Houston Astros Dusty Baker Retires After 26 Years Of Being A Manager

A legendary baseball manager has decided to hang up his cleats after 26 seasons in Major League Baseball.

According to MLB.com, Dusty Baker, the former manager of the Houston Astros, is leaving the game he has lived and loved. One year removed from taking his players to the 2022 World Series championship, the 74-year-old legend, who has been involved with the game of baseball for over 50 years, will no longer make his way to the dugouts of any more stadiums. Although he is retiring as a manager, he has left open the possibility of returning to the league in another capacity.

Baker came out of retirement in 2020 and managed to get the Astros to two World Series, winning the title last year. He mentioned that he intends to return to California to spend time with his family.

He announced the news at Minute Maid Park stadium on Thursday. He spoke about how quickly the past four years have gone by with him donning the Astros uniform.

“It was probably the quickest four years I’ve ever spent in my life,” said Baker. “But that’s what happens when you win. … They were winning when I got here, winning while I was here and I wish them well.”

Congratulations Dusty on an incredible managerial career 🧡

Thank you! pic.twitter.com/QkdoB7ekVn

— Houston Astros (@astros) October 26, 2023

In those four years that went so quickly, Baker took the team to the ALCS (American League Championship Series) four straight years while winning three consecutive AL West division titles (2021-23), two AL pennants (2021-22), and one World Series (2022). Quite a feat for the man who became the oldest manager to win a World Series.

During his time with the Astros, Baker led the team to 320 wins, including in 2020, when the pandemic shortened the regular 82-game season to 60. After that season, the Astros averaged 97 wins over the next three years. Although they came out on top of the American League West on the final game this past season with a 90-72 record, they ended their chances to repeat as champions when they lost to the Texas Rangers in seven games.

As a manager, Baker won division titles with five different teams (the Chicago Cubs, the Cincinnati Reds, and the Washington Nationals), and two of those teams took the pennant. The San Francisco Giants took the National League pennant in 2002, and the Astros did the same in the American League in 2021-22.

Before becoming a manager, he played 19 years with the Atlanta Braves, the Los Angeles Dodgers (won the 1981 World Series), the Giants, and the Oakland As.