HOUSTON — Dusty Baker has retired as manager of the Houston Astros, ending an illustrious 26-year career as a big league skipper highlighted by a World Series win last season.
Baker broke the news in an interview with USA Today.
“I’m very grateful and thankful to (owner) Jim Crane and the Houston Astros for giving me this opportunity, and to win a championship,” Baker told the newspaper. “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 told the newspaper that he’d 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,” said Baker. “I have a lifetime of knowledge, much more than those who have never played the game.”
Messages were left by the AP seeking comment from the 74-year-old Baker.
The Astros have scheduled a news conference for Thursday morning that Baker, Crane and GM Dana Brown are set to attend.
Baker stepped down after his fourth season with the Astros, who came one win shy of reaching the World Series for a third straight year with a loss to the Rangers on Monday night.
The toothpick-chewer and epic storyteller, who seemed to know just about everybody, finished his career ranked ninth with 2,183 victories in 4,046 regular-season games. He was the 12th manager in major league history to reach 2,000 wins and the first Black man to accomplish the feat.
Ten of the other 11 managers who have accumulated at least 2,000 wins are in the Hall of Fame. Bruce Bochy (2,093), who is still managing the Texas Rangers and isn’t yet eligible, is the only exception.
“Dusty Baker is a legend in this sport,” Houston shortstop Jeremy Peña 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 began managing in 1993 after a 19-year playing career as an outfielder. He played with Hank Aaron in Atlanta and won a World Series with the Dodgers in 1981.
Baker managed San Francisco, the Chicago Cubs, Cincinnati and Washington before coming to Houston. He’s the only manager in major league history to take five different teams to the postseason.
He came to the Astros to help clean up their image in the wake of their sign-stealing scandal that cost manager A.J. Hinch his job.
Baker posted a 320-226 record with the Astros, leading them to the playoffs in each of his four seasons and winning the pennant twice.
He is one of three Black managers to win a World Series, joining Dave Roberts (Dodgers, 2020) and Cito Gaston (Blue Jays, 1992 and 1993).
Baker made two World Series trips before winning it all with Houston last season. Baker and the Astros fell to the Braves in six games in 2021 after his most crushing defeat in the Fall Classic in 2002.
Baker’s San Francisco Giants starring Barry Bonds entered Game 6 against the Angels a win away from a 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’d 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 came Crane’s call after the sign-stealing scandal, and Baker was back in the dugout.
Baker took over for the 2020 COVID-19-shortened season. The Astros squeaked into the postseason as a wild card before heating up in the playoffs and coming one win shy of reaching the World Series.
Baker was lifelong friends with Aaron, who died in 2021. He was on deck and among the Braves congregated at the plate to celebrate with Aaron on April 8, 1974, when he hit his 715th home run to pass Babe Ruth for most all-time.
YANKEES: Sean Casey says he won’t return as hitting coach for the New York Yankees after a brief stint in pinstripes this season.
Casey, a 12-year major leaguer who went from television analyst to hitting instructor in July, announced his departure on his podcast, “The Mayor’s Office with Sean Casey.” The 49-year-old said he informed Yankees Manager Aaron Boone before the team made a formal offer to secure his return.
Casey, a three-time All-Star, said spending more time with his daughters, ages 13 and 17, is a priority after his divorce a few years ago.
GIANTS: At least once every time Bob Melvin visited San Francisco as a visiting manager, he allowed himself to believe that maybe someday, he would wear a Giants uniform again.
Running the bleachers before games, Melvin would glance out at iconic McCovey Cove. Before the team locked up the 60-foot Coca-Cola slide beyond left field, he used to take good-luck, head-first plunges, too.
On Wednesday, after buttoning up his new No. 6 Giants jersey as the franchise’s 39th manager, Melvin called it “surreal” that this moment was actually happening.
After 20 years as a big league manager — including a recent, turbulent end to his time managing the rival San Diego Padres — the soon-to-be 62 year old is coming home.
Melvin, a Bay Area native and former Giants player who also managed a decade in Oakland, emerged as a candidate to replace Gabe Kapler even as he remained contractually obligated to the Padres for one more year. San Diego granted permission for the Giants to pursue Melvin, and completed a whirlwind few days for both franchises.
There will be no compensation due to the Padres, according to Giants President of Baseball Operations Farhan Zaidi, who thanked San Diego “for being accommodating and allowing us to pursue the perfect candidate and for giving Bob the opportunity to come home.”
HALL OF FAME: Joe Buck, Gary Cohen and Dan Shulman are among the finalists for the Hall of Fame’s Ford C. Frick Award for excellence in baseball broadcasting.
Joe Castiglione, Jacques Doucet, Tom Hamilton, Ernie Johnson Sr., Ken Korach, Mike Krukow and Duane Kuiper are also finalists, the Hall said.
The ballot is the second of four consecutive elections involving broadcasters whose careers extend into the wild card era, which started in 1995. The pre-wild card era will be considered for the 2027 award.
The winner will be announced Dec. 6 at the winter meetings in Nashville, Tennessee. A broadcaster must have 10 continuous years of experience with a network or team to be considered, and the ballot was picked by a subcommittee of past winners that includes Marty Brennaman, Bob Costas and Pat Hughes plus historians David J. Halberstam and Curt Smith.
Voters are 12 past winners — Brennaman, Costas, Ken Harrelson, Hughes, Jaime Jarrín, Tony Kubek, Denny Matthews, Al Michaels, Jon Miller, Eric Nadel, Bob Uecker and Dave Van Horne — plus historians Halberstam, Smith and former Dallas Morning News writer Barry Horn.
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