Dusty Baker

Baker in 1991

Baker's coaching career started as a first base coach for the San Francisco Giants in 1988, and then he spent the following four years (1989–1992) as the hitting coach. In 1992, he managed the Scottsdale Scorpions in the Arizona Fall League.[14]

In 1993 he was hired to replace the departing Roger Craig. In his first year as Giants manager (a team that acquired Barry Bonds in the offseason), he won the NL Manager of the Year award (until 2021, he was the only Giant to win the award), leading the team to a 103–59 record. However, it was not enough for a playoff berth. They had led the National League West by 9+1⁄2 games on August 7, but they ended up losing the National League West to the Atlanta Braves. The Giants lost 12–1 on the final day of the season when a win could have forced a tiebreaking game with Atlanta for the division championship (the following year, a Wild Card was instituted in both leagues). It was the second-best record in baseball that year (behind the 104–58 Atlanta Braves), and 31 games better than their 72–90 finish the previous season. He was the first manager since Dick Howser to win 100 games as a rookie manager, and the fifth overall to do it. Since the Giants missed the playoffs (as only the division winners qualified before 1995), he also became the eighth and so far the last manager to lead a team to 100 wins without making it to the postseason.

His Giants went on to win division titles in 1997, and again in 2000; Baker won Manager of the Year honors in both of those years as well. He was the second person to win the award three times after Tony La Russa, and the first to do so with the same team all three times. His easy-going style of managing led to a description of him as a "player's manager", to where he learned Spanish to try to help relate to his players.[15][16]It was also during his San Francisco tenure that the term "Dustiny" was coined by former Giants pitcher Rod Beck.[17] However, the postseason would elude Baker and the Giants, as they fell in the NLDS in 1997 and 2000 while losing a tie-breaker game for the Wild Card spot in 1998.

In 2002, his Giants won 95 games and clinched the Wild Card by 3½ games. In the 2002 National League Division Series, they faced the Atlanta Braves. The two teams split thr first four games before a pivotal Game 5 in Atlanta, which the Giants won 3–1 to deliver their first postseason series victory since 1989. The Giants faced the St. Louis Cardinals (who had beaten the Arizona Diamondbacks, the defending champions) in the 2002 National League Championship Series. The Giants won the series in five games for their first pennant in eleven years, winning on a walk-off single by Kenny Lofton. They advanced to the World Series against the Anaheim Angels, who were managed by his former Dodger teammate Mike Scioscia. The teams split the first two games in Anaheim before going to San Francisco. In Game 3, they were routed 10–4, but the Giants responded with a narrow 4–3 victory in Game 4 before a big win in Game 5 by a score of 16–4. The Giants were one victory away from the championship and had two games in Anaheim to do so. The Giants struck first in Game 6, scoring three runs in the fifth inning before adding runs in the sixth and seventh inning to make it 5–0. However, the seventh would start the unraveling of the game; in the inning, starting pitcher Russ Ortiz (who had 98 pitches) allowed consecutive singles after getting one out before Baker pulled him out for Félix Rodríguez. Scott Spiezio came up to the plate and soon hit a shot to right field to narrow the score to 5–3. In the next inning, Darin Erstad hit a leadoff line-drive shot for a home run before Tim Salmon and Garret Anderson hit singles that made Baker put in Robb Nen (battling a shoulder injury for most of the year) to try and close out the inning without allowing more runs. However, a double by Troy Glaus scored the runners to give the Angels a lead they would not relinquish. The five run deficit was the largest comeback in an elimination game in the World Series. While the Giants scored first in Game 7, the Angels scored three runs in the third inning to build a cushion on their way to a 4–1 victory.[18]

Despite Baker's success in San Francisco, he had an increasingly strained relationship with owner Peter Magowan, one that even the Giants' first pennant in 13 years could not mend. The Giants did not renew his contract after the season,[19] letting him leave to manage the Chicago Cubs and hiring Felipe Alou to replace him. Baker finished his tenure with a record of 840 wins and 715 losses in the regular season and 11 wins and 13 losses in the post-season.[20]

To date, Baker is one of only four African Americans to manage a World Series team. Cito Gaston was the first, managing the Toronto Blue Jays to championships in 1992 and 1993. Baker was the second, and Ron Washington and Dave Roberts have since joined Gaston and Baker by managing the Texas Rangers and Los Angeles Dodgers, respectively, to the World Series, with Roberts winning a championship in 2020. Baker left as the all-time winningest manager in the San Francisco era of Giants history; Bruce Bochy would later eclipse him alongside managing the Giants to World Series titles in 2010, 2012 and 2014.

