A legendary MLB manager is calling it a career. Dusty Baker, who won a World Series with the Houston Astros last year, has announced his retirement as a baseball manager. According to USA Today, Baker informed Astros owner Jim Crane in a private meeting Tuesday afternoon that he is retiring. He held a press conference on Thursday.
“I’m very grateful and thankful to Jim Crane and the Houston Astros for giving me this opportunity, and to win a championship,” Baker told USA Today. “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.”
Videos by PopCulture.com
Baker wants to remain in baseball as he would like to be in an advisory position with the team, either with the Astros or a team close to his home in Sacramento, California. “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.”
Baker finished the 2023 season leading the Astros to an American League Championship appearance. The team lost to the Texas Rangers in seven games, but even if the Astros on the World Series this year, Baker would have retired after the season. “I thought about it before the year, but the reason I didn’t want to mention it is because of my conversations with Bruce Bochy,” Baker said, “saying how distracting it was for his team in San Francisco. I didn’t want to do that. It wasn’t fair to my players.”
Baker, 74, began his managerial career with the San Francisco Giants in 1993. He was with the team until 2002 and joined the Chicago Cubs in 2003. Baker was the Cubs manager for four seasons before joining the Cincinnati Reds in 2008. He became the manager of the Washington Nationals after managing the Reds for six seasons. Baker was the Nationals manager for two seasons before joining the Astros in 2020. As a manager, Baker led the Astros to two World Series appearances (2021, 2022) and the Giants to one (2002). He won a total of 10 division titles and is the first manager in MLB history to lead five different teams to division championships. Baker won 2,183 games and is the first African-American manager to collect 2,000 victories.
