Dusty Baker Announces His Retirement
Following their Game 7 loss to the Texas Rangers in the ALCS, Houston Astros manager Dusty Baker has officially announced his retirement from MLB. He informed Astros general manager Jim Crane of this in a private meeting they had Tuesday morning.
A press conference is being held on Thursday at noon EST, where Baker will be able to publicly announce his retirement. MLB reporter Bob Nightengale of USA Today was among the first to deliver the news.
While it always sucks to see a baseball mind like Baker step away from the game, this really doesn’t come as a surprise. Reports earlier this week surfaced that Baker was telling people in the organization that this would be his last year. The writing seemed to be on the wall that Baker would be out after 2023.
He’s previously talked about how difficult it was for him to keep up with the game, specifically the analytics, along with the constant stress that comes with being an MLB manager. Despite these concerns, Baker proved year in and year out he was still one of the best managers in MLB.
He leaves behind a resume that includes 2,183 wins (seventh all-time) and 57 postseason victories (fourth all-time), along with being the only manager in MLB history to lead five different teams to the postseason. He is basically a lock for Cooperstown, N.Y., which would make him the first Black manager to receive such honors.
“I’m very grateful and thankful to Jim Crane and the Houston Astros for giving me this opportunity, and to win a championship,’’ Baker said. “I felt like they’ve been good for me, and I’ve been good for them .”Via USA Today
Although Baker is stepping away as a manager, he still plans to be involved with MLB in an advisor role. The only question becomes if that will be with the Astros or another team.
“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.’’Via USA Today
While only a four-year tenure in Houston, it was one that involved a lot of winning; the Astros never missed the ALCS, winning it all last year to secure Baker his first ring, which to me served as the biggest signifier that he would retire. The only box he really had to check off was winning a World Series. Once he did that, I figured he would hang it up.
But I suppose he maybe wanted to try and secure one more before riding off into the sunset. Though I’m sure he’s more than happy with the one.
Congrats to Dusty Baker on his amazing Hall of Fame career. He has dedicated his entire life to baseball up until this point and hopefully will get to enjoy retirement. You earned it, Dusty.
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