Minus his old signature toothpick, Cincinnati's Dusty Baker leaned against the batting cage intently watching his players just as he did for a decade managing the Giants.
Baker is back in the Bay Area for the playoffs, 10 years after he came so close to winning a World Series with San Francisco.
"Well, I really don't have much choice," Baker said when asked if it's a strange coincidence. "I feel comfortable here. I think my team likes coming here. This is a good town."
Sometimes Baker still feels the sting of that World Series near-miss, even now, two managerial stops removed from his first gig as a skipper in the place he has long called home.
Today, he figures to be cheered by 40,000-plus fans at AT&T Park who still love him - "some of 'em," he quipped - when the NL Central champion Reds open their best-of-five division series against the Giants, who, like Cincinnati, clinched early and had plenty of time to get everything situated and lined up for the post-season.
"I'll be honest, I like this clinching early thing," said Giants manager Bruce Bochy, whose 2010 World Series championship team clinched in Game 162.
These days, the 63-year old Baker is conserving energy after a recent 11-game absence forced by a mini-stroke and irregular heartbeat. He just rejoined the Reds on Monday in St. Louis.
He's ready to go now - with no plans to change a thing about the way he operates during a game on the playoff stage.
"I'm feeling like a grateful man," Baker said.
Cincinnati's 19-game winner Johnny Cueto takes the ball in Game 1 tonight.
Matt Cain (16-5) pitches the opener for the Giants with plenty of post-season cred to fall back on: The three-time all-star didn't surrender an earned run during his team's improbable title run two years ago. He went 2-0 in three starts.
