Dusty Baker (C), manager of the houston Astros, celebrates with the MLB World Series championship trophy, the Commissioner's Trophy, during the parade in Houston, Texas, November 7, 2022. /CFP
Dusty Baker, who just led the Houston Astros to win the MLB World Series title last week as their manager, told MLB.com on Tuesday that he will continue to manage the Astros in the 2023 season.
"I always said if I win one, I wanted two," Baker said. "I'm going to try to keep my word. I like to keep my word, especially like this. This was as much fun as I've had ever. I had forgotten about how much fun the ticker-tape parade was because it's been 40 years since the last one I went to, and what it means to me and my family and the city of Houston."
He revealed that he and the team are working on contract issues.
The 2022 campaign was the 25th season of Baker as a manager and the third one in the Astros. He secured his 2,000th win in his career and became the oldest (73) World Series champion manager in history after the Astros defeated the Philadelphia Phillies 4-2 in the series.
Before that, the Astros had already appeared in the American League (AL) Championship Game (ALCS) for two straight times and reached the World Series in 2021, but lost to the Atlanta Braves 4-2.
Dusty Baker, manager of the houston Astros, celebrates after his team beats the Philadelphia Phillies 4-1 in Game 6 of the MLB World Series to win the series 4-2 at Minute Maid Park in Houston, Texas, November 5, 2022. /CFP
Before joining the Astros, Baker managed the San Francisco Giants, Chicago Cubs, Cincinnati Reds and Washington Nationals between 1993 and 2017. His team has never missed the playoffs in any of those 24 seasons.
However, the thought of quitting as a manager crossed Baker's mind in 2018 when he talked to The Athletic's Ken Rosenthal in August 2018.
"I was thinking: Every team I inherited was a bottom-dwelling team, except Washington," Baker said. "Most of the time you're not going to inherit a first-division team. You're going to get a losing team. I don't know how much time I have to bring another team back, or if I have the desire to do so."
Before Baker's arrival, the Astros made the World Series in 2019, despite being penalized by MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred for stealing signs in the previous two seasons. Having lost to the Nationals 4-3 in the series, the Astros fired general manager Jeff Luhnow and manager A. J. Hinch.
"Like I've said many, many times, he came here at the right time," the team's second baseman Jose Altuve said of Baker's hire as the Astros' manager.