It is the end of a legendary career and an era.
Dusty Baker has retired as manager of the Houston Astros, he told USA Today on Wednesday, ending an illustrious 26-year career as a big-league skipper highlighted by a World Series win last season.
“I’m very grateful and thankful to Jim Crane and the Houston Astros for giving me this opportunity, and to win a championship,” Baker, 74, told USA Today in an interview. “I felt like they’ve been good for me, and I’ve been good for them.
“What I really appreciate is that Jim has been totally honest and transparent with me on all things.”
Baker’s decision comes two days after the Astros loss in a winner-go-home Game 7 of the AL Championship Series to the Texas Rangers.
A news conference is scheduled for Thursday.
“Dusty Baker is a legend in this sport,” Houston shortstop Jeremy Pena said Monday night. “I’ve loved every single day that I’ve gotten to share with him on this ballclub. He’s been great for me. He’s shown so much confidence in me. He’s been a great manager.”
Baker was hired by Crane in the winter of 2020, after the sign-stealing scandal erupted and led to the dismissal of manager A.J. Hinch and general manager Jeff Luhnow.
Baker did exactly what Crane envisioned, deflecting attention away from a group of players who were besieged by boos in all parks other than Minute Maid, while fostering continued success. The Astros reached the AL Championship Series in 2020, secured the AL title in 2021 and won the World Series, Baker’s first as a manager, in 2022.
After signing a one-year extension, Baker led the Astros to a 90-72 mark during the regular season, winning the AL West division title via tiebreaker on the final day of the season, before taking the ballclub to its seventh consecutive AL Championship Series.
Baker also won the Fall Classic with the 1981 Los Angeles Dodgers during his 19 seasons as a player, just one of seven to have won a ring doing both, joining Alex Cora, Joe Girardi, Davey Johnson, Lou Piniella, Dave Roberts and Mike Scioscia.
The toothpick-chewer and epic storyteller was a lifelong friend of Hank Aaron, who died in 2021. They were even teammates with the Atlanta Braves.
“I love winning,” Baker said after winning the World Series last season. “I’m just telling you, I love winning probably more than anything else. I’m spoiled by winning.”
He has done a lot of it during a lifetime in baseball.
Baker, who will be eligible for the Hall of Fame in three seasons, ranks seventh all-time with 2,183 regular-season wins with the Astros, San Francisco Giants, Chicago Cubs, Cincinnati Reds and Washington Nationals.
He is the 12th manager in major league history to reach 2,000 wins and the first Black man to do it. Ten of the 11 other managers who have accumulated at least 2,000 wins are in the Hall of Fame, in Coppers Town, New York. Rangers’ manager Bruce Bochy (2,093 wins), who is not yet eligible, is the only exception.
Baker’s 57 postseason wins, over 13 postseason appearances, rank fourth all-time, just ahead of Bochy (53).
Embed from Getty ImagesBaker’s team in San Francisco, with star Barry Bonds, entered Game 6 of the 2002 World Series against the Los Angeles Angels needing just one win for the title. As the road team for the last two games of that series, the Giants squandered a five-run lead in a 6-5 loss in the sixth game before the Angels won the title with a 4-1 victory in Game 7.
After being fired by the Nationals following a 97-win season in 2017, Baker wondered if he would ever get another shot to manage, much less win that elusive title.
Back home in California, as he worked on his wine business and grew collard greens in his garden, he often felt perplexed he had been passed over for interviews so many times as managerial openings came and went, having made inquiries that he said were unanswered over the years.
Then the Astros came calling, and Baker would eventually finally get his title as a manager, joining Roberts (Dodgers, 2020) and Cito Gaston (Blue Jays, 1992 and 1993) as the only Black managers to win the World Series.
Baker was 320-226 in his four regular seasons in Houston. He went 34-19 in the postseason with the Astros, topping Hinch (28-20) for most playoff wins in franchise history.
Baker told USA Today that he would like to move into an advisory role in baseball, either with the Astros or a team closer to his Northern California home.
“I’ve still got a lot to offer; baseball has been my life,” Baker said. “I have a lifetime of knowledge, much more than those who have never played the game.”
He added: “I’m gone, but I will be back.”
