[12] Upon joining the Toronto Star in June 1998, Baker became aware that manager Tim Johnson had talked to players about serving in the U.S. Marine Corps and fighting overseas during the Vietnam War.
The most damaging quotes came from former Cy Young Award winner Pat Hentgen, who described Johnson telling him about his Vietnam hardships while on the field at Fenway Park before a series with the Red Sox.
The Blue Jays allowed Johnson to stay on as manager (he had won 88 games his only season in 1998) but fired him in spring training when it became clear players no longer respected him.
[15] Moneyball author Michael Lewis wrote about the series as part of a Sports Illustrated feature[16] that was later re-published as an afterword in the paperback version of his best-selling book.
This time, without the racially charged front-page treatment of the 2003 "White Jays" stories, the work by Baker was well-received, despite containing much the same subject matter.
The Baker feature described Delgado's work with activists on the Puerto Rican island of Vieques and the fact that it had been the testing ground for uranium depleted shells dropped by the U.S. military on Iraq.
Upon joining the Mets in 2006, Delgado addressed the situation and agreed to stand on the field with teammates when "God Bless America" was played, saying he had made his point and did not wish to cause distractions.
[23] The groundbreaking series described the use of cheaper farm animal supplements as steroids alternatives and also produced an exposé of the country's "buscones"—street-level hustlers grooming prospects for bigger paydays in the U.S.[24] Baker won his third National Newspaper Award in Canada for the stories.
He has since traveled to Venezuela to write about steroids testing there[27] and was invited to speak at an October 2006 sports conference in Caracas[28] about the exploitation faced by Latin American ballplayers.
Baker quoted Rick Adair, a former Mariners pitching coach—who had also been in charge of minor league pitchers in Texas in 2008—saying he had warned GM Jack Zduriencik all about Lueke's troubled past before the trade was made.
[34] Baker specifically addressed the reasons why manager Eric Wedge had walked out on the team in September, leaving a $2 million contract extension on the table.
Using on-the-record quotes from Wedge, Baker painted a dysfunctional situation brought about by Mariners CEO Howard Lincoln, resident Chuck Armstrong and GM Jack Zduriencik.
The story also quoted former Mariners GM assistant Tony Blengino saying he had drawn up Zduriencik's entire resume and had helped falsely portray him as an expert in advanced statistics in order to get the job.
The site has campaigned openly for the city to support hedge fund operator Chris Hansen in efforts to build a public-subsidized arena and private sports and entertainment development in SoDo.
On September 12, 2017, the City of Seattle and Oak View Group agreed on a $600 million deal to renovate KeyArena for NBA and NHL teams.