Why Sacramento’s Dusty Baker is the right man to class up the Astros’ sordid mess
Dusty Baker is back. By any measure, that’s a great thing for baseball.
A Del Campo High School graduate who never lost sight of his roots or an ounce of his genuine good spirit, Baker on Wednesday agreed to become the Houston Astros manager.
Baker is the right choice, beyond his pedigree of earning National League Manager of the Year three times, of leading four teams to nine playoff berths and the Giants to the 2002 World Series.
Baker is 70, which would make him the oldest manager in a game heavy on youth, but age doesn’t define the man. Class does. He will immediately infuse professionalism and decency for a franchise that sorely needs an image makeover.
Nothing sullies a sport or an organization more than rampant cheating. The Astros defiantly and gleefully stole signs to help pound their way to the 2017 World Series title, the franchise’s first and only championship. Then the truth leaked out. It’s the most sordid baseball black eye since Black Sox scandal of 1919. The fallout has been rightfully swift.
The cheating led to the termination of Astros general manager Jeff Luhnow and manager A.J. Hinch, who vehemently denied any notion of cheating the game during the playoffs.
“Houston is getting someone with integrity and stability, and they could not have gotten a better man than Dusty Baker,” said Jerry Manuel, another homegrown product who also managed in the majors and a close friend of Baker’s.
Respected and engaging
Major League Baseball mandates media availability before games. Baker is a master of handling this task. No manager in recent years has been more respected by players, or even media, more than the engaging Baker. Spring training next month and the season will include a flood of media surrounding the Astros. It’s a story that won’t go away until time distances itself from the scandal.
Baker will handle the media crunch much like he did while managing the Giants in 2001, when Barry Bonds was in the midst of his 73-home-run season amid steroids allegations. This is even a heavier burden, Baker’s greatest challenge. He’ll roll with it as the new face of the Astros, toothpick in tow.
“That will allow the organization a chance to heal, knowing that they can rebuild a foundation of integrity that was lost for the whole city,” Manuel said. “No doubt about it, they’re going to have to have thick skin right now in this situation. The Astros had to bring someone in who can handle that kind of pressure and stress, especially early, and Dusty will handle it just fine.”
Baker has lived and winced in baseball. He won a ton as a manger and has been fired four times. He overcame health scares – a stroke, an irregular heartbeat and prostate cancer. Baseball sustains him. The sport also needs him.
“I’m like a cockroach: impossible to kill or even stomp,” Baker once told me with his trademark laugh.
Baker also burns to win. He has talked of being the first African American manager inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame. Mostly, he’d like to hoist a World Series trophy.
Another view
Guy Anderson coached Manuel in the early 1970s at Cordova High School and he became close to Baker over the years. He first caught a glimpse of Baker in 1965 while doing public-address announcing for prep football games.
“Dusty scored six touchdowns one Saturday afternoon at Cordova and I saw all of it,” Anderson said with a laugh. “I was the sophomore baseball coach at Cordova when we were new, and Dusty hit a double to beat us 2-1. I’ll never forget that. It’s been fun to follow him all these years, and to know him. He’s a genuine class act, and the Astros need him.”
Baker’s skills in basketball, football, baseball and track and field, got him elected into the National High School Hall of Fame last year.
Baker has been easy to root for, Anderson said, because of his people skills. He saw Baker on Saturday night and was moved at his introductory speech to induct one-time Cordova and major league pitcher Randy Lerch into the Sacramento Sports Hall of Fame.
“Dusty told me he wanted the Astros job, that he felt he had a good interview,” Anderson said. “He’s the very, very, very best man to help make the Astros look legitimate again. He’s a quality person, a people person, and that applies to managing the game.
“I know he wanted one more shot to manage. Coaching stays in you. He’s still hooked. He knows he has a chance to win a lot of ball games and to help the Astros image. I’m super excited for him. Anyone who knows him is.”
This story was originally published January 29, 2020 at 4:00 AM.