Baker meeting with Cecil Cooper of the Houston Astros prior to a 2006 matchup at Wrigley Field.

Dusty Baker during his days with the Chicago Cubs.

On November 15, 2002, he was hired by the Chicago Cubs to a four-year deal to manage the team, replacing Don Baylor.

Baker would make a major impact in his first season as manager for the Cubs in 2003. In July of that year, Baker was the subject of some controversy when he stated that "black and Hispanic players are better suited to playing in the sun and heat than white players." Baker, defending his beliefs, later said, "What I meant is that blacks and Latinos take the heat better than most whites, and whites take the cold better than most blacks and Latinos. That's it, pure and simple. Nothing deeper than that."[21] With the help of an impressive pitching staff and big gun batters such as Sammy Sosa and Moisés Alou, the Cubs claimed their first division title in fourteen years. Baker led the Cubs to victory over the Atlanta Braves in the National League Division Series, the first postseason series victory for the team since the 1908 World Series. However, the hopes for the Cubs winning a World Series title were cut short during the 2003 National League Championship Series against the Florida Marlins. In Game 6, with Chicago five outs away from the pennant and holding a 3–0 lead, the infamous Steve Bartman foul ball incident near the fans in left field would unravel the Cubs and derail the chance for their World Series appearance in 58 years. The Bartman incident proved to be a distraction for fans and the media, but it was critical execution failures by the Cubs such as a wild pitch on a ball four, a fielding error on a potential inning-ending double play, and a bad throw from the outfield after a Marlins hit, which allowed the visitors from Miami to score eight runs in that eighth inning to win the game 8–3. The Marlins would go on to win Game 7 at Wrigley Field on their way to winning the 2003 World Series.

In 2004, the team was involved in a heated wild card chase with the Houston Astros but fell out of contention near the season's end, losing six of their last eight games and missing the playoffs by three games. On August 30, Baker won his 1,000th game as manager with a win over the Montreal Expos, doing so in his 1,848th game.[22]

In 2005, the Cubs lost several of their key players, most notably ace pitchers Mark Prior and Kerry Wood, to injuries. The team finished the season with a 79–83 record, marking the first time in three years that the Cubs finished with a losing record. The Cubs’ performance continued to decline in 2006 as they fell to 66–96[20] and finished last in the entire National League. Baker, an old-school baseball traditionalist, was scrutinized for the Cubs' declining productivity. Baker has said that putting men on base can be unimportant and merely "clogging up the bases."[23] This position has made Baker a target among the sabermetric community.[24] It was around this time that Baker came under scruitny for his tendancy to overuse pitchers, such as with Kerry Wood and Mark Prior. Wood and Prior suffered serious arm injuries following their first full seasons under Baker. Wood and Prior averaged 122 and 126 pitches per start, respectively, in their final six regular-season starts of 2003.[25] However, the only season where Wood was used for a full season under Baker's tenure was in 2003, in which he pitched 211 innings, which was two innings more than he had pitched in 2002. In the next three seasons, Wood would only pitched a combined total of 226 innings due to injuries before the Cubs decided to try him as a reliever after 2006. [26][27]. Additionally, Prior has been quoted as not blaming Baker for what happened with his career, stating that he had to balance pitcher use with the decisions required to try and help the Cubs win games. He also cited him as an inspiration to stay in the game after he retired from pitching, with Baker describing baseball as a relationship.[28]

A month after the 2006 season ended, the Cubs declined to renew Baker's contract. They allowed Baker to address the media in a press conference in early October, where he officially announced his departure. The Cubs turned to Lou Piniella to replace Baker for the 2007 season. Baker finished his tenure with a regular-season record of 322 wins and 326 losses and a postseason record of six wins and six losses.[20]

Dusty Baker sporting his new Reds jersey at RedsFest 2007.

