Dusty Baker Is Back In The MLB World Series: 7 Things To Know About His Legendary Career Photo: Houston Astros manager Dusty Baker Jr. holds the trophy after their win against the Boston Red Sox in Game 6 of baseball's American League Championship Series Oct. 22, 2021, in Houston. The Astros won 5-0, to win the ALCS series in game six. (AP Photo/Tony Gutierrez)
Johnnie B. “Dusty” Baker Jr. has had a legendary career in baseball, first as a player and then as a coach but his current role as the manager of the Houston Astros may be the highlight for someone who has accomplished everything he could in the game.
Thanks to Baker’s shrewd decisions as a manager, the Astors are vying for the World Series championship against the Atlanta Braves.
Here are seven things to know about Baker’s legendary career.
A former major league baseball player, Baker had a 19-year career, primarily with the Atlanta Braves and Los Angeles Dodgers. He was considered a hard-hitting outfielder who helped the Dodgers win the World Series championship in 1981.
Baker is now in his 24th season as a major-league manager and that’s a major achievement in baseball, where Black managers are a rarity.
“It’s been almost impossibly hard for a Black man to become an MLB manager,” the Dallas Morning News reported on Aug. 27. “Since Frank Robinson trailblazed the way when he took over as Cleveland’s manager for 1975, there have been only 16 Black men (for a total of 28 hires) to hold the title of full-time MLB manager in 45 years.”
Soon after Baker stop playing, he became a MLB coach. He quickly rose in the ranks, becoming a manager in 1993 at age 44. He has managed the San Francisco Giants, Chicago Cubs, Cincinnati Reds, and Washington Nationals. He led the Giants to the 2002 National League pennant and the Astros to the 2021 American League pennant. In 2020, he was hired to manage the Houston Astros on a one-year contract. He has gone past that contract to continue coaching them for the 2021 season.
During his first year with the Astros, Baker became the first MLB manager to lead five different teams to the playoffs. This year, he led them to the American League West title, making him the first manager to win a division title with five different teams.
The 72-year-old Baker is the second oldest manager to make it to a World Series. He is one of six managers to reach the postseason at least 10 times. If his Astros are victorious in the World Series, he will win his first ring as a manager. It could be the end of a lustrous career.
“Should the Astros win the World Series, the well-respected and venerable 72-year-old boss might just choose to ride off into the proverbial sunset and retire,” CBS Sports reported. “His contract is up with the Astros anyway, and if he accomplishes this feat, surely this baseball lifer will note to himself that he’s accomplished everything he can in the game.”
According to most reports, Baker is one manager that most people seem to like. “This is a man worth rooting for. Speak to anyone around the game, and you will get nothing but praise for Baker as a human being. He’s one of the kindest and most genuine people in baseball. He’s funny. He’s generally always smiling. He loves his players and gets their backs almost to a fault. Pretty much every player who has ever played for him loves him right back,” wrote CBS Sports reporter Matt Snyder.
Baker helped the Astros team clean up its tarnished image after a sign-stealing scandal in which team members used technology to steal hand signs of opposing teams during the 2017 and 2018 seasons. It was a clear violation of the league’s rules.
“They needed a veteran manager who oozed charisma and would garner attention, keeping it away from the players. They required a players’ manager who would take enemy fire for his players and keep any negative media attention off of them as best he could. They needed someone who immediately walked into a room and commanded respect,” wrote Snyder.
They needed Dusty Baker.
“I interviewed a bunch of guys, and the first time I talked to him, we talked for two hours, and I felt like he was my best friend,” Astros owner Jim Crane told the New York Times. “So I was very comfortable with him immediately and, boom, I made the decision. I knew he had a lot of experience, he kind of calmed a lot of the nonsense we were dealing with and kept these guys on track.”
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Baker is known to wear certain items when he hits the stadium, such as sweatbands up and down his arms and a Fitbit activity tracker. During the pandemic, he has also worn an Astros-themed mask, which he sometimes takes off to chew on a toothpick — something he has done for most of his years as an MLB manager.
“I still wear a mask because I had cancer 20 years ago and I had a stroke seven years ago,” Baker said, according to the Houston Chronicle. “Some of the fans get on me, ‘Take your mask off … You don’t have to wear it,’ but it’s in my best interest to wear it.”
But many have been wondering about his gloves, which are sometimes black and sometimes orange. Those are a relatively new addition to Baker’s wardrobe that started being noticed before the 2020 MLB season, Sports News reported.
While Baker hasn’t fully explained his decision to wear gloves, it would seem related to the ongoing covid-19 pandemic.
