MLB
Houston Astros manager Dusty Baker has had a great career. He has accomplished a lot of things including winning the World Series as a player with the Los Angeles Dodgers in 1981. However, there is one thing he still needs to do and that is to win the World Series as a manager. He almost did it with the Giants in 2002 but his Giants blew a seventh-inning lead in the potential Game 6 clincher and then lost Game 7 to the Angels.
Even though the Braves are missing a lot of pieces they will not be an easy out. The series between the Astros and Braves is currently tied one game apiece. The Braves stole home-field advantage by winning the first game in Houston. The Astros had rebounded nicely with a 7-2 victory on Wednesday night.
He has done a good job changing the culture after the Houston Astros cheating scandal. He has led the Astros back to the World Series for the first time since 2017.
He gave some interesting comments on what he did after the Astros beat the Red Sox.
“I said a prayer to my dad and to Hank Aaron, and Al Kaline and Joe Morgan and Bob Watson and all my partners that are in heaven,” the Astros manager said.
This will be the best chance Baker, who is 72 years old, has had in a long time so hopefully, he can win it this time. If he wins it will cement his legacy as a Hall of Famer so it is pretty unique that it will be against the team that drafted him in the Braves.
There are some people like Tony La Russa who believe he is a Hall of Famer no matter the outcome of this World Series.
“I think he has the credentials already I’m a Hall of Famer, so I guess I’ve got some credibility. Maybe they don’t all agree, but I think a lifetime of success with the wins he has and the championships he has, I think he has the credentials already”, explained La Russa.
Baker understands what these players are going through being a former player.
“Like I tell these guys, you don’t have anything to prove or show anybody. The only entities that you have to satisfy are God, family and yourself, and then the other people can see you later”, Baker said after the Astros beat the Red Sox to reach the World Series.
These comments show Baker wants his team to feel no pressure and remember who they are playing for.
You may root against the Astros and that is fair after what they did but if they win the World Series no person would deserve it more than Dusty Baker. If the Astros win the World Series, Baker would become the 3rd black manager to win the World Series joining Dave Roberts, who won it last year with the Dodgers, and Cito Gaston who won it with the Toronto Blue Jays in 1992 and 1993.
Photo courtesy of the houstonchronicle.com
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