On October 13, 2007, Baker was hired as manager of the Cincinnati Reds, replacing interim manager Pete Mackanin.[29] Baker and the Reds finished 74–88 and 78–84 in 2008 and 2009, finishing 5th and 4th in the NL Central. In 2010, the Reds enjoyed success as one of baseball's breakout teams (which included first baseman Joey Votto being named Most Valuable Player of the National League), and on September 28, 2010, the Reds won the Central title. This championship led to their first playoff appearance in 15 years.[30] However, the appearance was short-lived as the Reds were swept by the Philadelphia Phillies in the NLDS. Baker signed a two-year contract extension with the Reds on October 4, 2010.[31]

The Reds won 97 games in 2012 to win the National League Central for the second time in three seasons (only the Washington Nationals won more games than the Reds that year in the NL). During September 2012, Baker stayed in a Chicago hospital for treatment of an irregular heartbeat. At the time, Baker had been dealing with a longstanding heart problem.[32] The Reds clinched the 2012 Central Division championship in his absence, their second in three years and Baker's fifth as a manager. In the 2012 National League Division Series, the Reds faced the San Francisco Giants. The Reds beat the Giants 5–2 and 9–0 in San Francisco to lead the series heading back to Cincinnati. Game 3 turned out to be a tight affair with the Reds on the wrong side of it, as a bobbled play by Scott Rolen led to the winning run by the Giants, and they tied the series with an 8–3 victory in Game 4. In Game 5, the Reds collapse became complete, as the Giants scored six runs in the fifth inning to win 6–4, making them the second team in NLDS history to blow a 2–0 series lead (after 1981) and the third team ever to blow a 2–0 lead in a best-of-five series. On October 15, 2012, he signed a two-year contract extension as manager of the Reds.[33]

In 2013, the Reds won ninty games, but it was only good enough for a third place finish in the division (the Cardinals won the division by seven games), and a five-game losing streak closed out the regular season. As such, they were the second Wild Card team and faced the division rival Pittsburgh Pirates (who won 94 games) in Wild Card game. Baker was fired by the Reds three days after the game. The Pirates, making their first postseason appearance since 1993, took the lead in the second inning and never relinquished it, cruising to a 6–2 victory. Reds general manager Walt Jocketty admitted the team's latest collapse played a role in the decision to fire Baker.[34] [35] Baker finished his tenure with a regular season record of 509 wins and 463 losses and a post-season record of two wins and seven losses.[20] On October 22, 2013, he was replaced by Reds pitching coach Bryan Price.[36]

Baker managing the Nationals in 2017

On November 3, 2015, Baker was named the new manager for the Washington Nationals for the 2016 season, his first managerial position since being fired by Cincinnati in 2013.[37] At the time of his hiring, he was the only black manager in Major League Baseball and had the second-highest total for most wins in MLB.[37] Comments made shortly after his hire raised attention when he suggested his Washington Nationals should field more players of color as "you've got a better chance of getting some speed with Latin and African-Americans,"[38] also generated controversy. Baker said of the comments, "I'm not being racist. That's just how it is."[39] The hire came with scrutiny that Baker would overuse pitchers as he was alleged to do before, but it was noted that his prior Reds teams featured players throwing fewer pitches, and some baseball writers have noted that there is no clear link between pitches thrown and injuries suffered.[40][40] [41]

The Nationals won the NL East in Baker's first season with 95 wins (a twelve game improvement), which was the third time the team had won the NL East in the last five seasons. However, the Nationals lost in the NLDS in five games against the Los Angeles Dodgers after losing Game 4 and Game 5 (in the latter game, the Nationals gave up four runs in the seventh inning in a 4–3 loss). The following season, Baker led the Nationals to another NL East Championship. However, their postseason was once again cut short after losing in the 2017 NLDS to the Chicago Cubs in five games. Game 5 saw the Nationals lead 4–1 by the time of the second inning, but the game turned wildly in the fifth inning with four runs that were all scored on two outs, which included multiple hits, a passed ball, an error, catcher's interference, and a hit batter. While the Nationals tried to rally, the Cubs prevailed 9–8. The fifth game was the tenth time in fourteen years where a Baker-managed team had lost a "close-out" games with the opportunity to advance to the next round of the playoffs, which was a record; in both NLDS matchups, the Nationals had outscored their opponent but lost the series.[42] On October 20, 2017, the Nationals announced that Baker and his entire coaching staff would not return as the team's manager in 2018.[43][44]

