(AP Photo/Alex Brandon)
Bob Nightengale of USA Today reports the Houston Astros will hire Dusty Baker as their manager. Baker, 70, is not only entasked with replacing AJ Hinch, but also guiding the Astros through the other side of the sign stealing scandal.
In Baker, the Astros are hiring a well respected manager who has proven himself capable of handling difficult clubhouses and guiding teams through turmoil.
With the San Francisco Giants, he handled a clubhouse with much tension due to the friction between Barry Bonds and Jeff Kent. In Washington, he took over for Matt Williams, and he guided a team who saw Jonathan Papelbon attempt to choke Bryce Harper in the dugout to consecutive National League East titles.
While those situations were high pressured and difficult, the Astros situation may be all the more difficult. That goes double when early public comments from players like Jose Altuve, Alex Bregman, and Justin Verlander have not gone over well.
For Baker, he’s coming back for Cooperstown and to win that elusive World Series. As he said to USA Today, “It would mean a lot to me and my family to be the first African-American manager in [the Hall of Fame]. But what matters to me the most is the championship. That’s what I want. I want to be a World Series champion.”
To accomplish that, the three time National League Manager of the Year is taking over an American League team for the first time in his career. That team has won 100 games in three straight seasons and has been in the World Series in two of the last three years.
Likely, this will be Baker’s last and potentially his best chance to win a World Series. If he accomplishes that, he may not be able to put the sign stealing controversy fully in the rear view mirror, but he may be able to cement his Hall of Fame case.
