#All time manager wins series#

The Astros squeaked into the postseason as a wild-card team before heating up in playoffs to come one win shy of reaching the World Series.īaker made his return to the Series last season but came up short again as Houston fell to Atlanta in six games.īaker was lifelong friends with Aaron, who died in January 2021 at 86. Hinch was suspended for a year and subsequently fired, making way for Baker to return to the game.īaker took over for the 2020 COVID-19-shortened season. Then came 2019 and the stunning revelation that the Astros had illicitly stolen signs in 2017 and again in 2018. He's been driven to prove his father wrong.Īfter being fired by the Nationals following a 97-win season in 2017, Baker wondered if he'd ever get another shot to manage, much less win that elusive title.īack home in Northern 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. “He goes: ‘Man, after the way (you) lost that one, I don't know if you'll ever win another one,'” Baker recalled last year.Įven though his father has been gone for more than a decade he still thinks about him every day and often recalls that moment. Baker Sr., who delivered a harsh message. 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.Īfter the crushing loss in Game 7, Baker met with his father, Johnnie B. In 2002, his San Francisco Giants starring Barry Bonds entered Game 6 against the Anaheim Angels a win away from a title. He's the only manager in major league history to take five different teams to the postseason.īaker had come close before. Bruce Bochy (2,003), who isn't yet eligible, is the only exception.īaker managed San Francisco, the Chicago Cubs, Cincinnati and Washington before coming to Houston. Ten of the 11 other managers who have accumulated at least 2,000 wins are in the Hall of Fame. 5, 2022, in Houston.īaker is the 12th manager in major league history to reach 2,000 wins and the first Black man to do it. watches play during the first inning in Game 6 of baseball's World Series between the Houston Astros and the Philadelphia Phillies on Nov. Saturday night several fans proudly displayed signs that read “Do it 4 Dusty.” While beloved across the game, he quickly became a fan favorite in Houston. Baker helped clean up the team's image after that and some begrudgingly began rooting for the Astros because they admired him. He helped the Astros to their second World Series title and first since the scandal-tainted one in 2017 that made Houston the most hated team in baseball.

and so I feel that I've been chosen for this.” “You know what I'm saying? (But) I do know that there's certain pressure from a lot of people that are pulling for me, especially people of color. “I don't think about being an African American manager because I look in the mirror every day and I know what I am,” he said before the game. He joins Dave Roberts (Dodgers, 2020) and Cito Gaston (Blue Jays, 1992, 1993) as the only Black managers to win a World Series. “I got 2,000 wins and all they talk about is I haven't won the World Series yet,” he said Thursday. He entered Saturday's game as the winningest manager without a World Series title and improved to 2,094-1,790 with this most memorable victory. As a player he went three times with the Dodgers, winning it all in 1981. He became the oldest manager to win a World Series in his third trip as a manager to the Fall Classic.

When Yordan Alvarez connected on a go-ahead three-run homer in the sixth inning, cameras panned to a beaming Baker who raised both arms high above his head.

and countless more, completed the only missing chapter in his own story Saturday night.Īfter 25 seasons as a big league skipper peppered with a couple of painful near-misses, the 73-year-old Baker finally made it all the way home when his Houston Astros beat the Philadelphia Phillies 4-1 to win the title. The man who can weave a tale like few others, wistfully recalling his time under Hank Aaron's tutelage or chance encounters with Jimi Hendrix, John F. For now and forever, Dusty Baker, the epic storyteller, first-class name-dropper, toothpick chewer and baseball lifer will bear a most distinguished title: World Series champion manager.

All time manager wins