super-early for batting practice and I\u2019m watching No. 12 out there. I was watching how you walked. I\u2019ll watch how you pick up a ball,\u201d said Johnson, who starred for the NBA\u2019s Phoenix Suns prior to running for political office but emphasized Monday that baseball had been his first love.<\/p>\n There were serious moments and there was levity, sometimes almost simultaneously.<\/p>\n In response to a fan\u2019s question about his Los Angeles Dodgers teammate Glenn Burke, Baker drew applause by saying that even after he learned Burke was gay \u201che was still my brother.\u201d Burke, who was out to teammates but not the public during his career, died of AIDS-related complications in 1995.<\/p>\n Baker denied an oft-told story that he and Burke had invented the high-five, telling the crowd that he\u2019d merely thrown his hand up when Burke had done the same. Baker noted that he and Steve Garvey were advertised doing a high-five the next year \u201clooking square.\u201d This spurred Baker and Johnson to perform an exaggerated and awkward high-five for the audience, drawing laughter.<\/p>\n Monday\u2019s event fell on Baker\u2019s 77th birthday. Johnson brought out a red velvet cake with lit candles and the crowd sang \u201cHappy Birthday\u201d to Baker.<\/p>\n Johnson, whose second term as mayor concluded in 2016 under a cloud after a city staffer alleged sexual harassment, declined to be interviewed after Monday\u2019s event. A charismatic leader and the city\u2019s first Black mayor, Johnson is credited with key roles in shepherding the city through the Great Recession, preventing the Sacramento Kings from moving and fashioning the financial deal to build Golden 1 Center.<\/p>\n Baker said during the event that his mom and Johnson\u2019s mom had been close.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m really proud of Kevin,\u201d Baker said. \u201cI\u2019m proud of what he means and what he\u2019s meant to Sacramento. He\u2019s the same Kevin I always knew. I\u2019m proud of being from here.\u201d<\/p>\n The theater was full of former athletes, local politicians or family members.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s such an honor to be able to see your brother and the fans and people from this area come out and honor him and to listen to his stories,\u201d said Millard Baker, 54, who shares a father with his half brother and lives in Citrus Heights. \u201cI grew up watching him and trying to emulate what he does, so it means the world to me.\u201d<\/p>\n Former ballplayers in attendance included Michael Benjamin Sr., who played for Sacramento State in 1971 and whose son Michael Benjamin Jr. is now on the Sacramento City Unified school board. There was also former Negro Leaguer Don Porter, 85, of the New York Black Yankees<\/a>.<\/p>\n Also on-hand was Sacramento resident Jerry Royster, who has known Baker since childhood and played against him in the majors. Royster was playing for the visiting Los Angeles Dodgers the night Baker\u2019s teammate on the Atlanta Braves, Hank Aaron broke Babe Ruth\u2019s home run record in 1974.<\/p>\n \u201cHe\u2019s a great storyteller,\u201d Royster said of Baker. \u201cHe was even better today.\u201d<\/p>\n Current Sacramento City Council members Phil Pluckebaum and Rick Jennings were in the crowd. Pluckebaum said that it had been \u201creally heartwarming\u201d hearing Baker\u2019s stories. Jennings noted that he\u2019d known Baker since the late 1980s.<\/p>\n \u201cNo matter where he was born, no matter where he has lived, no matter how many teams he has coached, he will always be a hometown hero to all of us here in the city of Sacramento,\u201d Jennings said.<\/p>\n This story was originally published June 16, 2026 at 6:00 AM.<\/p>\n Follow More of Our Reporting on Inside Look<\/p>\n![\"Former](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/SAC_1786_PK_20260615_BAKER.JPG\" "\\"SAC_1786_PK_20260615_BAKER.JPG\\"")
Former Sacramento Mayor Kevin Johnson speaks with Dusty Baker about Baker\u2019s memoir “Crossroads” during an event at The Guild Theater in Sacramento on Monday. PAUL KITAGAKI JR. pkitagaki@sacbee.com Reactions to the event<\/p>\n
![\"Profile](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/SAC_4089_GrahamWomack_HA_250908.jpg\")