In 2020, Baker was one of three finalists for the Philadelphia Phillies job (alongside Joe Girardi and Buck Showalter). However, he did not get the job.[45]

Baker with the Houston Astros during spring training in 2020

On January 13, 2020, the position for the managerial spot of the Houston Astros opened up, as A. J. Hinch, who had been fired in the wake of the Astros sign stealing scandal. Candidates for the position included Buck Showalter, John Gibbons, Joe Espada, and Will Venable. On January 29, Baker was hired, becoming the third manager to be hired after the age of seventy and first since Jack McKeon; he is also the first manager in the two-league era to have coached over 3,000 games in one league before managing a single game in the other, as this was his first managerial job in the American League.[46] The contract was for one year with a club option for a second year.[47]

On July 28, 2020 (four days after the season started), the Astros picked up the 2021 option on Baker's contract.[48][49]On September 25, the Astros clinched a playoff spot as the sixth seed in the pandemic-shortened season. Baker became the first baseball manager to lead five teams to the postseason.[50] He also became the first manager to lead a team that finished under .500 in the postseason to a series win, having beaten both the Minnesota Twins and the Oakland Athletics to reach the American League Championship Series (ALCS). It was the first time since 2003 that a Baker-led team had made the League Championship Series. The Astros lost to the Tampa Bay Rays in seven games after having come back from 3–0. Baker's appearance in Game 7 (a winner-take-all) was his ninth as manager, setting a new record for most appearances by a manager in a winner-take-all game, although Baker has only won two of those games.[51]

On April 22, 2021, Baker secured his 1,900th win as a manager in the regular season, becoming the 14th manager to do so with an 8–2 victory over the Los Angeles Angels.[52] Four days later, he passed Gene Mauch for 13th on the all-time wins list with a 5–2 win over the Seattle Mariners. On April 30, he passed Casey Stengel for 12th all-time with a 9–2 win over the Tampa Bay Rays, the teams' first meeting since the previous year's ALCS.[53]

By winning the American League West division in 2021, Baker became the first manager in the major leagues to guide five different clubs to division titles.[54] In the playoffs, the Astros first played the Chicago White Sox in the American League Division Series (ALDS). The White Sox were led by Tony La Russa, who Baker had faced as manager over 200 times previously, and whose careers both had intertwined and spanned more than five decades. They met most frequently in games in the National League Central when La Russa managed the St. Louis Cardinals, and Baker managed the Cubs and Reds.[55]

The Astros faced the Boston Red Sox in the American League Championship Series (ALCS) for the AL pennant. On October 22, 2021, the Astros won Game 6 of the series to clinch the pennant, doing so in a dramatic comeback where they had lost two of the first three games to the Boston Red Sox (who had hit three grand slams in Game 2 and 3 combined) before winning three in a row to advance to the 2021 World Series. The nineteen-year gap between World Series appearances in the second longest all-time between managers (with the only greater one being Bucky Harris), and Baker became the ninth manager in major league history to win a pennant in both leagues.[54][56]

On November 5, 2021, owner Jim Crane announced that Baker had agreed to a one-year extension to manage the club for the 2022 season.[57] He had managed over 24 major league seasons. [58] On May 3, 2022, Baker won his 2,000th game as a manager with a 4-0 win over the Seattle Mariners at home in Minute Maid Park. Coincidentally, both Baker's first win and his 2,000th win involved a Pena in the lineup, as Geronimo Pena battled leadoff for the St. Louis Cardinals versus the Giants on April 6, 1993 and Jeremy Pena (son of Geronimo) started the May 3 game as shortstop for the Astros.[59] Baker became the twelfth manager and first African-American manager to reach the milestone.

As of games played on October 22, 2021