Houston Astros manager Dusty Baker, 74, one of Major League Baseball’s all-time greats with 2,183 career wins, has announced his retirement.
Baker officially announced his retirement at a press conference at Minute Maid Park, the Astros’ home ballpark, on Sunday. Owner Jim Crane and general manager Dana Brown were in attendance.
“I’m retiring from active duty here in Houston,” Baker said. I haven’t decided what I’m going to do or where I’m going to go yet,” Baker said. “I want to thank owner Crane for giving me this opportunity over the last four years.”토스카지노
“It’s been a tremendous honor to be a leader in Houston. The four years I spent here were probably the fastest four years of my life. I want to thank the fans for their unwavering passion. I also want to thank all of our players and coaches for all of their hard work and sacrifice to win a World Series title.”
Born in 1949, Baker made his Major League debut in 1968 and played 19 seasons through 1986, batting .278 with 242 home runs, 1,013 RBIs and 137 stolen bases in 2,039 games. A two-time National League All-Star, two-time Silver Slugger, and one-time Gold Glove, the former star player began his coaching career after retirement as the San Francisco Giants’ first base coach in 1988, then moved on to hitting coach before beginning his managerial career in San Francisco in 1993.
Baker remained at the helm in San Francisco until 2002, then went on to manage the Chicago Cubs (2003-2006), Cincinnati Reds (2008-2013), Washington Nationals (2016-2017), and Houston (2020-2023).
In 26 seasons as a big league manager, Baker has compiled a career record of 2,183 wins and 1,862 losses in 4,046 regular-season games for a .540 winning percentage. He became the first African-American manager to surpass 2,000 wins and ranks seventh on the all-time managerial wins list.
A three-time manager of the year (1993, 1997, 2000), Baker was considered one of the game’s greats, but had never won a World Series until he took over in Houston. As the new manager of the Houston Astros, Baker led the team to three consecutive World Series appearances in 2020 after the team was rocked by an autograph scandal, and he won his first championship in 2022.
After the 2022 season, the Astros extended Baker’s contract by one year. This year, Baker’s fourth season in Houston, the Astros made it to fall ball and advanced to the American League Championship Series before falling three games short to the Texas Rangers.
Crane said, “(Baker) came into Houston when we needed help and he helped us and did a fantastic job. The record speaks for itself. The players will miss him because he always had a smile on his face and great flavor.”
“I watched him play on TV as a kid,” Brown said. It was an honor to be associated with a great baseball man with a career spanning more than 50 years.”
“In closing, I want to say thank you to all of my friends and family, I can’t thank you enough for the love and support you have shown me,” Baker said. “This is not a goodbye. I’ll see you all again.”
Following his retirement, Baker plans to return to California for the time being to spend time with his family. While his coaching career is over, there are indications that he will remain involved in the game of baseball in an advisory capacity.
