Dusty Baker's world of admirers are happy for him

HOUSTON — Few teams in recent memory have been as universally disliked as the Houston Astros.

And few teams have had a manager as universally liked and respected as Dusty Baker.

If there was one common theme  a day after the Astros — forever tarnished by the sign-stealing scandal from their 2017 championship season — captured their second title in six seasons on Saturday night with a Game 6 victory over the Phillies, it was this:

Not necessarily a fan of the Astros but a big fan of Dusty Baker.

“Regardless of how you feel about the Astros,” one NL executive said via text, “you have to feel at least a little bit good for Dusty.”

Inside Minute Maid Park, the feeling was a lot of good for the 73-year-old Baker.

After the Astros’ four-game sweep of the Yankees in the American League Championship Series, Astros players chanted “Dusty! Dusty! Dusty!” during the postgame celebration inside the visiting clubhouse at Yankee Stadium.

Astros coaches surrounded the venerable manager in the home dugout here and chanted the same after rightfielder Kyle Tucker caught the final out of the 4-1 victory that gave Baker his first championship in 25 seasons as a manager (Baker did win a title as a player with the 1981 Dodgers).

“[He] means everything,” Jose Altuve said.  

Said Justin Verlander: “[Being] the team that was able to pull it off for him, I know how much it means to him and it means so much to us. Couldn’t be happier for him.”

In Baker’s star-crossed managerial career, which even before Saturday night should have made him a lock for the Hall of Fame, he had experienced success in each of his five stops. Baker’s regular-season mark is 2,093-1,790 in 25 seasons with the Giants, Cubs, Reds, Nationals and Astros. He was hired  after the scandal to replace the fired AJ Hinch before the 2020 season, in large part because of his unblemished reputation.

But included in that quarter-century has been plenty of postseason heartbreak.

The first was a brutal seven-game loss to the Angels in the 2002 World Series when Baker managed the Giants. The most recent was a six-game loss to Atlanta in the 2021 World Series.

In between was a seven-game loss to the Marlins while managing the Cubs in the 2003 National League Championship Series — a series most known for the “Steve Bartman Game” in Game 6 — and a five-game loss to the Cubs in the 2017 NLDS while managing the Nationals. Just to name a few.

In 2021, when the Astros won the AL West title, Baker became the first manager to win division titles with five different teams.

Among the secrets to his success is an ability to bond with players of various ages and backgrounds. Astros rookie shortstop Jeremy Pena, who piggybacked his ALCS MVP honor with taking home the World Series MVP, is one of hundreds of examples of that spanning Baker’s 25 years in the dugout.

“It's special, for sure. Dusty Baker's a legend in the sport,” Pena said late Saturday night. “Not just because he's been around. He's had success at this game. He brings the best out of his players. He gives you the confidence to just go out and play hard and let the game take care of itself. You can't ask more of a manager. He brings out the best of you. And he took me in since Day One, and for this to be his first World Series championship, it's special to be a part of it.”

One of Baker’s closest friends in the sport was another legend, Hank Aaron, who passed away in late January 2021 at the age of 86. It was for that reason that Baker, though disappointed by the World Series loss to Atlanta, had that feeling offset somewhat by Aaron’s long-standing association with that franchise.

“I really believe last year was the year of Hank Aaron,” Baker said. “And one of the worst days of my life was when my wife came in, woke me up in the bed and told me Hank had died. And that was right before spring training. But last year being the year of Hank Aaron, [Atlanta is] supposed to win. I didn't like it. But maybe they were supposed to win.”

Baker smiled, and not for the first or last time Saturday.

“And I'm like, ‘OK, Hank, they won, OK, so now you really got to root for me,’ ” he continued. “I'm sure he's smiling, he's happy. And you know, all the players that I played with and against when I was the young Dusty, I mean, I'm sure they're all happy too.”