Baker has never won the World Series as a manager and has been criticized as a poor postseason manager. In 1998, the Giants finished the season tied for the Wild Card playoff position, but lost the National League Wild Card tiebreaker game to the Chicago Cubs. The 2002 postseason was the only time in his managerial career with the Giants that he won a postseason series. The 2003 NLDS with the Cubs was only his third series win, and he never got past the Division Series in any of his next five postseason appearances with the Reds or Nationals. From 2003 to 2017, Baker-managed teams lost 10 straight postseason "close-out" games in which they had the opportunity to advance to the next round of the playoffs.