D
USTY BAKER barely touched his spinach salad. The chicken and mashed potatoes sat ignored.
Baker came here to talk, and on that front it was an all-you-can-eat buffet.
The former Giants manager, back in the fold for the team as a special adviser to the front office, was telling tales as soon as he rolled into the parking lot for this fundraiser in support of UC Merced athletics.
Baker riffed on Hank Aaron and historic high-fives and a little bat boy who grew up to become a ballplayer. Baker can tell a ripping good yarn — talk about spin rate — and even managed to conduct a one-way conversation with Rufus, the school mascot, about how mascots aren’t allowed to talk.